While the beverage giant may have been a little late to the hard seltzer party, Anheuser-Busch InBev is becoming a powerhouse in the bubbly market. Another one of AB’s iconic beer brands has released a hard seltzer line: Bud Light Platinum Seltzer.

Made with agave and natural fruit flavors, Bud Light Platinum Seltzer boasts a triple filtering process for its sparkling water. Like the beer with which it will share a label, Bud Light Platinum Seltzer has a higher than average alcohol content for boozy bubbly waters, at eight percent ABV.

Bud Light Platinum Hard Seltzer will be released in three flavors: Blood Orange, Citrus, and Wild Berry. It will also be available in three sizes: the traditional hard seltzer 12 oz. skinny can, in addition to 16 and 25 oz. tall boys.

While Mark Anthony Brand’s White Claw and the Boston Beer Company’s Truly have dominated in market share to this point, we may see significant changes soon. AB InBev has entered the industry in a big way. In January it debuted Bud Light Hard Seltzer, which will add three new flavors next month along with its Platinum counterparts.

Since acquiring Bon & Viv, the favorite hard seltzer of mermaids everywhere, AB InBev has released hard seltzers through brand extensions of its Natural Light and PBR labels, and in May launched Social Club hard seltzer at 7% ABV. Bud Light Platinum will join PBR’s Stronger Seltzer among the ranks of the still rarer, higher alcohol hard seltzers.

While craft brewers entering the seltzer space have been experimenting with spirits and other, stronger options, we’ve seen fewer high ABV selections among mass market offerings. AB InBev spied this gap in the market and is trying to change that.

In 2019 it released PBR Stronger Seltzer, an eight percent ABV hard bubbly water that still manages to be low in sugar at one gram per 16 oz. can. Available in Lime or Wild Berry, PBR Stronger Seltzer is naturally sweetened with stevia, which helps it retain that healthier option image.

AB InBev has been conducting some fascinating, non-beer experiments under the PBR label. In addition to their Stronger Seltzer, PBR has also recently released both a Hard Coffee and Hard Peach Iced Tea. Perhaps they thought the legendary brand needed a facelift since famously winning its blue ribbon at the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893. Or maybe they just want to stay relevant, as consumers flee beer in favor of drinking options with a healthier following.

As reported earlier, the company has also applied for trademark protection for Michelob Ultra hard seltzer, yet no formal announcement has yet been made.

Hard seltzer is still a relatively new industry, and it’s exciting to see where so many new entrants will take us. While White Claw hit the market in 2016, the drink, and the craze that followed, truly started gaining steam in 2019.

Recognizing the desire for harder seltzers that are higher in alcohol yet still low in sugar, calories, and carbs is just one way that the market is responding to – and being shaped by – consumer demand. Will we see a strong hard seltzer White Claw or Truly debut next? At present, AB InBev is winning the higher ABV, harder seltzer market share.

Erin Grafton
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