Guide to Hard Seltzers

At a glance

The goals of a seltzer program

Ferment it clean	The finished hard seltzer needs to be clear and neutral. It can’t be a distraction when you add flavorings, fruit, or other ingredients downstream.
Make it quick	You don’t want hard seltzers to hold up the fermenter longer than it needs to. We’ll show you to do it in less than a week.
Make it interesting	A neutral base is an opportunity to cultivate something new. Blending fruits, botanicals, advanced hop products, and other additions are where hard seltzers shine.

Toolkit

Everything you need for hard seltzer production

The Seltzer Toolkit simplifies the process with one nutrient and one suggested strain. Propper Seltzer is the proprietary nutrient blend that feeds your yeast through a completely sugar-based fermentation. Dried Lutra is our pick for a clean, neutral result in as few as four days. If done right, you make a neutral seltzer base that’s free of off-flavors. Here’s a guide to doing it well.

Dried Lutra	Our suggested strain in a dried format. It ferments clean and neutral up to 20% ABV in as few as four days, simplifying high-gravity brewing.
Propper Seltzer	A single-dose nutrient blend for 100% dextrose and sucrose bases. It supplies the vital macro and micronutrients needed for a thorough fermentation.
How to Build	A dialed in four-day, 6% base recipe you can brew as-is or scale: 200 lb of dextrose, one 7bbl Propper pack, and one pitch of Lutra.
Get Creative	A neutral base can be what you want it to be. Add flavors, fruit, botanicals, advanced hop products, and other beverages. Imagination is the only limit.

Suggested Strain

Dried Lutra

The goal for hard seltzers is to create a clean base without operational hangups. Dried Lutra is what we call the modern house strain and ultimately the one we suggest first for hard seltzers. It’s an exceptionally clean, neutral fermenter, and flocculates better than wine or distilling yeast. Its 20% ABV tolerance allows for high-gravity brews and when paired with Propper Seltzer, it can reach terminal gravity in as few as four days.

TYPE	Kveik
Format	Clean, Neutral
Sensory	Clean, Neutral
Flocculation	Medium–High
Attenuation	74–80%
Temp Range	54–95°F (12-35°C)
Alcohol Tolerance	14-20% ABV

An added perk is that it’s Gluten-Free

Dried Lutra is gluten-free, and a sugar base carries no barley, so the finished seltzer is gluten-free. It’s advantageous for having a beverage offering for different audiences.

Propper Seltzer

The Nourishment a sugar base doesn't provide

Propper Seltzer is a proprietary nutrient blend made for 100% simple sugar-based fermentations. A sugar base carries no nitrogen, no vitamins, and no minerals, so the yeast starves and the ferment stalls or turns sulfurous. One dose in the whirlpool supplies the complete package, which frees you to use any yeast strain you like: beer, wine, distillers, or kveik.

Add Propper Seltzer at flameout, once you have hit target gravity. Measure the dose to your original gravity and volume, whirlpool until fully dissolved, and cool as quickly as possible. It is formulated to leave flavor and color untouched, so the base ferments crystal clear and clean.

It’s quite easy to scale. At 170 g/bbl it covers a standard base up to 15°P (1.060). Above 15°P, step up to 1.5x for high-ABV seltzers over 9%. Above 25°P, go to 3x and use Dried Lutra, which tolerates 14–20% ABV.

For your consideration: fermentations with fruit still need nutrients. Fruit sugars still need a fed yeast to finish. Propper Seltzer is dry, gluten-free, and stable for two years, in resealable 7 bbl and 15 bbl bags plus 28 g homebrew packs.

Form	Dry nutrient blend
Standard Dosing	170 g / bbl
Covers	Up to 15°P (1.060)
High Gravity	1.5x >15°P · 3x >25°P
Homebrew Pack	28 g / 5 gal
Shelf Life	2 years
Status	Gluten-free · Any strain

Directions

Dissolve sugar at ~180F, boil 10 min
Measure gravity and adjust to target
Add Propper Seltzer at flameout, whirlpool to dissolve
Knock out to fermenter, oxygenate at 8-10ppm

Recipe

A hard seltzer in 4 days

Here’s the recipe for a 4-Day Lutra Hard Seltzer, a clean 6% base in as few as four days. For 7 bbl: 200 lb dextrose, one 7bbl Propper Seltzer pack, and one 500g brick of Dried Lutra. It takes a 10°P OG to a −1.5°P FG, 6.01% ABV, and ~124 calories per 12 oz. Brew it as written or scale to about 28.6 lb dextrose, 170 g nutrient, and 60 g Dried Lutra per bbl.

Dried Lutra

~180 °F · 10 min

Add 200 lb dextrose to 7 bbl water, circulate, and boil gently for 10min. Check gravity and adjust to 10°P with water.

Feed & Pitch

Flameout + Fermenter

Kill the heat and whirlpool the Propper Seltzer dose until dissolved. Knock out quickly at 78–86 °F, aerate to 8–10 ppm, and pitch a 500 g brick of Dried Lutra at 10M cells/mL.

Ferment & Harvest

2-4 Days

Hold warm and ferment to terminal gravity. Harvest the slurry once you hit terminal Plato and re-pitch. Kveik is hearty for repitching.

Get Creative

A neutral base can be whatever you want

Here are a few ideas that we discuss around the lab. If you're doing any of these already, we'd love to meet you.

Add Fruit late

Introduce fruit or juice while the yeast is still finishing. The active culture ferments the added sugar dry and cleans up as it goes. Keep it warm to let it finish. If you backsweeten or want to keep fruit unfermented, consider preservatives including Propper Chiber.

Utilize advanced hop products

There’s no shortage of new, interesting hop products out there. Adding the flavors and aromatics we love in beer may be easier than you think.

Hard seltzers. Hard coffee. Hard <insert beverage name>

Hard seltzer base is essentially just clean alcohol. With the right quality and handling, can be blended with a myriad of other beverages like ciders, kombuchas, and meads to expand your reach to different palates.

High gravity batches

Propper Seltzer scales past 6%: step nutrient to 1.5x above 15°P and 3x above 25°P, and let Lutra’s 20% tolerance carry a high-ABV seltzer. This is ideal for creating one large batch and splitting into different flavors, or diluting high-gravity seltzer to produce an even more water-like base.

Next Steps

Cultivate something interesting

A myriad of ways to go from here. Let's not let a few insanely large, rather boring seltzers brands own the conversation. For those who don't like beer, they simply just want something interesting and tasty.

Stay bubbling,

The Omega team