New on the Blog & Pod: Health, Nutrition, and…Beer?! w/ Dr. Charles Bamforth

Disclaimer: This article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as medical or health advice. We are brewers and communicators, not healthcare professionals. Always consult a qualified medical provider regarding questions about alcohol consumption, nutrition, or personal health decisions.

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Every year, the same cycle plays out. Dry January shows up. Conversations about cutting alcohol ramp up. Social feeds fill with before-and-after photos, detox language, and blanket statements about what you “should” or “shouldn’t” drink. And almost inevitably, beer gets reduced to a punchline — empty calories, weight gain, something to avoid if you care about your health.

As brewers, that narrative has always felt a little too simple. Not defensive. Not “beer is healthy.” Just… incomplete. Beer has been part of human diets for thousands of years. It’s made from agricultural ingredients. It’s fermented. It’s processed by yeast. From a chemistry standpoint, it’s far more complex than alcohol plus carbs. Yet most of the public conversation ignores that complexity entirely. So instead of reacting with opinions, we wanted to step back and look at the science. To do that, we sat down with Dr. Charles Bamforth, one of the most respected brewing scientists in the world.

For anyone unfamiliar with Charlie’s work, he’s Professor Emeritus at UC Davis and has spent decades researching brewing chemistry, fermentation science, beer quality, and nutrition. He has authored numerous books and hundreds of scientific papers, served as President of the Institute of Brewing and Distilling, and is widely regarded as one of the foremost authorities on what’s actually happening inside a glass of beer. In other words, if you want evidence instead of internet takes, he’s the person you talk to.

Our goal wasn’t to prove beer is “good for you,” and it certainly wasn’t to dismiss legitimate health concerns around alcohol. It was simply to replace extremes with context. What does beer actually contain? How does the body process it? Where does moderation fit in? And how much of the narrative around beer is chemistry versus perception? Once we started digging into those questions, one thing became clear quickly: the idea that beer is nothing more than empty calories doesn’t hold up.

Because when you look at beer through the lens of fermentation and ingredient science, you find something far more interesting. Beer isn’t just alcohol. It’s a matrix of compounds that come directly from grain, hops, yeast, and the brewing process itself. As Dr. Bamforth outlines in our interview, there are many compounds with nutritional benefits to humans. Here is the short list:

Silicon (Silicate): Beer and Bone Health

One of the most well-studied compounds found in beer is dietary silicon, typically present in the form of soluble silicates. Silicon plays a role in bone mineralization and connective tissue health, and beer — particularly barley-based beer — is one of the most significant sources of bioavailable silicon in many diets.

Barley malt contributes this compound naturally, and unlike some nutrients that degrade during processing, silicon survives brewing remarkably well. Studies have shown that moderate beer consumption can meaningfully contribute to total dietary silicon intake. This doesn’t mean beer prevents osteoporosis, but it does mean beer participates in bone-related nutrition in ways that are often overlooked.

Soluble Fiber: Pentosans and β-Glucans

Beer also contains soluble fiber, primarily in the form of pentosans and small amounts of β-glucans derived from malted barley. While most fiber is removed during lautering and fermentation, some survives into finished beer. These fibers are not present in large quantities, but they are biologically relevant. Soluble fibers contribute to gut health by acting as fermentable substrates for beneficial gut bacteria. Their presence helps counter the “empty calories” narrative by acknowledging that beer contains non-digestible carbohydrates that interact with the microbiome.

Polyphenols: Antioxidants from Grain and Hops

Polyphenols are a broad class of plant-derived compounds with antioxidant properties. In beer, they come from both malt and hops. Common examples include ferulic acid, catechins, and proanthocyanidins. Ferulic acid, in particular, is notable because it survives brewing and fermentation and remains bioactive. Polyphenols contribute to beer’s flavor stability, color, and mouthfeel, while also playing a role in oxidative stress mitigation in the body. Importantly, polyphenols in beer are not added or fortified. They exist because beer is made from plants and processed through fermentation. Their presence does not make beer medicinal, but it does place beer within the broader category of fermented foods that deliver plant-derived antioxidants.

B Vitamins: Fermentation’s Contribution

Yeast doesn’t just make alcohol. During fermentation, yeast synthesizes and releases several B-complex vitamins, including folate (B9), riboflavin (B2), niacin (B3), and pyridoxine (B6). These vitamins play essential roles in energy metabolism, nervous system function, and red blood cell production. While beer is not a primary dietary source of B vitamins, it does contribute meaningfully, especially in unfiltered or minimally processed beers where yeast-derived compounds remain. Folate, in particular, has been studied extensively in beer, and moderate beer consumption has been shown to increase circulating folate levels. Again, this does not make beer a supplement, but it does reinforce that fermentation changes the nutritional profile of grain in ways that extend beyond alcohol production.

Prebiotics and Gut Interactions

Beer contains prebiotic compounds — substances that feed beneficial gut bacteria. These include certain oligosaccharides and soluble fibers that survive brewing and fermentation.

Prebiotics don’t directly improve gut health on their own, but they create an environment that supports beneficial microbial activity. In this sense, beer shares characteristics with other fermented foods, though its alcohol content complicates direct comparisons.

Amino Acids and Nitrogenous Compounds

Beer contains small amounts of free amino nitrogen (FAN) and other nitrogenous compounds that originate from malt proteins broken down during mashing. These compounds are essential for yeast metabolism during fermentation, but trace amounts remain in finished beer.

While not nutritionally significant in isolation, these amino acids contribute to beer’s overall metabolic footprint and help explain why beer behaves differently than distilled spirits, which lack fermentation-derived nutrients.

Alcohol: The Central Variable

Alcohol itself is both the most discussed and most misunderstood component of beer. Chemically, ethanol is energy-dense at seven calories per gram, making it the primary source of beer’s caloric content. From a physiological standpoint, dose and frequency matter far more than presence alone. Moderate consumption produces very different metabolic outcomes than episodic heavy intake. Alcohol affects insulin sensitivity, fat oxidation, and appetite regulation, but those effects depend heavily on pattern, not just quantity.

This is why framing beer as inherently fattening or uniquely harmful oversimplifies the biology involved.

Calories, Weight, and the “Beer Belly” Myth

The idea that beer causes weight gain in a way that other foods or drinks do not has no biochemical basis. Weight gain occurs when caloric intake exceeds expenditure over time. Beer can contribute to that imbalance, but so can any energy source. What beer does contribute is visibility. Cultural familiarity makes beer an easy scapegoat for broader lifestyle patterns involving diet, activity, sleep, and stress. The “beer belly” narrative persists not because beer behaves differently in the body, but because it’s easy to point to.

Low-Alcohol and Non-Alcoholic Beer

Low-alcohol and non-alcoholic beers retain many of the compounds discussed above: polyphenols, silicon, fiber, and B vitamins. Removing alcohol changes beer’s caloric load and metabolic impact, but it doesn’t automatically make the beverage healthier in every context.

Alcohol accounts for most of beer’s calories, but it also interacts with flavor, aroma, and satiety. Stripping it away alters how beer functions both chemically and sensorially. These beers can play a valuable role in moderation strategies, including Dry January, but they are not nutritionally transformative by default.

Beer, Perception, and Cultural Bias

One of the most striking observations is how beer is judged compared to other alcoholic beverages. Beer often becomes the visual shorthand for alcohol in media coverage because it is instantly recognizable. Spirits resemble water. Wine can resemble juice. Beer carries cultural familiarity — and with it, blame. This shapes public perception far more than chemistry.

Context Over Absolutes

None of this reframes beer as a health product. It shouldn’t. But it does reframe beer as a complex fermented beverage with a measurable nutritional footprint — one that deserves a more honest, less reactionary conversation. Health isn’t built or destroyed by a single beverage. It’s shaped by patterns, choices, and understanding. Replacing fear and oversimplification with knowledge allows people to make better decisions for themselves, whatever those decisions may be.

For readers who want to explore these ideas in even greater depth, we recently published a full interview with Dr. Charles Bamforth that expands on the chemistry, physiology, and cultural context behind beer, health, and moderation. Listen to the full interview on youtube or wherever you get your podcasts.