Helter Skeltzer
A few weeks ago I was sitting in a craft beer conference listening to CEO’s and/or chief marketing officers for 4 large California Craft Breweries whine and complain. Don’t get me wrong, 2021 following 2020 is a rough time to own a brewery and I realize this, but they were not complaining solely about that hardship for nearly half of their allotted time on stage. No, they chose to use their precious time (and ours) complaining about Seltzers.
I'm talking about four people who are so influential not just to their respective companies but to the industry at large - on stage just backing each other up holding hands talking about how awful the stuff is. Then complaining about the state of the seltzer market and what it could mean going forward for other alcohol beverages and just overall the refusal to make and market the stuff.
There I am, the Sacramento Beer Boy listening to 4 movers and shakers just boo hooing about the dreaded Seltzer craze. I was excited for this part of the conference as it was the final presentation to be done and because I respect these breweries for what they have done within the industry and simply because I like their beer, but man I was holding myself back from asking the question, “Why are you all so scared of Seltzers? How are they so different from other styles of alcoholic beverage served that you cannot give it the time of day to produce, yet at this panel have decided to dedicate half your time to crying about it?” I held my tongue. I sat waiting for the conversation to shift, which it did, and I will touch on that later.
First I want to give you, dear beautiful reader some background information to assist in understanding why I am so off put by what I was hearing. Nice shirt by the way, it compliments your eyes nicely.
Seltzer? I hardly knew her!
So what is a Seltzer? It may seem very foreign from craft beer on the surface and relatively speaking it can be. Some seltzers are just vodka with flavoring mixed into carbonated water. There are also seltzers that use other liquors, most notably is the use of Tequila but these are known as a different beverage by the name of Ranch Water. I will touch on that more later as well. The way most breweries make Seltzers however is by taking brewing sugar, adding to water to then ferment. Once fermented, fruit additives are thrown in and the beverage is then carbonated.
The process seems quite simple right? Sugar water that you add yeast to, then some fruit and force carbonate? Easy peasy lemon squeezy. So why are all these craft breweries acting all stressy zesty lemon depressy? Many reasons first being it isn't just that easy. When you add yeast to wort (the sugar water solution created in the brewing process of a normal beer, the sugar having been extracted from malted grain) the wort contains other nutrients that the yeast needs in order to ferment the liquid that brewer's sugar and water alone do not have. To make up for this, brewers will need to add nutrients during the fermentation process to ensure the fermentation is successful or use a specialized yeast that contains these nutrients, though the final product usually yields more of a hazy seltzer which is less than desirable for most. It is possible to make a seltzer from grain, but is not common since a big part of seltzer is to yield a clean crisp beverage that malted grain tends to muddy up with unwanted flavors. Hops can mask and meld with this type of flavor profile far better than fruit.
Mad bro?
So it is not as easy as it seems to produce, but why else are the big craft breweries upset? The market. Currently just little over 90% of the market for seltzer is between four main brands all owned by big beer and beverage companies. In the summer of 2019 seltzers exploded with the popularity of a hard seltzer by the name of White Claw. The easy to drink refreshing, relatively low calorie and carb alcoholic beverage was a hit along with another brand called Truly and soon Bud Light Seltzer to name just a couple others. Some craft breweries started to make seltzers just to compete or to focus on beer styles that non-beer drinkers would want like Gose and Berliner Weisse styles, but many larger craft breweries held back. By the end of 2019 it was clear to some of these breweries that they would need to invest in the new style but for most it was too late. These breweries would need to buy equipment to produce these seltzers separate from current equipment so they could keep a foothold in the beer market as well as develop seltzers that could compete. Then, COVID-19.
Big beer had jumped early on the seltzer train and were in the perfect position to flood the market during lockdown and after when shelter in place was lifted and there were still heavy restrictions on going out. Craft breweries of all sizes focused on staying afloat and definitely were not looking to invest in a market that was dominated by big beer.
So the market is stacked against craft breweries and it's not the super simple beverage to perfect. Any other reasons? Yep, the last one I will touch on has to do with the people who brew craft beer, the people who enjoy craft beer the most and the overall refusal, because of stubbornness, to evolve and accept new styles of not only beverages but beer styles in general.
“I don't wanna make that!” “Pshh I don’t wanna drink that” “Is it even Beer?!” All these are things being said about Seltzers, some by brewers and some by craft beer enthusiasts. They see the beverage as an attack on craft beer, some see it as cutting corners and making a dull product while others seem to think that it's a passing fad. This mentality isn't new though. When Hazy IPA beer styles first started to gain interest many brewers refused to brew them. They saw the style as lazy, you just dry hop the heck out of a beer and the hop aroma and flavors will hide slip ups in the brewing process not to mention it’s easier to make a beer cloudy than it is to make one that is clear and clean. Today it’s hard to find a craft brewery of any size that doesnt have at least one on tap and if you distribute you would be crazy not to have one on the shelf. This happened and is still happening with Sour styles of beer too. I would say Ciders as well but they fit into a different category technically which I don’t have the time to touch on right now.
Naturally we have seen a shift and many breweries at least offer a seltzer option in their taproom whether it be their own or a guest tap but they still are not attempting to mass produce to market for the most part even now when almost all COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted. Why is this?
Healthy options you say?
Seltzers are part of the greater category of healthy alternative beverages to beer. Seltzers are lower in carbohydrates and calories than beer. There is also hard kombucha which claims the same along with Ranch Water which are all easy to drink alternatives to beer. Then there is non-alcoholic craft beer which is growing in popularity. But you may ask, “Sac Beer Boy, why do these other types of beverage matter when we are talking strictly about Seltzers and craft breweries holding off from bringing them to market?” Well reader let me explain.
When I was sitting in that conference, the consensus was that the breweries represented were all not thinking of making a mass produced seltzer. One brewery isn't because they have been seeing success with an easy to drink watermelon beer, another was brewing a 19% option for consumption only in the taproom, and the other had recently started selling and distributing hard Kombucha. The fourth had stated they weren't going to do anything other than beer, they were the smallest brewery of the four.
I held back a laugh. Hypocrites. They were saying how seltzer isn’t beer, how it’s a terrible market to attempt to enter. Every time they even said the word “Seltzer” they said it with a smirk acting as if it was trash water and a joke. But hey, one will make a hard kombucha because you have to brew it and it’s more difficult not to mention the market is still wide open for good hard kombuchas. One makes a seltzer nearing 20% alcohol as what, a joke? Maybe because doing so is more difficult? That decision to me is ridiculous as the appeal of seltzers is to be easy drinking, refreshing and supposed to be a relatively healthy option. This brewery is so blind to what drives the seltzer craze it’s laughable. Then, the brewery making the hard kombucha also explained they would soon be selling hard tea, same as the watermelon beer brewery.
So these breweries will make alternatives to beer, if they are more difficult to brew? No, it's simply because they aren't seltzers. Because of the market and because I presume they would be embarrassed for their brand to make a beverage that they themselves don’t like and that hardcore craft beer nerds have taken a distain for.
WAKE UP!
So here I go. Here is why I was so mad, mad enough to write all of this. Sure the market is dominated by big companies when we talk about seltzers. Thirty plus years ago when the same was true for beer. What happened? Why did Craft emerge? I have two answers. Quality and Variety. Craft beer offers both and naturally people will go for quality and variety in all walks of life. It’s why we don't eat one type of food for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day our entire lives. Why only drink Bud or Coors? Sure, being a creature of habit is no crime but Craft Beer has shown that people will try new things and can identify a quality product.
So now I speak directly to Craft Breweries. WAKE UP! The same can be done and will be done in the seltzer category. Why hold yourself to the formula? Why try to directly compete with White Claw when you don’t directly compete with Bud Light by making a low calorie boring ass american light rice lager? I seriously can not understand this. It is so blatantly obvious that breweries need to innovate, use fresh ingredients and not fruit extracts in seltzers. Make hazy seltzers if you need to. Change the norm. Craft breweries did this with beer from Hazy IPAs to sours to so many different styles. Make new and interesting styles of Seltzer! Experiment a bit and keep the Quality. Thirty years ago you couldn't find craft beer in grocery stores and now more than half the beer section in many stores is craft. Nice! The same can be done with the seltzer section. Making Hard Kombuchas and Teas is just dancing around the seltzer. And stop being hypocritical, this is a business and saying you won't make it because it's not beer or because it's easy is ridiculous. There is money in Seltzer if you just do it right.
I am stopping now
In conclusion, my anger while listening to these four huge voices in the craft beer industry is rooted in the fact that there is such a clear and obvious answer to their dilemma. The biggest and really only reason holding craft breweries back from marketing Seltzers is the refusal to make them differently from the big beverage competition and making them with higher quality as only craft breweries can. The fact that these four influential people were saying what they were to smaller up and coming breweries was annoying to me. Now it’s less likely that a small brewery will take the risk.
At the end of the day it’s not the biggest issue, I will admit. Who cares if craft beer doesn't make money in the Seltzer market. I would then just ask them not to even mention it and talk down on it. Seltzers, while not beer, have appeal. People who don't want beer or want an alternative should be able to choose to drink a Seltzer. Either make one for those who want it and make it amazing, or shut up and stick to your business model. You are just too lazy to innovate and do what is necessary to make a good product. I can’t help but to think that if this type of stubbornness remains we will see less innovation elsewhere. We will see fewer new styles of beer brewed; less variety. People are already complaining that there are too many IPA’s after all. But this is a topic for another ranting blog post.
