But as any boozer who’s been awake in 2019 knows, hard seltzer has risen from the sea like a terrifying, gluten-free Kraken, throwing its dark, lower-calorie shadow across craft-beer’s hazy fleet of ships. Hard-seltzer sales, led by White Claw, have grown by more than 200 percent over the past year, according to Nielsen data, and the $550 million category could grow to $2.5 billion by 2021, according to MarketInsider. Peaks and Pints carries a few hard seltzers, as well as mead and hard kombucha. We thought it would be fun to add a little excitement to our weekly Monday cider flight, building off Double Mountain Brewery’s delicious Dry Cider with a prosecco, mead, hard seltzer and hard kombucha. Welcome to Peaks and Pints Pretty Potent Potpourri.
Peaks and Pints Pretty Potent Potpourri
Vandori Prosecco
13% ABV
Sourced from the Friuli Venezia Giulia, a northeast Italian region bordering Austria, Slovenia and the Adriatic Sea, and made from Glera grapes, Vandori Prosecco has a shiny bright straw yellow color and an intense, complex, fine, fruity fragrance. It’s bone dry with flavors of lemons, sage and apple.
No-Li Day Fade Rainier Cherry
5% ABV
No-Li Brewhouse has found success with their Day Fade, a new line of hard seltzers. “These seltzers are the culmination of a desire to see what No-Li can create beyond traditional definitions, and not only being committed to craft beer, but expanding the definition of No-Li craft beverages,” said No-Li Marketing Manager Bill Powers in a media release. “We feel we’re at our best when we’re looking for new ways to create brews that people want.” Rainier Cherry has a sweet, fruity and aromatic nose of cherries, with a pronounced sweetness to round out a drinking experience that’s only 2 carbs and 100 calories, all while being 5 percent alcohol by volume.
BeeHaven Peach Mead
6% ABV
Mead is fermented honey, water and yeast. Also known as “honey wine,” mead is believed to be the world’s oldest alcoholic libation and one that’s generally associated with eras past. Mead-making likely started when a sack of honey would catch some rain, which leads to fermentation. Consuming what’s in the bag would create a state of inebriation, which of course led people to experiment with making more. A process evolved. But this fermented honey drink is tiptoeing out from the cave. BeeHaven Beverage of Tukwila makes their peach mead melomel style, which mean fruit is added — in this case, peach. Also arriving to the mead party is a floral bouquet of chamomile and saffron petals.
Double Mountain Dry Cider
6.7% ABV
Double Mountain had long toyed with releasing their own hard cider, occasionally featuring housemade cider on at the taproom made from owner Matt Swihart’s own apples. The brewery finally releases its own Dry Cider in December 2017, blending freshly harvested heirloom apples from Double Mountain Orchards and Hood River Newtowns, Braeburns, and Hanners for old world complexity. Double Mountain gave it plenty of time to dry out and develop the aromas of juicy pear, lychee, green fruit, and chamomile. It finishes tart, crisp, dry and quenching.
Boochcraft Ginger Lime Rosehips
7% ABV
Boochcraft, makers of organic handcrafted hard kombucha, use only certified organic ingredients, fair trade sugar, and fruit juices freshly pressed in-house. Their Ginger Lime Rosehips packs a punch with fresh-pressed ginger and zesty limes, plus aromatic rosehips, to create a lightly tart and subtly sour sipper.
