Light beers have grown in popularity over the last few years as consumers look to control their alcohol or calorie intake while still enjoying the same (or more) amount of beers they usually drink.

Noon Gun Brewery, a family-run micro-brewery based in Muizenberg, is the latest brewery to target the lighter side of the beer market. Leonard Henning, GM of Noon Gun Brewery, believes that there is a large market eager for light beer in South Africa. “There are many sports enthusiasts who like craft beers, but with the high alcohol content and energy per millilitre, it makes them unable to enjoy as much as they like. With the introduction of the Bombardier Light Lager we can offer the best of both worlds; a great tasting craft beer, but with lower alcohol and reduced kilojoules, making it a perfect beer for sports enthusiasts, people watching their weight or even those who just likes to enjoy a few pints without getting overly intoxicated.”

So what is a light beer exactly? Arno Matthee, Master Brewer of Noon Gun Brewery, says that, generally, any light beer has less alcohol and overall kilojoules compared to its standard version in the market. “Light lager, sometimes spelled ‘lite’ lager, is a scaled down version of the parent lager. Normally about 1% – 2% lower in alcohol by volume (ABV).”

Bombardier Light is around 40% “lighter” than Noon Gun’s standard lager, at only 3.3% ABV it already has 1.5% less alcohol than our standard lager.  “As for energy, it comes in at 132kj/ 100ml, which is quite low while maintaining a great tasting beer,” he points out.

And when it comes to production of light lager, how do traditional breweries compare with Noon Gun Brewery? “Big manufacturers normally use a corn syrup or sugar to make a light beer as these are more fermentable in larger batches. For our light beer we use rice,” explains Henning.

For more information on the Noon Gun Brewery, click here to visit their facebook page.