If you’re going to order a drink with dinner, which does less damage: wine, beer, or a cocktail?
Any alcohol is empty calories. But wine or beer beats a cocktail because you typically get fewer calories from them.

Cocktails. Most restaurant chains’ mojitos, Moscow mules, and margaritas deliver 200 to 300 calories. Chili’s Strawberry or Mango Patrón Margarita hits 360. But a classic margarita—tequila, lime, triple sec—in a small glass cuts most of the sugar and hovers around 200 calories.
Frozen blended drinks like piña coladas typically range from 500 to 900 calories. That’s what alcohol, sugar, and ice cream or coconut cream will do. A Cheesecake Factory Strawberry Creamsicle spiked milkshake (930 calories) packs more than a day’s saturated fat and an estimated 13 teaspoons of added sugar.
A few cocktails—a classic martini or Manhattan, for example—aren’t likely to do more damage than a 6 oz. glass of wine.

Wine or beer. Expect around 150 calories in a 6 oz. glass of red or white wine. But a 9 oz. pour has 220. And sangria can hit 200 to 300 calories, thanks to the fruit, juice, liquor, or sugar.
Beer also starts at 150 calories for a 12 oz. can or bottle (100 calories for a light beer). But the calories climb to 200 to 250 in a 16-to-20 oz. draft pour.
Keep in mind: higher-alcohol beers, like Lagunitas IPA or Samuel Adams Rebel IPA, start at around 200 calories for just 12 oz. Ditto for many hard ciders, like Angry Orchard Crisp Apple.
Want more numbers? Find your drink in our chart:
Light Beer (12 oz.) |
Calories |
Budweiser Select 55 |
55 |
Beck’s Premier Light |
60 |
Miller 64 |
64 |
Michelob Ultra Amber |
90 |
Busch Light |
100 |
Coors Light |
100 |
Corona Light |
100 |
Kirin Light |
100 |
Michelob Ultra |
100 |
Michelob Ultra Lime Cactus |
100 |
Miller Lite |
100 |
Natural Light |
100 |
Bud Light |
110 |
Miller High Life Light |
110 |
Bud Light Lime |
120 |
Michelob Light |
120 |
Sam Adams Light |
120 |
Beer (12 oz., unless noted) |
Calories |
Busch |
110 |
Bud Ice |
120 |
Abita Purple Haze |
130 |
Abita Strawberry Lager |
130 |
Guinness Draught |
130 |
Natural Ice |
130 |
Rolling Rock |
130 |
Rolling Rock Amber Lager |
130 |
Beck’s Dark |
140 |
Bud Light Platinum |
140 |
Busch Ice |
140 |
Heineken |
140 |
Miller High Life |
140 |
Omission Lager |
140 |
Pabst Blue Ribbon |
140 |
Yuengling Traditional Lager |
140 |
Beck’s |
150 |
Beck’s Oktoberfest |
150 |
Budweiser |
150 |
Corona Extra |
150 |
Founders All Day IPA |
150 |
Kirin Ichiban |
150 |
Landshark Lager |
150 |
Magic Hat #9 |
150 |
Michelob Amberbock |
150 |
Shock Top Lemon Shandy |
150 |
Yuengling Black & Tan |
150 |
Allagash Saison |
160 |
Allagash White |
160 |
Beck’s Sapphire |
160 |
Michelob Lager |
160 |
New Belgium Fat Tire Amber Ale |
160 |
Sierra Nevada Nooner Pilsner |
160 |
Blue Moon Belgian White |
170 |
Brooklyn Brewery Brooklyn Lager |
170 |
Budweiser Black Crown |
170 |
Guinness Nitro IPA |
170 |
New Belgium Citradelic Tangerine IPA |
170 |
Redd’s Apple Ale |
170 |
Samuel Adams Summer Ale |
170 |
Shock Top Belgian White |
170 |
Victory Prima Pils |
170 |
Best Damn Apple Ale |
180 |
Blue Moon Harvest Pumpkin Ale |
180 |
Blue Moon White IPA |
180 |
Omission Pale Ale |
180 |
Samuel Adams Boston Lager |
180 |
Shock Top Honeycrisp Apple Wheat |
180 |
Shock Top Raspberry Wheat |
180 |
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale |
180 |
Sierra Nevada Porter |
180 |
Lagunitas IPA |
190 |
New Belgium Ranger IPA |
190 |
Samuel Adams Octoberfest |
190 |
Samuel Adams Winter Lager |
190 |
Sierra Nevada Hop Hunter IPA |
190 |
Ballast Point Sculpin India Pale Ale |
200 |
Leffe Blonde (11.2 oz.) |
200 |
Omission IPA |
200 |
Samuel Adams Rebel IPA |
200 |
Sierra Nevada Stout |
210 |
New Belgium Trippel Belgian Style Ale |
220 |
Boulevard Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale |
230 |
New Belgium Rampant Imperial IPA |
230 |
Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA |
240 |
Allagash Black Belgian Style Stout |
250 |
Founders Breakfast Stout |
270 |
Victory Golden Monkey |
270 |
Brooklyn Brewery Black Chocolate Stout |
320 |
Flavored Malt Beverages & Hard Sodas (11-12 oz., unless noted) |
Calories |
Mikes Lite Hard Lemonade |
150 |
Henrys Hard Orange Soda |
190 |
Bud Light Lime Lemon-Ade-Rita (8 oz.) |
200 |
Bud Light Lime Mang-O-Rita (8 oz.) |
200 |
Bud Light Lime Straw-Ber-Rita (8 oz.) |
200 |
Best Damn Cherry Cola |
210 |
Bud Light Lime Straw-Ber-Rita Splash |
210 |
Smirnoff Ice Original |
210 |
Bartles & Jaymes Fuzzy Navel |
220 |
Bud Light Lime Lime-A-Rita (8 oz.) |
220 |
Henry’s Hard Cherry Cola |
220 |
Henrys Hard Ginger Ale |
220 |
Mikes Hard Lemonade |
220 |
Mikes Hard Mango Punch |
230 |
Bartles & Jaymes Margarita |
240 |
Best Damn Root Beer |
240 |
Bartles & Jaymes Piña Colada |
250 |
Hard Seltzer (12 oz.) |
Calories |
Truly Spiked & Sparkling¹ |
100 |
Nauti Seltzer¹ |
110 |
White Claw Hard Seltzer¹ |
110 |
Spiked Seltzer¹ |
140 |
Hard Cider (12 oz.) |
Calories |
Michelob Ultra Light |
120 |
Strongbow Gold Apple |
170 |
Stella Artois Cidre |
180 |
Angry Orchard Crisp Apple |
190 |
Johnny Appleseed |
210 |
Wine (6 oz., unless noted) |
Calories |
Skinnygirl¹ |
120 |
Arbor Mist Chardonnay Peach (8 oz.) |
150 |
Arbor Mist Pinot Grigio White Pear (8 oz.) |
150 |
Red (Merlot, Pinot Noir, Syrah, Zinfandel, etc.)¹ |
150 |
White (Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Riesling, etc.)¹ |
150 |
Arbor Mist White Zinfandel Strawberry (8 oz.) |
160 |
Korbel Brut California Champagne |
160 |
Skinnygirl Sangria |
160 |
Arbor Mist Arborita (8 oz.)¹ |
170 |
Sweet dessert (3.5 oz.) |
170 |
Barefoot Refresh Perfectly Pink Spritzer (8 oz.) |
180 |
White, late harvest |
210 |
Non-Alcoholic (12 oz., unless noted) |
Calories |
Busch NA |
60 |
Coors Non-Alcoholic |
60 |
Fre Alcohol-Removed Wine (6 oz.)¹ |
60 |
ODouls Non-Alcoholic Brew |
70 |
O’Doul’s Amber Non-Alcoholic Brew |
90 |
St. Pauli N.A. |
90 |
Liquor & Liqueur (1.5 oz.) |
Calories |
Pimms No. 1 |
80 |
Gin, rum, tequila, vodka, or whiskey¹ |
100 |
Baileys Irish Cream |
140 |
Créme de menthe |
190 |
Restaurant Mixed Drinks (1 drink) |
Calories |
Red Lobster Manhattan or Martini |
160 |
California Pizza Kitchen Moscow Mule |
180 |
TGI Fridays House Mojito |
180 |
Applebee’s Apple Sangria |
220 |
Red Robin House Margarita |
220 |
Olive Garden Peach Sangria |
230 |
Uno Classic Mojito |
240 |
Applebee’s Blackberry Sangria |
270 |
Yard House Moscow Mule |
280 |
Applebee’s Perfect Patrón Margarita |
290 |
Red Lobster Strawberry Mojito |
290 |
The Cheesecake Factory Pineapple Moscow Mule |
290 |
Chili’s Patrón Margarita |
310 |
Chili’s Blueberry & Pineapple Margarita |
340 |
Chili’s Mango or Strawberry Patrón Margarita |
360 |
Red Robin Long Island Iced Tea |
400 |
The Cheesecake Factory Piña Colada |
490 |
Red Lobster Mudslide |
540 |
Red Robin Blue Moon Beer Shake |
650 |
Red Robin Baileys Irish Cream Shake |
720 |
The Cheesecake Factory Strawberry Creamsicle |
930 |
¹ Average of more than one variety. Note: Most calories are rounded to the nearest 10.
Sources: company information and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Photos: fotolia.com: © mateusz (cocktail), © exclusive-design (wine).
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Thank you . Shall pass this imp news.
I switched from Sierra Nevada Torpedo IPA to Founders All Day IPA and can definitely feel the difference when working out the next morning, fewer calories are better.
what are the calories in plain tequila?? Or tequila and clamato juice? thank you
Tequila contains approximately 100 calories per 1 1/2 ounces. Clamato nutrition facts are available here: https://www.clamato.com/en/products/clamato-original
Quite an informative article on the many forms in which we are able to ingest alcohol. Counting calories is certainly an important aspect of maintaining good health and ideal body weight. It is unfortunate, for those of us who are health conscious individuals, that you fail to mention that alcohol is a Class 1 carcinogen. (look it up on any carcinogen data base) Alcohol found in all alcoholic beverages causes cancer. Exactly how much is subject to a number of variables as with any carcinogen. Even though California law requires a warning label for any product containing a carcinogen somehow, the alcohol industry has been able to evade this law. I think that consumers need to understand all of the serious risks involved in consuming alcohol and not just the number of calories present even though it may not sit well with your advertisers.
Thank you for your comment on an important issue. I’ve included a link below to a recent article discussing some of the cancer risk associated with alcohol consumption. To clarify, Nutrition Action does not accept any paid advertising or corporate or government funding.
In addition to its effects on cancer risk, alcohol is responsible for 88,000 deaths in the United States each year. It’s a factor in about 60 percent of fatal burns, drownings, and homicides, 50 percent of severe trauma injuries and sexual assaults, and 40 percent of fatal motor vehicle crashes, suicides, and fatal falls.
https://www.nutritionaction.com/daily/heart-and-disease-cat/breast-cancer-defense/
I was surprised to see no sparkling wines included in this list such as the Asti Spumanti wines.
Thanks for the info on the Hard Ciders which I drink occasionally during the hot summer months. Their calorie count really surprised me!
What about the spiced rum, or flavored vodkas? Do they have more calories than straight rum or vodka?
Thanks for info on my wines,,Will share with Facebook..
Readers (or Nutrition Action) might want to consider nonalcoholic wines. They have the polyphenols and other antioxidants without the harmful (though, admittedly, pleasant (at least in moderation)) alcohol. You can drink them throughout the day with no concern about driving and their calories are far less without the alcohol.