OG Local Brewery DC Brau Is Now Canning Its Own Hard Seltzer

Local brewer DC Brau, a mainstay in the District’s beer renaissance for the past eight years, announced today that it’s releasing a local line of hard seltzers, too.

The progressive-leaning producer of ubiquitous Public Pale Ale and Corruption IPA will call the line “Full Transparency,” with lettering placed under the shadow of the U.S. Capitol, currently the stage of impeachment hearings for President Donald Trump. The initial line includes four flavors to start: mango, black cherry, raspberry limeade, and a blend of passionfruit, orange and guava (POG), to be sold in six packs and mixed 12-packs. Each Full Transparency can is 100 calories with less than one gram of sugar and 5-percent ABV.

DC Brau will start selling 12-ounce cans of Full Transparency this Saturday, November 16, at its brewery (3178 Bladensburg Road NE). The brewer will roll out a wider distribution around Thanksgiving.

A representative for the brewery said that January’s government shutdown didn’t have anything to do with a delay in timing to capture summer drinkers. The company has wanted to release a hard seltzer for awhile and didn’t want to wait for spring to come along.

“Once we felt like we had perfected the process and flavor, we didn’t see any reason to wait any longer,” says DC Brau CEO and co-founder Brandon Skall, adding “it is not very often that we get to be a part of a brand new beverage category as it emerges in our industry.”

Drinkers all over the country are still riding the wave of a #WhiteClawSummer” — a phenomenon that saw the slim cans of the fizzy beverage dominate more than half of the ascendant “spiked seltzer” market. Severals bars around town have already capitalized on the bro-approved appeal of a brand that’s being slurped, shotgunned, and bought by the bucket.

As Eater’s Jaya Saxena notes, spiked seltzer boasts a strong veneer of health and wellness thanks to its low calorie and carbohydrate count and the absence of bogeyman ingredients like gluten and artificial flavors.

• D.C. Drinkers Are Shotgunning Buckets and Buckets of White Claw [EDC]
• Alcohol Brands Have Set Their Blurry Sights on the Slippery Concept of Wellness [E]