Wide range of Hard Seltzers available in market now
What is Hard Seltzer?
In a nutshell, Hard Seltzer is carbonated water and alcohol(ethanol), that's it. Typically alcohol content is up to 5% ABV. Seltzer ideally contains no flavor, no sugar, no color and nothing else. Having said that, many versions of Hard Seltzer in market today, contain added flavors.
Summer-sale trend of Hard Seltzer in US (May '19 to May '21)
History
Hard Seltzer has taken the world by storm in recent years. The word Seltzer was relatively unknown until 2015. A similar type of alcoholic beverages called Alcopops were available in commonwealth countries prior to seltzer. Alcopops were almost exclusively "blended" and not fermented.
In 2019, internet influencer and YouTube celebrity Trevor Wallace posted a video called "drinks White Claw once". This video went viral and was watched 6.7 million times. The aftermath of this video made White Claw and other Hard Seltzer brand sales skyrocket. In fact the sales exploded in such a manner that the White Claw reported shortage in supply within a month.
Alcopops: Predecessor to Hard Seltzer(?)
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Hard Seltzer is usually promoted as a healthier alternative to other alcoholic beverages. Less calories and "gluten free" are used as key strategies to promote seltzer. Social ads and marketing often employ healthy people to encourage seltzer drinking. However Government Bodies and Health Care professionals have warned that anything containing alcohol is definitely not a health drink. Which we all know, rings true more or less.
Commercial Production of Hard Seltzer
Industrial brewing of seltzer is pretty straight forward. Sugar wash or malt/rice wort is fermented with a blend of nutrients and then either distilled or filtered in multiple steps using active carbon, DE and/or membrane filters. Derived clear seltzer is then blended with water if necessary to achieve desired ABV. This mixture is then force carbonated and canned. Since Seltzer ideally contains nearly nothing more than water and alcohol, it has a very long shelf life.
Commercial Hard Seltzer brewing process; Courtesy: winemag.com
Homebrewing a Hard Seltzer?
As homebrewers we all know that it's nearly impossible to brew anything that tastes clean like water. If you ferment a mix of water, plain sugar and yeast, you'll most likely end up with something that smells and tastes worse than motor-fuel. Yeast require more to thrive and propagate than plain sugar. Also the yeast we use have to be extremely nutral and highly flocculent.
After a series of experiments we have finally nailed down a recipe for clean seltzer without producing any off flavors. Recipe includes a blend of sugars and nutrients that work best for seltzer. Also the yeast strain we have used is neutral and flocculent, similar to WLP051 and Kölsch/California Common strains. With added advantage that it can brew at room temperature (not in upper 30s like Kveik though). We have also added an accurate amount of water salt blend to balance water chemistry and to keep pH in check.
After kegging the Seltzer for 5 days at 4°C we did a taste test. The seltzer tested like, well... soda water! However we could detect alcohol after a few sips once the warmth was felt in our stomachs.
The recipe kits are out with carefully chosen flavor options for pre-order at discounted rates initially. Also, do feel free to message us with your favorite flavor request and we'll try our best to include them.
Currently Available Hard Seltzer Kits:
Plain Hard Seltzer, spontaneously seasoned at the time of pouring