Virginia breweries do the bubbly beverage in unique local style.
lickinghole
Lickinghole Creek’s First Necessity sparkling water with hemp CBD.
Just a few years ago, flavored seltzer was a bit of an afterthought, usually wedged between mass market sodas and mixers on grocery store shelves. Now, workers practically riot if their office refrigerators run low on LaCroix. Hard seltzer has had a similarly meteoric rise: Last year, people bought 2.1 billion cans, reports VinePair. Virginia breweries are proving they can create more interesting and authentically flavored versions of hard seltzer that take it beyond fad territory.
The hard seltzer from Tradition Brewing Company in Newport News offers a change of pace from the usual one-note fruit flavors. Their crisp, not-too-sweet Cucumber Hibiscus hard seltzer is sold in cans, on tap, and as part of their growler program. Solace Brewing Company in Sterling makes a refreshing, lightly sweet blood-orange flavored seltzer called VODA, sold only in the brewery tasting room.
Hard seltzer is made by fermenting cane sugar, malted barley, or sometimes dextrose from corn and blending it with carbonated water, with the resulting ABV hovering around 5%—though the process is different than brewing beer, it’s the closest parallel. Unlike beer, though, the carbonated water base and flavoring methods keep the calorie content at around 100 per can. So even though hard seltzer might be reminiscent of college parties, they’re better suited to adult metabolisms.
Speaking of dietary concerns, gluten-sensitive seltzer lovers can try three takes on hard seltzer from Norfolk breweries: O’Connor Brewing Company’s Blackberry Acai, which is gluten-reduced and made with real juice, and Rip Rap Brewing’s gluten-reduced Mojito Hard Seltzer, available in growlers or crowlers (32-ounce cans filled from the tap just like a growler). Smartmouth Brewing Company has created a few different flavors of their Cirrus gluten-free hard seltzer, including black cherry, and it’s available on tap at their Virginia Beach location.
Those looking for a nonalcoholic seltzer can try Lickinghole Creek Craft Brewery’s First Necessity sparkling water with hemp CBD. The brewery partnered with First Necessity (a hemp product company) to produce this sparkling beverage using water from Lickinghole Creek’s well and 25mg hemp CBD. Lickinghole Creek will release a nonalcoholic sparkling Strawberry Lemonade next, and has more refreshing, sparkling beverages planned for the future.
With infinite flavor variations for brewers to explore and solid fanbase, hard seltzers have earned a permanent place in Virginia breweries.
This article originally appeared in the August 2020 issue.
