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Greg Deuhs was a brewer at Pabst in 2014 when it launched Not Your Father’s Root Beer, a hard soda, into the marketplace.
“The first time, we made 40,000 cases and we didn’t know if it would sell,” says Deuhs, who now works for Sprecher Brewery in Glendale, Wisconsin. “It was crazy because within a short time we were brewing millions of cases per month. Those were some heady times there, exciting times going from zero to millions.”
Before the boom of hard seltzers, the sugary, indulgent flavored malt beverage (FMB) category of hard soda recaptured drinkers’ attention and taste buds. It was led by the Not Your Father’s brand that pushed sweet, boozy syrup into the marketplace and into the general consciousness.
Its white-hot success was short-lived as consumers quickly turned to hard seltzers, which boasted lower calories, sugars and carbs than their sugary counterparts, and promoted a “better for you” mentality. Hard sodas took a hard hit.
Courtesy of Boston Beer Company
“Hard soda sales decreased 24% in 2021 and are down 28% so far in 2022,” says Jon Berg, vice president of Beverage Alcohol Thought Leadership at NielsenIQ. “As the lines between beer, seltzer [and] hard soda continue to blur, retailers will need to be mindful in creating efficient assortments that capitalize on trends and drive purchases.”
The category may be poised for a rebound as new entrants, specifically a 5% alcohol-by-volume (abv) Hard Mtn Dew that recently hit shelves in a handful of states. Based on four popular soda flavors, the hard versions clock in at 100 calories and have “zero sugar” added. The release is a collaboration between PepsiCo, which owns the brand, and The Boston Beer Company, makers of Truly Hard Seltzer and Samuel Adams beer, which is producing the hard soda at its Pennsylvania brewery.
Early sales data suggests that there was indeed curiosity behind hard Mtn Dew. The Boston Beer Company said there was no one available for an interview.
The attention from a major soda brand into the FMB arena could bring renewed attention to the other brands still in the marketplace. Not Your Father’s says it is scaling back to basics after it saw tremendous success following its launch and subsequently released a plethora of line extensions including a “mountain ale” and a Not Your Mom’s line that included flavors like apple pie.
The brand will now solely focus on hard root beer, says Emily Hoyle, brand director for the American Classics line at Pabst. “We did a rebrand in 2019 and brought the recipe down to around 200 calories to get it more in line with the FMB category. It’s not a seltzer and we’re not trying to compete there, but we did adjust the recipe to be more in line with what people want.”
Not Your Father’s is available in 12-ounce bottles at 5.9% abv. There had been harder versions at 10.7% abv and 19.5% abv that have since been retired.
“I think hard soda has its own space,” says Hoyle. “Flavor is the number one factor in flavored malt beverage and there is only so much flavor you can get from hard seltzer when you’re in the low calorie, carbs and sugar sandbox.”
Still, that doesn’t mean some companies aren’t willing to try to merge hard sodas and seltzers.
“Hard seltzer gained traction because of its correlation with health and wellness, convenience and an intriguing variety of flavors—and now, consumers can’t get enough,” says Berg. “That growth has opened the doors to an even broader array of new and bolder flavor options accompanying the base liquid, and it’s allowing manufacturers to expand the limits of what ‘hard seltzer’ means.”
