My latest article for The Bulletin came out this past Thursday, wherein I tackle a topic that continues to take the beer and drinks world by storm: Hard seltzer bubble over beer market. I’d tasted maybe a handful of hard seltzers prior to writing this, so I dove in and tasted a bunch of the locals—yes, there are Central Oregon breweries making hard seltzer.

The hottest trend in the beer world right now isn’t beer, it’s hard seltzer. Perhaps you’ve seen hard seltzers on the shelves and thought it was this era’s Zima or wine cooler. Perhaps you’re already a fan. Regardless, it’s capturing a large segment of the market, and it’s time to take a deeper look. What drives the appeal of hard seltzer? In part, simplicity. At its core, hard seltzer is essentially alcoholic sparkling water. It capitalizes on the popularity of (non-alcoholic) seltzers such as Bubly and La Croix, and the top brands capture this easy-drinking essence with a splash of flavor and alcohol.

There is a health and lifestyle factor as well. Brewed with cane sugar and (occasionally) fruit, most seltzers are gluten free. They are generally low calorie, low carb, and most top out at 5% alcohol by volume. White Claw hard seltzer and Truly hard seltzer, the two top-selling brands, are each 100 calories per 12 ounce serving, with 2 grams of carbs.

Hard seltzer sales have grown dramatically in the past several years, even outpacing craft beer. White Claw alone accounted for more than half of all sales for 2019. Truly, a division of Boston Beer Company, followed with nearly a quarter of the market share.

Craft brewers have taken notice, and many have introduced their own versions, including several here in Central Oregon.

The local hard seltzer brewers include Seven Peaks (from Avid Cider), 10 Barrel Brewing, Kobold Brewing, and Spider City Brewing. Three Creeks Brewing had a seltzer but it wasn’t available at the time I was writing. I also included the Blueberry Hard Seltzer from Public Coast Brewing that the brewery sent to me, and helped to be the impetus to start this article. You can check out the article for tasting notes on the seltzers, and I have some bonus material to share as well—I reached out to several of the locals for thoughts on seltzer and the process of making it.

The questions I asked were:

• I know the general formula is cane sugar, water, fruit/flavorings, and fermentation, though I’m seeing some variations. What was your approach to brewing a seltzer/developing a recipe?
• How quickly can you brew a batch of seltzer versus a regular beer?
• What are your thoughts on hard seltzers in general?

I quoted some of the answers in the article, but here are the full replies:

Steve Anderson, Owner/Brewing, Kobold Brewing

Hello Jon, there are multiple ways to create hard seltzer; but at Kobold Brewing we are fermenting cane sugar then adding fruit, clarifying and carbonating. We experimented with corn sugar and we have tried multiple varieties of yeast and nutrient and have settled on a wine yeast and nutrient. The most difficulty we have had is getting the Hard Seltzer to ferment in a reasonable amount of time. With support from AEB Biochemical, and after brewing many batches, we have found the proper handling procedures for this yeast and nutrient and have reduced the fermentation time to match most everything else we brew, keeping it on a proper schedule for our brewhouse.

We have had excellent reviews of our seltzer and it is selling well at The Vault Taphouse. Customers find it very refreshing. We have only sold it at our taphouse so far but are going to distribute a batch that will be kegged on August 26th with Point Blank Distribution throughout Central Oregon in 1/2 barrel and 1/6 barrel kegs.

Melanie Betti, Owner, Spider City Brewing

• Our approach is to keep seltzers as clean as possible. We like using fresh fruit not extract like other companies as it imparts a truer flavor and is a more organic approach.
• In our experience brewing seltzers can take anywhere from two and a half to three weeks. We also do a diacetyl rest on all of our seltzers just like our beers.
• Hard seltzers are a great alternative if you are not in the mood for beer or are gluten free. When done right, hard seltzers are flavorful, low calorie and dry.

Jimmy Seifrit, Brewmaster, 10 Barrel Brewing

Note: I didn’t get this response until after the article deadline, so didn’t get a chance to include it in The Bulletin article.

• Clean Line is a cane sugar fermentation. We used Mango White Claw as our target. White Claw has an over ripe Mango flavor and we went more for a perfectly picked dry mango flavor to create some differentiation.
• From start to finish it takes 14 days. The longest part of the process is the fermentation for we strive to go negative 1 plato with our fermentation.
• I find making seltzers fun because of the challenge of creating a product that is water clear with a no fermentation flavor. It is a very detailed regiment to achieve this that makes it rewarding when we hit the mark.

A note on availability: Seven Peaks and Clean Line are available in stores, Kobold is on tap but available to-go in growlers and crowlers, Spider City is available on tap only, and Public Coast is in cans but I don’t believe will be distributed beyond the north coast/Portland area.