I’ve been writing about beer for well over 20 years, which gives me a bit of perspective, and a few biases, too. Unlike some others, though, I’ve never been all in on the idea of craft beer as a kind of purity test for what to drink.
Back before the pandemic and social distancing, you might have found me at a local bar on a Friday evening, nursing a stubby bottle of Coors Banquet, quite possibly accompanied by a lingering shot of bourbon.
But, hard seltzer? That’s been a generational chasm I just couldn’t jump over. Besides its generally insipid fruit-flavored fizziness, it’s positioned in the marketplace more like an alcohol delivery system than a beverage with any kind of history or tradition, let alone an invitation to contemplation.
Most hard seltzer is made with diluted high-proof ethanol, and the “fruit” you smell and taste likely is artificial — though that hasn’t prevented the most popular brand, White Claw, from becoming a low-cal, low-carb cultural phenomenon.
Last year, the headline on a story for the Daily Beast by longtime beer and spirits writer Lew Bryson asked: “How the Hell Is White Claw Hard Seltzer Outselling Budweiser?”
The quick answer: “Millennials are drinking staggering amounts of hard seltzer instead of beer.” And, Bryson’s wary conclusion: “Hard seltzers are just getting started.”
Now, judging from the overflow of slender white cans in the trash around the park near where I live, hard seltzer is the official beverage of the pandemic. Some recent news stories seem to confirm that hunch.
Over Memorial Day weekend, a man who attended a wild, overcrowded pool party in Missouri told BuzzFeed News: “Now that I think about it, probably not a great idea, but there’s no law when you’re drinking the Claw,” referring to White Claw.
I’m not saying that hard seltzer drinkers are irresponsible, or even that they are less than discerning. I always say drink what you like; just understand what it is, and how it’s made.
Of course, many Atlanta breweries have been getting into the hard seltzer game, recently — mostly, it seems, because, as craft beer struggles with competition from spirits and wine, hard seltzer is something brewers can make easily, and even cheaply.
In February, SweetWater launched its year-round, fruit-flavored, terpene-infused hard seltzer lineup, dubbed Hydroponics. It follows in the footsteps of the brewery’s successful 420 Strain beers, which evoke the aroma of cannabis.
“Hydro is a new hard and heady seltzer brewed for the 420 lifestyle,” is how SweetWater describes its 100-calorie, 5% alcohol offerings, which are touted as having natural flavors, 1 gram of sugar, 1 gram of carbs, and being naturally gluten-free.
Second Self Beer Co. is producing Rudi’s Hard Seltzer, with seemingly healthful flavors like ginger turmeric, and a portion of sales going to Atlanta charities.
Scofflaw launched its hard seltzer in 16-ounce cans, and one flavor is a take on its popular POG (passion fruit, orange and guava) tropical IPA.
I’ve tried them, but, I have to admit, I still wasn’t impressed.
Then came a press release for Narwater craft hard seltzer from Monday Night Brewing that read: “Narwater is distinct from its competitors because it is (1) made with 100% real fruit and (2) brewed via natural fermentation and time.”
I was intrigued enough that I decided I should figure out whether Narwater was any different, from a sensory perspective.
I sat down with the Monday Night team at the Garage in West End and sampled the Narwater lineup, which includes key lime cherry, blueberry raspberry, mango guava and grapefruit pineapple.
Brewmaster Peter Kiley grinned and told me straight-up he never wanted to make hard seltzer.
“Being fairly young and hyper-opinionated, I hated the idea,” Kiley said. “I thought, it’s not us. It’s not what we do, using extracts and stuff like that. I just never wanted that to be us. But, the guys said, figure out a way to make it so you can be proud of it.”
As it turned out, that took about a year and a half, but Kiley said he loved the process. And, in the end, what he created was a fully fermented product, using Georgia cane sugar, and a complicated process of filtration that he compared with making quality vodka.
“And, then, from there, we also found the most expensive way to make this,” he said, laughing. “It’s not just that we’re using real fruit; it’s that it’s the processing of real fruit, so it’s been a real challenge. But, knowing how much more work it is, our entire team is so much more turned on by the idea of it. And, it is something we’re genuinely proud of.”
Did I love it? That would be going too far, but I was very impressed.
I liked that Narwater poured like a naturally carbonated beer, with a head, and some lacing in the glass. The flavors tasted like real fruit, with real sugars. The aromas were surprisingly complex, and the colors looked natural.
But, I wondered, why two fruits per flavor?
“I wanted them to play together, and I wanted them to play off each other,” Kiley explained. “One is more of an aroma fruit, and the other is going to be more of a flavor fruit.”
In addition to being made with real ingredients, Narwater has 95 calories and 2 grams of sugar (which is naturally occurring in the fruit), is naturally gluten free, and is just 4.7% alcohol.
Still, despite all that going for it, will it sell in the Atlanta market?
Hard seltzer sales here are “about 50% White Claw right now,” said Adam Tolsma, beer buyer for Green’s Beverages. In fact, he said, “it’s on allocation from the distributor, because they don’t have enough to supply the market.”
Truly is second, Tolsma said, at roughly 30%, “and everything else is jockeying for the next 20%. Monday Night and Scofflaw are definitely the big sellers from Atlanta brewers.”
Recently, Monday Night decided to take on the market leaders with a Trade in Your Claws event at the brewery.
“It went really well,” Monday Night co-founder Jonathan Baker said. “We went through 100 cases.”
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