Where To Find And How To Add Flavoring Extract
Take a look at some possible flavors you can add below. Remember that often one drop will be enough to flavor your entire beverage. Make sure to read the suggested directions and taste as you go just as you would with cooking.
- Natural Blackberry.
- Bavarian Cream.
- Butter Rum.
The possibilities are essentially endless. You can find these extracts for hard seltzer at many homebrew stores. The ones that I described above came from Adventures in Homebrewing. They have two categories for extract, beer flavoring and LorAnn flavoring extracts.
You can either make your hard seltzer all one flavor or add the extract per glass, it could make for a fun party trick. Check out how they did it over at the homebrew challenge.
Although this was not explored on the video above, many hard seltzers like Truly or Whiteclaw have a combination of flavors. You can mix and match the extract flavors to come up with a nice fruit combination or something else unique.
What Is Seltzer Beer
Seltzer beer is a form of hard seltzer that uses malted barley rather than fermented cane sugar. Its appeal isnt as universal as fermented cane sugar hard seltzer options because it is not gluten-free. Additionally, many seltzer beers contain more added sugars than their fermented cane sugar counterparts, increasing their calorie count and losing their target audience, which primarily chooses hard seltzer drinks as a calorie-conscious alternative. If theyre going to indulge in a higher calorie option, most customers would rather have a good craft brew than a seltzer beer.
In-house hard seltzers can be customized and upcharged while remaining very inexpensive to produce. We’ve crafted a hard seltzer recipe that uses ingredients you already have on hand. Use our recipe as the baseline for your own signature hard seltzer and watch your profits soar.
Diy White Claw: How To Make Your Own Hard Seltzer
A READER ASKED me to write about the cocktail I most like to make for myself at home.
I considered lying.
After all, I am an alcohol columnist. I regularly scold you about the provenance of your absinthe, and wax novelistic about pre-Colombian hot chocolate. I should encourage you, the reader, to imagine me standing behind my encyclopedic bar of obscure Eastern European schnapps and Japanese whiskeys, adding a drip of this and a dab of that to a perfectly weighted snifter every time I want to relax in the tub with a drink after work.
But despite all my pointed opinions about gin, coffee-tasting notes and the merits of a bacon-scented rauchbier, I dont actually spend my evenings polishing my Vermouth bottles. Yes, I enjoy a nice aged Scotch on a winters evening bubble over a cocktail made with bubbly and, if Im trying to impress you when you come over, Ill craft something with bespoke bitters and homemade Falernum. But if Im just looking for a cocktail to sip while I make soup, binge-watch The Witcher or clean out my closet, my go-to cocktail recipe is:
1 glass of fizzy water, on the rocks
1 shot of vodka
Half a handful of berries
1/4 to 1/2 a limes worth of juice, depending on the size of the lime
DIRECTIONS: Place berries in an empty glass. Smoosh berries with a spoon, or similar implement. Add ice, vodka, fizzy water and a squeeze of lime. Hit play on Netflix.
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Blending Clear Spirits To Make Hard Seltzer
For those who dont want to brew their own hard seltzer, there is a much easier way that just involves a clear, neutral spirit such as vodka or Everclear and a little bit of math. To do this, youll just take your alcohol and blend it with water until you reach the 3.5% 6% ABV range. This is pretty easy math when you know the ABV of your base spirit. To be honest, this is more mixing or bartending your way to a seltzer rather than a homebrewed or homemade hard seltzer like we outlined above, but if you dont have the equipment or desire to brew your own, then this method will suffice.
Batch + Storage Information
Batch:
As written, this recipe makes up to 4 homemade hard seltzer in each flavor. This recipe can be scaled easily and the prepared juice can be kept in the fridge for up to 5 days. If you’ve got extra fruit juice or puree, freeze them in ice cube trays for even easier homemade hard seltzers next time!
Storage:
I recommend drinking your DIY White Claw once it’s made, but if you cannot finish it, simply transfer it into a small mason jar and close the lid tightly to conserve the carbonation. Store it in the fridge until ready to enjoy.
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Carbonating And Serving Your Hard Seltzer
Youre almost there. After the seltzer has been flavored, youll have 2 options for getting it carbonated and ready to serve. Bottle it or keg it. Actually, bottling likely wont be an option if you choose to go with the blending method for making the seltzer. The reason being is that youll need to dose each bottle with priming sugar and yeast, whereas if you brewed your own seltzer, youd just need to add some priming sugar before bottling since the seltzer would maintain some residual yeast. This residual yeast eats the priming sugar allowing the seltzer to naturally carbonate in the bottles.
The other option is kegging and force carbonating your seltzer. This method is much quicker, easier and lets face it its cooler. Putting anything on draft, even seltzer, YES PLEASE! If you already have a kegging system, you know how to do this, if you dont have a kegging system, check out these homebrew keg kits. When youve got your kegging system, youll add your flavored seltzer to the keg and set the pressure to about 35-45 psi for a few days to give it a nice, heavy carbonation. If youre in a hurry, you can shake the keg while its under pressure and get it carbonated in a matter of hours rather than days.
Parting Thoughts
Stay tuned for our next post where we try our hand at making hard seltzer.
How Hard Seltzer Is Made
Most canned varieties of hard seltzer are produced by fermenting cane sugar and then adding carbonation and flavors. Unlike the simple vodka soda, brewing hard seltzer is as complex as creating craft beer with the additional challenges of filtering water to achieve clarity, carbonating, and aroma stripping to remove strong acid and sulfur flavors. On average, from scratch hard seltzers undergo five filtration steps and a flavoring process before they are ready to serve. However, you can update the classic vodka soda recipe to dupe brewed varieties of hard seltzer.
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Flavoring Your Hard Seltzer
Whats a hard seltzer if it doesnt have a wild or exotic fruity flavor? With canned seltzers that have flavors like blueberry acaí, raspberry rosé, lemon agave hibiscus, and so many others, I think its safe to say that you can take some liberties and have a little fun if youre making your own seltzer at home. So how do you flavor your hard seltzer? Youve got two options.
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An Easy Vodka Seltzer Recipe That Will Blow Your Mind
Cocktails have no boundaries. They can be classic or innovative, sophisticated or crazy, sweet or sour, iced or flaming. The sure thing is that theyre yummy, fun and always in season.
When cocktails made their debut in the eighteenth century, there was only one basic recipe: a mix of spirit, water, sugar and bitters. Today, the alcoholic beverage industry and bartenders around the world use science and creativity to make cocktails that are pieces of art.
Its not just whats inside the glass that matters. From the glassware to the garnish, drinking a cocktail is a ritual that takes you on a multi-sensorial journey. Or mini-vacations in another place and time!
Cocktails are not just drinks but a reflection of our personality. We love them because they can speak to our souls and make our taste buds dance! Wanna dance with us?
Bartending At Home Means You Can Make Drinks Exactly To
How to make hard seltzer with vodka. Fill a highball glass with ice cubes, add absolut vodka and top up with soda water. Unlike the simple vodka soda, brewing hard seltzer is as complex as creating craft beer with the additional challenges of filtering water to achieve clarity, carbonating, and aroma stripping to remove strong acid and sulfur flavors. I understand and have ready up on the process of carbonating the mixture.
To make your own hard seltzer, you will need: Smoosh berries with a spoon, or similar implement. Its comparable to a vodka soda, and significantly more forgiving than a cocktail, beer or glass of wine.
Flavor hard seltzer by making your own flavoring if you go this route, youll be creating your own flavoring by infusing your choice of fruits or herbs in vodka. You can have hard seltzer in any flavor you want. It turns out that hard seltzer is incredibly easy to make, and extremely cheap.
Flavored or unflavored soda or seltzer water. Add the scaled amount to your keg or bottling bucket when racking. Most canned varieties of hard seltzer are produced by fermenting cane sugar and then adding carbonation and flavors.
Fruit for garnish grey goose essences were made for this. Squeeze a bit of lime juice into the drink and garnish with lime wheels or a lime wedge. Repeat until youve found the desired flavor profile and scale up to the full batch size.
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The Best Way To Drink Hard Seltzer
As you explore the options, you’ll find that hard seltzers vary greatly. Some are sweeter, some fizzier, some more flavorful, and so on. If you find that you don’t enjoy one, try another. There are many hard seltzer brands out there, so there may be one that’s more appealing to your personal taste.
The best way to drink a hard seltzer is very cold. Drink it straight out of the can or pour it into a chilled glass and add ice if you like. Adding a little fruit can enhance the flavor, too.
Some people also like to add a shot of liquor. The flavor options do make hard seltzer a nice drink mixer that can add depth to simple cocktails.
Basic Housemade Hard Seltzer Ingredient Ratios:
- 12 oz. of soda water: While traditional hard seltzers use seltzer water, you can use the soda water from your bars soda gun without noticeably altering the hard seltzer flavor profile guests expect.
- 1.78 oz.of 40 proof liquor: Vodka is an easily adaptable choice.
- Up to 1-2 drops of flavored extracts: Fruit flavors are popular.
- .25 oz of fruit juice.
- A tiny pinch of citric acid powder.
- Add cocktail bitters to enhance your hard seltzer’s flavor profile. Choose the appropriate quantity for achieving your desired flavor.
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Hard Seltzer Ingredients: What Goes Into It
At the most basic level, hard seltzer is simply seltzer with alcohol in it .
The first ingredient is simple: purified carbonated water.
But when we start talking about the alcohol in hard sparkling water, the conversation becomes slightly more complicated. The alcohol type is different across each different hard seltzer brand:
Alcoholic seltzer One of the most popular alcoholic seltzer is considered a flavored malt beverage. That means the alcohol in the beverage is made by fermenting malted barley and hops.
Spiked seltzer Another fan favorite, spiked seltzer, doesnt include gluten, liquor or spirits, according to its ingredient list. Once again, liquor isnt added to the seltzer base rather, the alcohol is made through fermentation, but not of malted barley and hops. The alcohol in spiked seltzer comes from all-natural cane sugar. Many other brands alcohols are made in the same way.
Regardless of whether theyre fermenting malted barley or pure cane sugar, the result is largely similar. The remaining ingredients also tend to overlap:
Natural flavoring Hard seltzers are known for their subtle hints of flavor, which are usually derived from natural sources like fruits and juice concentrates.
Hard seltzers boast a low calorie count, which is a big part of their appeal. Most of these calories come from the alcohol itself with some derived from the other ingredients in hard seltzer, like sugars and other carbohydrates.
Brands Like White Claw And Truly Changed The Way Americans Drink But A Crowded Market And Changing Consumer Behavior May Have Officially Ended The Hard Seltzer Craze
Richa Naidu/Reuters
- Hard seltzer is here to stay, experts say, but the craze that swept the nation is officially over.
- Hard seltzers like White Claw became hugely popular in 2019, leading major brands to follow suit.
- But now, the category has become oversaturated and only a handful of brands rule the market.
After roughly three years of hard-seltzer domination, Americansâ love of the canned beverage may be fizzling out.
Molson Coors has nixed Coors Seltzer. Trulyâs parent company is dumping âmillions of casesâ of the hard seltzer. And beverage industry experts are warning that the seltzer craze is on the way out as sales wane across the sector.
Itâs a cool-down for a category that took over the alcohol industry as recently as 2018, spurring major investment from beer companies and inspiring almost too many upstart seltzer brands to count. And while hard seltzer sales may have boomed in 2020 as the pandemic kept people either at home or outdoors, that momentum is waning in 2021.
Hereâs where the seltzer craze began â and why itâs appears to be over.
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Big Brand Hard Seltzers
Several companies have produced a hard seltzer in response to the growing demand for hard seltzer.
- The earliest brand was Bon & Vivant. It is now called Bon Viv.
- One of the most popular is White Claw. At 100 calories and 5% alcohol, White Claw comes in Natural Lime, Black Cherry, and Mango.
- Bud Light hard seltzer also has 100 calories. Made with spring water and natural fruit, it comes in Strawberry, Grapefruit, Pineapple, and Cranberry.
- Vizzy Hard Seltzer is 5% alcohol and 100 calories. Vizzy has added Vitamin C and antioxidants to its Blueberry/Raspberry, Pineapple/Mango, Strawberry/Kiwi, and Black Cherry/Lime flavors.
- Vyne Botanicals has added hops to sparkling water to produce a hard seltzer with no calories. It is also sugar-free, gluten-free, and vegan friendly. Natural flavors include Floral, Herb, and Citrus.
- Truly Hard Seltzer comes in thirteen flavors. It is 5% alcohol, 100 calories, one gram of sugar, and naturally flavored.
- PBR actually just announced an ABV Stronger Seltzer. It is 8% alcohol.
To get into hard seltzer sales, vodka companies are offering their own variations. Smirnoff has released a Sparkling Seltzer in a stunning array of flavors. It has zero sugar, zero calories.
You can purchase Smirnoffs, naturally-flavored Infusions. Infusions are available in naturally flavored Cucumber/Lime, Strawberry/Rose, and Watermelon/Mint. Add four ounces of club soda to two ounces of your favorite Infusions flavor and youve got a great summer drink.
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S To Make A Cold Infusion Tincture
Cold infusions can take a while, so if you want to use fresh fruits for your hard seltzer you will need to plan ahead. It can take as long as you want it but, you may want to let it sit for at least 1-2 days for it to have any effect.
Luckily, hard seltzer has zero flavor so it wont take much to infuse it with fresh herb or fruit flavors. The longer you let your cold infusion sit in vodka the more potent the flavor will be. So test accordingly, I would try one after 2 days and set another aside for a week.
Follow these directions to make your cold infusion tincture.
- Find a base alcohol like vodka.
- Choose fresh highly flavorful fruit and herbs, store bought strawberries often have no flavor, so find a juice flavorful fruit.
- Cut up the fruit, create a good amount of surface area to increase contact with vodka.
- Add your desired fruit to a mason jar and cover with vodka. Make sure the fruit is entirely covered.
- Let sit to your desired strength, then add to your hard seltzer.
- The ratio can be a bit nuanced, so I would add 3-5 oz of fruit infused vodka to a 5 gallon batch of hard seltzer to start, then taste as you go. Increase the strength of flavor by increasing the number of days you cold infuse the vodka.
Fruit isnt the only type of flavor you can add to a hard seltzer. You can add any spices you want just as you would add to beer.