Cost of Drinking Conundrum

[madscientist451]

Since COVID, I've been swamped with work and my brewing time has been reduced but I have more money to spend. I've also been trying to cut back on drinking and carbs for health reasons, so a few weeks ago, I bought a 24 pack of 16oz Miller lite and was some what shocked at the $33 out the door price. This is like a $10+ price increase since the last time I bought this item (maybe a year or more ago?) and equals about $11/gallon. So then I start thinking now home brewers can finally say that brewing your own does save you money. Other craft beers I like are usually $12/six pack or more around here, but you can sometimes find cheaper craft brews.
So today I met with a guy that is getting out of brewing and had lots of stuff for sale including ingredients for Hard Seltzer.
I really don't like hard seltzer, but the idea of a 30 minute brew day and less than $1/gallon for ingredients has me intrigued. Are there any hard seltzers out there that beer drinkers don't despise? Do all seltzers have to be fruit flavored? Will I go straight to hell if I mix corn sugar and DME and make a seltzer/beer hybrid?
I looked for Beer/Seltzer hybrids on google and came up empty, perhaps I missed something, someone must have tried this already.
I did find many hard seltzers with hops, so maybe adding some DME as well isn't going too far?
I have a large inventory of grains and so now I'm wondering what a rye/seltzer blend would be like, how about malted and unmalted wheat, or even malted oats?
That's all the time I have for mindless mumbling.....maybe I'll go crack open a white claw and mix it with some Pilsner Urquell.

 

[hottpeper13]

We are home brewers and not confined to commercial standards.
Why (brew ) a seltzer when you can just mix ever clear with water in a keg? Then have flavorings with a pump bottle so you can have more then one flavor.

 

[madscientist451]

Yes, and you could do it even easier using vodka a cheap bottled seltzer from the store.
But I'm looking for a seltzer that maybe tastes a little like beer, at the same time trying to keep the cost down.
Here's what I'm going to try today:
1 gallon batch
10 oz corn sugar
8 oz light DME
Make hop tea by boiling 3 cups of water with 8g USA Meridian pellet Hops 5.6% AA (lemon, tropical, fruity, citrus)

Cost of 1 gallon: about $3

method:
Heat 1 gallon of water to about 180 F
Dissolve in DME and corn sugar
Add 8g Meridian hops and let steep
Let hop tea cool and add
Chill and add 8.25 g Fermfast Vodka Turbo Pure yeast, yeast nutrient and enzyme mixture (what I have on hand)

Target OG 1.044
Target FG 1.005
ABV 5.15%

I've been told this will likely finish in 3-4 days.
The glucoamalyse enzyme in the turbo yeast might bring the gravity all the way down to zero, we'll see.
I'll taste the gravity sample and decide if I'll add any dry hops.
Will be force carbonated in mini-keg.
In theory, I should be able to report results by next weekend.

I'm not expecting much, since I really don't care for seltzer, but keeping an open mind.

 

[redrocker652002]

I say go for it. Nothing wrong with experimenting. Hell, you might come up with the next big thing. Nobody in my family but me likes beer, so this is a very interesting idea, hoppy seltzer. Please keep me posted, this is something that could be fun and easy to do. Rock On!!!!!!!!

 

[madscientist451]

Thanks, my 30 minute "brew day" is over, except its chilling out on the back porch.
If this batch is acceptable I'm going to try to reduce the DME and increase the sugar and keep everything else the same.
after that, I'll try some steeping grains for flavor and eventually do away with the DME and go all grain, but keep the sugar component.
So now I'm wondering what would happen if I use the Vodka turbo yeast in an all-grain no sugar version?
If the sugar/DME version is undrinkable, or lacking any beer-like flavors, I'll probably try the all grain version next.

 

[mac_1103]

I was under the impression that most hard seltzers actually are malt beverages.

“The alcohol in White Claw Hard Seltzer comes from fermented sugars derived from malted gluten-free grains.”

 

[madscientist451]

The Federal TTB classifies seltzer as a flavored malt beverage, but it looks like producers are allowed to make it without using any malt at all. (see article below)
The industrial breweries also "scrub" the Selzer to remove any flavors before adding the fruit flavors the drinkers seem to enjoy.
After reading the article below, I'm wondering if I'm going to regret using the Turbo yeast, oh well, we'll see.....
https://www.winemag.com/2022/03/01/hard-seltzer-definition-guide/

 

[bailey mountain brewer]

I tasted this crap once and told my wife it was there attempt at beer flavored seltzer.. hopefully you do a better job.

 

[Yesfan]

.....maybe I'll go crack open a white claw and mix it with some Pilsner Urquell.

sigh.......We can no longer be friends..........

 

[pvtpublic]

Isn't Miller Lite already a beer/seltzer hybrid?

 

[madscientist451]

Yeah I was being sarcastic, I would never treat a German or Czech beer like that.

sigh.......We can no longer be friends..........

Yeah I was being Sarcastic, I couldn't do that to a Czech beer.....

 

[mac_1103]

Isn't Miller Lite already a beer/seltzer hybrid?

Perhaps. But it's certainly not a beer / HARD seltzer hybrid.

 

[Yesfan]

Yeah I was being sarcastic, I would never treat a German or Czech beer like that.



Yeah I was being Sarcastic, I couldn't do that to a Czech beer.....

......and just like that....friends again.