IC Light Review: Why You Should Consider Trying This Light Lager

IC Light is a crisp and smooth-tasting light lager from Pittsburgh Brewing Co., Pennsylvania, United States.

The craft beer is brewed to provide a healthy alternative to beer drinks because it’s low in carbs and calories. If you’re on a weight loss program, you probably want to know more about this beer. Therefore, follow this complete review until the end to confirm if it’s something you’d love.

IC Light Stats

Tasting Notes

IC Light Review

Light beers are brewed to have low calories and carbs compared to traditional lagers, but this isn’t at the expense of quality aromas and flavors. Also, these beers incorporate adjuncts like corn, rice, or honey to reduce the alcohol content to a great extent.

Now let’s review the characteristics of IC Light to see how it fits into this beer style. Take note that IC stands for Iron City, so don’t mistake it for an ice beer or something else.

– Appearance

IC Light appears clear and pale golden with average carbonation bubbles. The white soapy head is about a finger-thick and falls rather quickly, leaving not much lacing on the glass wall.

– Aroma

You shouldn’t expect much from this beer because it’s light. The aroma is so mild that you may not quickly pick a scent. However, if you sniff closely, you may pick sweet malt notes plus yeasty hints. Also, the hop character and alcohol presence is not distinct.

– Mouthfeel

This premium light-bodied beer has aggressive carbonation, giving a bubbly bite on the tongue.

Interestingly, the carbonation helps cleanse the palate when paired with fish tacos, pizza kebabs, bruschetta, french fries, donuts, fried chicken, hotdogs, and veggie omelets. Keep reading as we’ll discuss more food options in later sections.

Also, the hop spice and alcohol warmth are delicate, and the beer finishes dry. Thus, this beer is a perfect refresher on a sunny day or after a stressful week.

– Flavor

The Iron City beer tastes like a watered-down pils, and while there is nothing special about this beer, there is also no awful character to it. The flavor is a mix of slightly sweet malt that lingers into the finish with corn notes and hints of spicy hops. Overall, it is more flavorful than some light beers.

– Food Pairings

So far, we’ve been able to unravel IC Light’s organoleptic characteristics; now, let’s find out the kind of food you should pair with it. As mentioned earlier, this beer is light-bodied, so it is best served with similar delicate dishes like sweet potato, noodles, salad, rice, canapé, and pasta with light sauce. Also, it’s fit to contrast creamed cheese, grilled veal, chicken, rabbit, duck, or turkey, burgers, and spicy dishes like Thai steak salad, marinated pork, grilled Mexican chorizo, Thai prawn curry, spicy tuna roll, and kofta kebabs.

Cheeses are good beer companions, so consider the likes of Colby, Spanish cabrales, swiss, feta, mascarpone, fontina, brie, and stilton. IC Light also pairs well with salty snacks like popcorn, roasted green peas, edamame, baked carrot chips, potato chips, seaweed chips, pickles, bison jerky, cheese crackers, roasted chickpeas, and pita chips.

In addition, you can combine it with sweet desserts like cheesecake, banana pudding, lemon tart, corn chips, chocolate, vanilla cake, apple pie, and fruit salads. Other valid options include mussels, shrimp, pastries, smoked salmon bites, apple pie, swordfish tartare, buffalo wings, sweet soups, and spicy Mexican and Thai varieties. Don’t be strict with these food pairings, as there is room to explore more options.

Ingredients

While the IC Light’s ingredients are not stated on the label, the beer’s tasting notes suggest that it contains the following:

• Barley malt
• Water
• Hops
• Yeast
• Corn

Nutrition Facts

IC Light calories are 95, with 2.8g of carbohydrates and 1g of proteins. You should avoid certain beers when trying to lose weight, but IC Light is definitely not one to avoid because of its low carbs and calories.

Also, the beer’s alcohol content is between mid and low at 4.2 percent. So ordinarily, one or two bottles shouldn’t shake you. However, you’re advised not to drink beyond your limits to avoid adverse effects.

History

IC Light is brewed by Pittsburgh Brewing Company (PBC), previously Iron City Brewing Company in Pennsylvania. The brewery, founded by Edward Frauenheim in 1861, was among the pioneer brewers of lagers in America. Other beer styles from PBC include Munich Dunkel, bock, adjunct lager, malt liquor, imperial red ale, pumpkin, and fruit beers.

Prohibition in 1920 caused many breweries to stop operations; however, PBC didn’t. Instead, the brewery transitioned into making ice cream and soft drinks, sustaining it until 1933 when the prohibition was lifted. As of 1977, PBC was among the few active breweries in the US, and in that year, the brewery released a new beer called Iron City (IC) Light to rebuild its name in the beer industry. This light beer campaign focused more on the younger population.

Other variants of IC Light released many years later include IC Light Mango, Berry, Light Twist Lime & Coconut, Pumped Mango, and Twist Cherry. IC Light is available in 12 fl.oz cans in 15-packs, 1-pint cans, and 6-packs on 12fl.oz bottles.

Conclusion

If you completed this review, you should now know why IC Light is a healthy alternative to higher ABV lagers, so don’t hesitate to grab a can or bottle when visiting a beer store. Here is a recap of our review:

• IC Light has 4.2 percent alcohol content.
• The beer is light-bodied with lively carbonation on the tongue.
• The beer pours clear gold with a finger-thick white head that doesn’t linger.
• The flavor is a mix of slightly sweet malt with corn notes and spicy hop hints.

Another interesting fact about this beer is that you can consume it any time of the day so remember to pair it with your favorite foods. You can get this beer in stores all across the country.