Many of us can recall idyllic summer afternoons from childhood, sipping our favorite icy sodas from cans—or depending on one’s age, from glass bottles. Whether it was root beer, orange or cola, everyone seemed to have a favorite that said, “Summer is here.”
Perhaps that nostalgia is what’s fueling the hard soda craze of 2016, as beverage industry trend watchers report that United States brewers large and small are releasing “hard” sodas (fermented malt beverages with an alcohol content equivalent to most domestic beers) in classic flavors we remember from our youth. Yet Sprecher Brewing Co., Inc.—Milwaukee’s pioneer of craft brewers—continues to be an innovator with the recent launch of three new hard soda flavors: Hard Cherry Cola, Hard Orange Cream and Hard Cola.
Sprecher was ahead of the hard soda movement as early as 2013, when the brewery introduced its Hard Root Beer. According to Sprecher president Jeff Hamilton, they were the first company in the Milwaukee area to craft hard sodas, and the Hard Root Beer was an immediate success. Sprecher soon expanded its hard sodas with the release of Hard Ginger Beer in 2014 and Hard Apple Pie in 2015.
The decision to create three new hard soda flavors came easily. “They’re all flavors of regular gourmet sodas that we make, and there’s been kind of a hard soda craze,” Hamilton said. “Those are flavors we’ve had requests for, so we started taking a look at development and getting something that tasted right, and we were able to do it.”
The new hard soda flavors are 4.6 percent alcohol by volume and can be enjoyed by casual drinkers, and the more adventurous cocktail lovers can get creative and use them in mixers. Hamilton recommends adding a dollop of ice cream or custard to the Hard Orange Cream for an adults-only Creamsicle-style float, or mixing it with light, dark or spiced rum. The hard sodas have the same elements of Sprecher’s regular sodas, such as Wisconsin honey, real vanilla and kola extract. The Hard Cherry Cola has a refreshing tang of Door County cherry juice, just like its non-alcoholic counterpart.
The three new hard soda flavors are currently available at Wisconsin retailers such as Sendik’s Food Market, Woodman’s Markets and Otto’s Wine & Spirits. The new flavors will be rotated at the touring Sprecher traveling beer gardens in Milwaukee County Parks this summer. Consumers can also purchase the party pack—a case of 12 bottles with two of each hard soda flavor—so they can try all six varieties. They’ve been well received in the short time since they’ve been released, Hamilton said, particularly the Hard Orange Cream, of which the traveling beer gardens ran out of in mid-June. Hamilton assured Sprecher is quickly brewing more to meet the demand.
For more information, visit sprecherbrewery.com.
