Calories Calculator

Home Brew Calories Calculator

Estimate the calories in your beer, cider, or wine from your gravity readings and serving size — no lab equipment needed, just the hydrometer readings you already take.

Calories per serving

What you need: The same two hydrometer readings you already take for ABV — Original Gravity (OG) before fermentation and Final Gravity (FG) after. Don't have a hydrometer and trial jar yet? They're essential kit for this and most other calculators on this site.

Calories come from two sources: the alcohol produced during fermentation, and the residual (unfermented) extract left behind in the finished beer. This calculator estimates both from your gravity readings using the standard homebrew approximation.

Example: OG 1.050, FG 1.010, 500ml bottle → approx 167 kcal per bottle.

Note: This is a widely-used estimate (the same method behind our ABV calculator's calorie figure) — it doesn't account for unfermentable sugars from adjuncts like lactose or maltodextrin, which will make the true figure higher than shown here.

Need your gravity readings first? Buy a Wine & Beer Hydrometer and Trial Jar, use our ABV Calculator, or see the full Homebrew Calculators hub for 30 more free brewing tools.

How to estimate calories in home brew

What it does: this calculator estimates the calories in a serving of your beer, cider or wine from the same two hydrometer readings you take for ABV, plus the serving size.

How to use it: enter your original gravity (OG), taken before fermentation, and your final gravity (FG), taken when fermentation has finished. Choose a serving size such as a 568ml pint, then press Calculate.

The formula in plain words: calories come from two places. The alcohol made by the yeast, which the calculator works out from the drop in gravity (ABV = (OG − FG) × 131.25). And the sugars and other extract left behind, which it works out from how far the final gravity sits above 1.000. It adds the two together and scales the total to your serving size. It also gives a rough carbohydrate figure.

Worked example: a beer with an OG of 1.050 and an FG of 1.010 dropped 40 gravity points, which gives an ABV of about 5.3%. A beer that finishes drier, say at 1.005, will have fewer calories from leftover sugar than one that finishes at 1.015, even at a similar strength.

Correct warm readings first with the hydrometer temperature correction calculator.

Frequently Asked Questions
Are the results exact?
No. They are an estimate based on gravity readings. Unfermentable additions such as lactose or maltodextrin add calories that a hydrometer can't fully pick up, so the real figure can be higher.
Why does a sweeter beer have more calories?
Sugar left unfermented still carries calories. Two beers of the same strength can differ if one finishes at a higher final gravity.
Does it work for wine and cider?
Yes. It uses the same OG and FG readings, so it works for any drink you have measured with a hydrometer.