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before his return to South Africa, he started to take notice of what was happening with hard seltzer and came back armed with a plan: “to produce Africa’s rst hard seltzer”. A mutual friend introduced him to Marika Graves, owner of boutique spirit distribution company Boomshine Distributors, and soon afterwards Savage Sparkles was born. ere are currently two avours available: passion fruit or lemon and lime. Much like producers in the USA, Jono places a heavy focus on the “better for you” aspect of hard seltzer. “Currently there is a total lack of transparency in the alcohol industry,” says Jono. “Bottled water, by law, must have a nutritional label on it but there is no law that says alcohol has to. Isn’t that strange? Like food, we want to encourage consumers to think about what they are putting into their bodies.” Savage Sparkles is currently South Africa’s only dedicated hard seltzer company, but just as in the US, the trend has been adopted by brewers here. Much like Jono, Paul Freysen of e Kennel Brewery was inspired by a trip to the USA. “A few months before Covid my brother went to the States and he came back and told me how big seltzer was there.” says Paul. “I’m good friends with the guys from Stillman Distillery in Paarl so while we had some downtime during the pandemic we started to chat and developed a recipe.” e collaborative seltzer was released in the second half of 2020 in two avours: mango and coconut or raspberry and lime. “At 69 calories per 330ml can, I think it’s the lowest-calorie of the South African seltzers,” says Paul. FERMENTED VS SPIKED While in the USA, hard seltzers are often made from a malt base, in South Africa the ingredients tend to feature a neutral spirit such as cane alongside carbonated water and natural avourings. Olaf Morgenroth, head brewer at Franschhoek Beer Company, opted for an approach more similar to that used in the States. Rather than using a distilled spirit, he ferments a simple dextrose wash which is blended with natural avourings and then back-sweetened. eir debut seltzer launched in December 2020 following a full year of R&D. “One positive aspect of lockdown was that it gave us time to develop the product,” says Olaf. “ roughout the year we tried various ingredients and techniques; we tried di erent sugar sources, yeasts, fermentation temperatures and yeast nutrients. We also played around with making a spiked version, until we nally decided to go with a fermented seltzer.” e nal product comes in three avours – lime, grapefruit and black cherry – and its name plays heavily on the fact that it is low in calories and carbs: Salut Seltzer. It has proved an instant hit and you can tell that for Olaf, the months of experimentation paid o . “We found that the yeast added during fermentation made our seltzer so much better – it became more full-bodied and added a beautiful yet subtle complexity to it,” he says. “It also added a slight sourness to the seltzer that works perfectly with our avours. We wanted a craft product that would t in with the ethos of the Franschhoek Beer Co. and not just jump on the seltzer band wagon.” It’s likely to be a long journey before seltzer reaches anything like the popularity levels it is enjoying in the US or parts of Europe, but Olaf is convinced we’ll get there. “South Africans do have a palate for much sweeter, sprit-cooler-type drinks, so it’s very tempting to load a seltzer up with sugar and market it as such,” says Olaf. “However, people are looking for healthier options: lower in sugar, lower in alcohol, gluten free, vegan friendly etc. It might not be a big boom at rst as it was in the States, but with the correct marketing and education we believe seltzers will be huge in SA.” As for me, while I understand people’s reasons for reaching for a can of hard seltzer – whether it's for health, avour or perhaps both – I will probably be sticking with my beer. It might have a few more carbs, but I’d rather enjoy a pint or two and hit the gym a little harder. I might send a case to my dad though, with an apology note and a promise to support his next seemingly silly idea. A version of this article originally appeared on the BLEFA blog – see https://www.blefakegs-blog.de/en for more articles . Franschhoek Beer Company released a hard seltzer in 2020, following 12 months of research and experimentation Last year The Kennel Brewery launched a hard seltzer in collaboration with local micro-distillery Stillman AGAINST THE GRAIN 42 | Autumn 2021 | ontapmag.co.za