Founders Brewing Company launches hard seltzer

Michigan-based Founders Brewing Company has unveiled a strawberry-flavoured hard seltzer as brewers worldwide attempt to win over younger drinkers.

(Photo: Founders/Facebook)

Called Mas Agave, the seltzer is made with blue agave nectar, cane sugar, fruit juice and sea salt, and was released on Friday 17 July.

The company also said a 340ml can contains 110 calories, 4g of sugar and 7g carbohydrates. It will be available from Founders’ two Michigan taprooms.

“Since opening the doors to our brewery in 1997, we’ve focused on making world-class beer…that didn’t necessarily conform to style standards,” Founders said in a Facebook post on Friday.

“Well, we took that same approach we put towards beer into our very first seltzer.”

The launch comes as the US’ largest breweries are turning their attention to hard seltzers amid stagnating lager sales.

According to a recent report by Nielsen CGA, between spring and autumn last year hard seltzers attracted 7.5 million new drinkers in the American on-trade.

Molson Coors, which owns brands such as Coors Light and Blue Moon, has installed a new canning line at its facility in Fort Worth, Texas, and is in the process of adding a new filtration system to “more than quintuple” its ability to make hard seltzers.

Molson Coors launched a new hard seltzer brand, called Vizzy, in the UK this year, shortly after the company changed its name to Molson Coors Beverage Co to “expand beyond beer and into other growth adjacencies” after a third-quarter loss of US$402 million.

The spirits arm of Scottish craft beer giant Brewdog has also tapped into the fast-growing hard seltzer category with its own brand called Clean & Press.

ZX Ventures, AB InBev’s global innovation group, launched its own Mike’s Hard Seltzer in the UK this year, but changed the name to adapt to a new market.

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