Photo by Tom Sharrow/SoNourished.com

When you think of drinks that are safe to consume on a low-carb or ketogenic diet, beer is usually last on the list of acceptable options. One South African company is looking to change that and giving low-carb dieters the power to enjoy hops again. Toast Ale, a Cape Town-based brewing company, claims that they have created an innovative and never-before-seen beer creating process that both limits the number of carbs and calories enjoyed with each drink, but also limits the amount of waste created with each batch. If you are as invested in the health of the environment as you are in that of your body, Toast Ale may be the right beer for you.

A new brewing process

Toast Ale employs a new brewing process that minimizes the toll taken on the environment by recycling ingredients and materials.  Toast Ale replaces 1/3rd of their raw ingredients with bread. While this may not seem like an avenue to low-carb beer, the truth is that the bread actually contributes fewer carbohydrates to the beer because it has already gone through its own baking process. This allows the bread to break down sugars faster. The end result is a beer that needs less additional yeast to brew and which contains fewer carbohydrates than competitors. Toast Ale executives also claim that this new brewing process also contributes to a beer that contains fewer calories as well. A single bottle of Toast Ale contains about 150 calories, which is about half of the average full-carb beer.

Can a beer help cure hunger?

Bread is one of the most frequently consumed foods in the world. Unfortunately, many people do not have access to even this simple necessity. Hunger is a massive problem in South Africa, but it can be difficult to move the excess bread to those in need before it goes bad and becomes inedible.

Toast Ale seeks to solve this problem by using bread that is too close to expiration to feed to the hungry in their brewing process. This bread is safe to consume but would have otherwise been discarded because it would not be able to be kept long enough to make it through transportation. Toast Ale's goal is to make this bread a viable product once again and donates a portion of their profits to Soil for Life, a nonprofit organization that helps underprivileged South African citizens train for a career in agriculture.

What's next for Toast Ale?

So, how does Toast Ale taste? According to brewers, the beer has top notes of citrus and caramel and maintains an underlying base flavor of biscuits.

If you're looking to order a Toast Ale for yourself to enjoy with dinner, you'll have to be in the Cape Town area; the company is currently only serving customers within South Africa. However, Toast Ale also maintains an online store that allows customers in the United Kingdom and the United States to order their own responsible beer and keep up-to-date with international stockists.1

NUTRITIONAL DISCLAIMER

The content on this website should not be taken as medical advice and you should ALWAYS consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. We provide nutritional data for our recipes as a courtesy to our readers. We use Total Keto Diet app software to calculate the nutrition and we remove fiber and sugar alcohols, like erythritol, from the total carbohydrate count to get to the net carb count, as they do not affect your blood glucose levels. You should independently calculate nutritional information on your own and not rely on our data. The website or content herein is not intended to cure, prevent, diagnose or treat any disease. This website shall not be liable for adverse reactions or any other outcome resulting from the use of recipes or recommendations on the Website or actions you take as a result. Any action you take is strictly at your own risk.

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