Two breweries on the Route 1 corridor are making hand-crafted hard seltzer, following a national trend.

Denizens Brewing Co. in Riverdale Park and Streetcar 82 Brewing Co. in Hyattsville both now offer their own hard seltzers, which is basically sparkling water with an alcoholic content similar to a light beer.

Denizens co-founder Emily Bruno said they began making hard seltzer in 2018 and added lime-flavored seltzer in cans in 2020. They now offer lime and blood orange in a can year-round and add piña colada, grapefruit and strawberry cucumber seasonally.

“Folks absolutely love it!” Bruno told the Hyattsville Wire. “Ours is a dry and super refreshing seltzer with all natural flavor, so it stands out from some others on the market that have a fake sweetener taste.”

Hard seltzer is a natural fit for a local brewery. The production time is shorter than beer, with fewer ingredients, but overall the process is the same. Denizens uses its ale yeast and a dedicated horizontal fermenter so that its seltzer is 100 percent gluten-free.

Streetcar 82  began offering its first hard seltzer over the summer, a cherry flavored drink that’s also gluten free, by the glass or in 32-ounce crowlers and 64-oz. growlers to go.

Hard seltzer began to take off a few years ago, as consumers sought out lighter alcoholic drinks with fewer carbs and gluten-free options. While sales may be slowing down, there are no signs that seltzer is going away any time soon.

“I think it is just very approachable for anyone, so can meet a lot of people’s needs in a variety of settings from beach day to tailgate to firepit,” added Bruno.

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