Food & Drink: Trusty’s new craft brew curbs carbs, calories

“I designed the recipe to appeal to those health-conscious, keto-diet folks wanting a ‘healthy beer’ with good hop aroma and great grain flavor,” Martin explained.

But can beer really be healthy?

“It’s a good low-calorie option for people who prefer beer to spirits,” said Jendy Newman, registered dietician and certified diabetes educator at PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center. “The key is mindful consumption.”

She explained that if someone drinks one low-calorie beer, they get the health benefit of consuming fewer calories. But that health benefit disappears if someone drinks a light beer and it makes them hungry and they order high-calorie food, or if they order several light beers.

Daron Deonier, general sales manager and a fitness instructor at Pure Barre in Vancouver, is very careful about what she puts into her body. She blogs and posts on social media as Barre Foodie. She doesn’t usually drink, but occasionally has a hard seltzer because it’s low-calorie and doesn’t contain sulfites like wine. She was pleasantly surprised by the flavor of DLyte.

“It was quite good. I was expecting a light flavor but this was robust with a nutty, hazelnut flavor. It’s a little bitter, but people who like IPAs would like it,” Deonier said.

She said she would be more inclined to drink beer with this kind of low-calorie, flavorful option: “I definitely would order it if I was out.”

Anna Otoupal, a yoga instructor and nurse, may take a sip if her husband orders beer, but typically she’d rather get those extra calories from a dessert. She found DLyte to be refreshing.

“I’m not typically a beer drinker,” she said, “but if I was going to drink beer, I would probably pick that beer — something light and not so much on my conscience.”

I went to Ben’s Bottle Shop to see what craft beer drinkers thought of DLyte. Owner Tim Augustin was impressed.

“No one else is doing this. Gary’s breaking new ground. It definitely tastes nice and malty. This will sell,” he said.

Some of the regulars who were gathered around the bar overheard us and were interested in trying DLyte. Kim Meyer, an opinionated beer aficionado, liked that it was low in calories. She found the taste to be nice and smooth.

“It would be a good rafting beer,” she said. “You can get a nice mellow buzz and keep going.”

DLyte isn’t the only low-calorie, low-carb craft beer around. According to Mike DiFabio, president of the North Bank Brewers Alliance and owner and brewer at Fortside Brewing Company, other local brewers (such as Grains of Wrath, Fortside and 54?40′) have brewed low-alcohol-by-volume (ABV) beer that has lower calories and carbohydrates. Victor 23 Brewing occasionally offers an Adrenaline Sports Ale that’s low-carb and contains electrolytes.

“We’re selling low-ABV by style, not by advertising it as low-calorie and low-carbohydrate,” DiFabio said.

DLyte may not be the first low-calorie, low-carbohydrate craft beer brewed around here, but it’s the first to be specifically marketed that way. Judging from the response I got, it’s likely to be a big seller.

Rachel Pinsky can be emailed at couveeats@gmail.com. Follow her on Instagram @couveeats and @rachelapinsky and on Facebook @couveeats.