Hard Seltzer is becoming a common complement in the US brewing portfolio, but it is still a new beverage option in most countries. So, what is hard seltzer?
Hard seltzer, or hard sparkling alcohol water, is a type of highball drink containing carbonated water, alcohol, and flavorings (often from fruit). It is usually made by fermenting a sugar solution, or sometimes a malted barley solution, which yields an alcohol base to which fruit or other flavors can be added. Hard seltzer typically has a final alcohol by volume (ABV) around 5%.
The concept of a malt beverage started in the 1980s, in both US and Australia. Zima is the most famous example in the US, and in 1993 the Australian Two Dogs Brewery paved the way for hard seltzer when they brewed the first alcoholic lemonade. The modern hard seltzer concept took off around 2018, and White Claw in North America is the top-selling hard seltzer brand today.
What are the benefits of producing hard seltzer and including it in the brewing portfolio?
When you have the setup for the beer production, you also have the setup and knowhow to produce good hard seltzer, so the start-up costs are very low. Hard seltzer is easy to produce. You only need water, a sugar source, yeast, nutrients and some fruit or flavoring. It also takes one-third of the time to produce a batch of hard seltzer as it does to produce one batch of beer, which helps breweries optimize their production schedule and profitability.
These days, drinkers are looking for increased variety in bar beverages, so it is great to have a new, different, tasty beverage option in your portfolio. Hard seltzer has a reputation as being healthier, and typically contains less calories than beer. It is also highly quaffable and is frequently gluten-free.
What parameters are important when producing and packaging hard seltzer?
As with all other beverage products, hard seltzer must apply to national or regional alcohol regulations. You have to make sure that the ABV% is correctly declared on the packaging, and in most places, the permitted deviation of hard seltzer ABV is very low. So, alcohol is definitely the most important parameter when analyzing hard seltzer.
pH is another important parameter. A pH of 3.1 is a good target for hard seltzer, making your product sour but crisp. Also, a lower pH inhibits the growth of microbes in bottles or cans, making it a more shelf-stable product. The pH measure also indicates if the fermentation has finished, and this is critical to avoid re-fermentation/exploding cans and product recalls.
Calories are a third important parameter for hard seltzer. The product is known for being a healthier alcoholic alternative, and many hard seltzer consumers will look at the calories on the label. Knowing the caloric content is of great commercial and regulatory importance when producing hard seltzer. Happily, you can measure each of these three parameters on BeerFoss FT Go's new hard seltzer analytics package.
What is your favorite hard seltzer?
Unfortunately, there are not a lot of craft hard seltzers in Denmark, yet. But attending CBC in Minneapolis, I got to taste a lot of nice products. Visiting the Lab in Saint Paul, I remember drinking a particularly good one 😊
