tried it, I just loved it,” she says. “It’s just got a fruity, crisp
taste to it that’s very mild and understated as opposed to a
lot of things out there.”
Taylor Lamm, brewmaster at the Oconee Brewing
Company, was eager to expand the brewery’s assortment
of refreshing, alcoholic beverages by creating a unique line
of hard seltzers. Lamm began experimenting with various
recipes before the coronavirus pandemic hit in early 2020.
“We brewed our first batch of hard seltzer in Spring
2020. We saw the addition of hard seltzers to our draft
lineup at the brewery as a huge plus. We recognized not
everyone likes drinking beer, so by being able to offer hard
seltzers, we had more to offer our customers,” says Lamm.
“Our initial release of hard seltzers actually fell at the
beginning of the COVID shutdown period, so 100 percent
was sold in growlers to-go.”The summer season is here,
which is the most popular time of year to lounge around
with an ice-cold, crisp seltzer with a kick. Lamm is looking
forward to serving up selections from the Dog Days of
Seltzer to his patrons, who helped name the Oconee
Brewing Company’s new line of hard seltzer.
“We asked our brewery fans on social media to help us
name the hard seltzer series. Dog Days of Seltzer was the
winner,” explains Lamm. “The name seemed to encompass
the hot Georgia summers, which is a prime hard seltzer
drinking season. We also could envision a cool can design
with that name that would include a dog jumping off a
dock into a lake.”
After tinkering with several flavors to test which ones
resonated best with the brewery’s clientele, Lamm settled
on two fruity options to brew in bulk.
“In our early batches of hard seltzer, we brewed a lot of
small, five-gallon batches with a lot of different flavors to
see which ones customers really enjoyed. Blackberry and
Blood Orange were two of the most popular, so we decided
those would be the first two flavors we would brew 500
gallons of and offer on draft and in cans,” says Lamm.
Not only are hard seltzers delicious and kinder to the
waistline than most beers, hard seltzers are also easier and
less expensive to create.
“There are fewer ingredients that go into making hard
seltzer than making beer, but the fermentation process
is the same. Grain and hops aren’t used for brewing hard
seltzers, but water, sugar, and yeast are used. The fermentation
time is about two weeks, for it to turn from sugar
water into a 5 percent alcohol by volume hard seltzer.
Then the flavor extract is added post-fermentation,”
explains Lamm.
The Oconee Brewing Company’s Dog Days of Seltzer is
already a hit with brewery’s regulars and those looking to
cool-off during the sweltering summer months with this
tantalizing hard seltzer line.
“It has been very well-received,” says Lamm. “Our customers
find it to be extremely refreshing and very flavorful.
It is currently only available at the brewery, for onsite
consumption and to-go in six-packs.”
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