SYRACUSE, NY -- The next big thing in the national craze for hard (alcoholic) seltzers is coming from just outside Baldwinsville.
Credit one of the most versatile breweries operated by global brewing giant Anheuser-Busch InBev.
Bud Light Seltzer, which is expected to compete with top brands White Claw and Truly in the surging flavored-alcohol-water market, is being made exclusively at the A-B plant in the Radisson Business Park, off Route 31. That plant is one of 12 U.S. breweries operated by corporate brewing giant Anheuser-Busch Inbev, based in Belgium.
Bud Light Seltzer will hit the market nationally beginning Jan. 13, backed by a typically big A-B ad campaign that is sure to include some Super Bowl ads. Cans are rolling off the Baldwinsville brewery’s packaging line this week.
The initial line-up of flavors are Black Cherry, Lemon Lime, Strawberry and Mango. They are 5% alcohol and have just 100 calories.
Hard seltzers have been a fast-growing segment of the American beverage market for the last three years, but had a huge surge starting in 2019. Sales of top-seller White Claw alone grew about 250% in 2019 compared to the previous year, according to data from Nielsen. Its sales hit $1.5 billion for the year.
Anheuser-Busch, of course, is best known as the maker of Budweiser and Bud Light and other mainstream lagers. But the Baldwinsville brewery is renowned throughout the company as the one that often launches new drinks innovations, particularly in the non-beer category known as “flavored alcohol beverages.”
Now that includes hard seltzer, which differs from malt beverages and beer because it is typically fermented from a sugar-water base instead of grains like barley, wheat or corn. That helps keep the calories and carbohydrates relatively low.
The Baldwinsville brewery entered the hard seltzer market after A-B InBev bought the SpikedSeltzer brand in 2017. A-B rebranded that product as Bon & Viv in 2018 (with accompanying Super Bowl ads) and has been producing it at the Baldwinsville plant.
The Anheuser-Busch InBev brewery on Route 31 in the Radisson Business Park, just outside Baldwinsville. (Dennis Nett/The Post-Standard)
Perhaps the biggest success launched at Baldwinsville has been the Bud Light Lime-A-Rita line, which started in 2012 and has become a top-seller for the company (and has spawned several new flavor variations). Other Baldwinsville innovations include Teavana (a non-alcohol drink) and even a mead.
The brewery also has one of the company’s most versatile packaging configurations, producing bottles and cans in all shapes and sizes.
The Baldwinsville brewery, the largest in New York state, has about 500 employees. It makes about 75 different beverages, totaling around 6 million barrels (the equivalent of 82 million cases) each year.
Of its total volume, about 60 percent is Bud, Bud Light, Busch, Michelob Ultra and other “A-B lagers,” brewery officials said last year. Another 10 percent are “craft” beers under brands purchased by A-B, like Goose Island and Blue Point.
The remaining 30 percent includes flavored alcohol beverages, seltzers and other non-beer drinks.
Note: Although Baldwinsville is the actual home of Bud Light Seltzer, the TV commercials are set in the real town of Seltzer, Pa.
Anheuser-Busch executives will be in Baldwinsville today to launch the Bud Light Seltzer line and lead a behind-the-scenes tour of production and packaging. Check back to syracuse.com / nyup.com for an inside look at the process (with video and photos) and more on the reasons that the company chose to launch Bud Light Seltzer in Central New York.
Related:
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-- Booze at the movies: Cuomo plan could make it happen
Don Cazentre writes about craft beer, wine, spirits and beverages for NYup.com, syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. Reach him at dcazentre@nyup.com, or follow him at NYup.com, on Twitter or Facebook.
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