How to Make Hard Seltzer - Fast and Easy

Kyle Brown on October 13, 2021

This blog provides information for educational purposes only. Read our complete summary for more info.

A question we often hear is, how do I make hard seltzer? Hard seltzer, like White Claw for example, is essentially sugar, water, carbonation, and flavoring. These ingredients are extremely cheap, easy to use, and make very flavorful hard seltzer. Learn how to make hard seltzer at home with our quick and easy hard seltzer recipe.

How To Make Hard Seltzer At Home 

Make high quality seltzer at home by following this simple recipe.
  1. Boil sugar in water
  2. Add yeast with nutrients
  3. Ferment
  4. Flavor & Carbonate

Read on for more info

How to Make the Best Hard Seltzer - EASY & FAST Recipe

Full Hard Seltzer Recipe Video

This hard seltzer recipe is tailored for our 10 gallon 120 volt brewing system. Watch us use it in the full recipe video below.

Benchmarks

  • OG: 1.038
  • FG: .997
  • ABV: 5.38%

Ingredients Needed

  • 5 gallons of reverse osmosis or distilled water
  • 3 grams of Calcium Chloride 
  • 3 grams of Gypsum
  • 5 pounds of corn sugar
  • 1 pack of Propper Seltzer yeast nutrient
  • 1 pack of Lutra Kveik Yeast from Omega (OYL-071)
  • Olive Nation Fruit Extracts

Hard Seltzer Recipe

  1. Add 5 gallons of RO or distilled water to your kettle
  2. Add 3 grams of Calcium Chloride and 3 grams of Gypsum
  3. Add 5 pounds of Corn Sugar 
  4. Stir everything together and gently boil for 10 minutes
  5. Turn off the heat, add 1 pack of Propper Seltzer yeast nutrient, stir
  6. Chill to 85F (29C)
  7. Add 1 pack of Lutra Kveik yeast, turn heat back on and set to 85F (29C)
  8. Ferment in the kettle for ~2 days (take a gravity reading to see when it’s done)
  9. Transfer to a keg, cold crash, carbonate
  10. Add Olive Nation fruit extract to your keg or each glass as it’s served

Tasting and Flavoring

Our seltzer turned out extremely clear and flavorless, exactly how we wanted it. We tried the following flavor extracts from Olive Nation. 

  • Orange
  • Mango
  • Coconut
  • Key Lime
  • Peach
  • Blueberry
  • Cherry
  • Apple
  • Banana
  • Marshmallow

We added .5ml - 1ml of flavoring to 100ml of seltzer, so the hard seltzer to flavoring ratio is about 200:1. This ratio will vary by flavor as some are stronger than others. Our favorite flavors were cherry & banana. Below you can find some extra information about this recipe.

Why RO or Distilled Water?

  • Minerals in tap water can make your seltzer finish cloudy and can give it a white wine flavor
  • RO water or distilled water is basically a clean slate, nothing is in it
  • Gypsum and Calcium Chloride is added due to the lack of minerals - these will help improve the final flavor 

Why Yeast Nutrient?

  • When brewing beer, grain has plenty of nutrients for the yeast
  • There is nothing good for yeast in sugar water - if you just pitch yeast in sugar water your fermentation will not go well
  • We added Propper Seltzer nutrient, which is a proprietary blend of yeast nutrient specifically made for seltzer
  • This nutrient will ensure that the yeast has a healthy and clean fermentation

Why Lutra Kveik Yeast?

  • This yeast is highly flocculating and has a neutral flavor profile, meaning it will make a clear seltzer with no flavor
  • The goal is to have a clean final product with no flavor so you can flavor the seltzer however you want
  • This yeast also ferments extremely fast at high temperatures & our equipment is perfect for fermenting hot

Final Thoughts

So there you have it, a fast and easy way to make hard seltzer from the comfort of your own home. Move over White Claw and Truly! If you still have any questions or want to post your own hard seltzer recipe, leave a comment below. Or check our our beginner beer making kit to start making your own brew today.

Portrait of Kyle Brown
Portrait of Kyle Brown

Kyle Brown

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Kyle Brown is the owner of Clawhammer Supply, a small scale distillation and brewing equipment company which he founded in 2009. His passion is teaching people about the many uses of distillation equipment as well as how to make beer at home. When he isn't brewing beer or writing about it, you can find him at his local gym or on the running trail.

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5 Comments

  • C
    Comment Author: Cory

    In the last step you mention kegging, cold crash, carbonation. By carbonation Do you mean to pressurize the Cornelius keg with CO2, or is there another step?

    Also Can you flavor it before kegging?

  • S
    Comment Author: Samuele

    Hi, if I use distilled water, should I add 3 grams of calcium chloride and 3 grams of gypsum per 5 gallons? Also, what did you use to adjust the pH to the correct value? Thank you.

  • P
    Comment Author: puppier

    Couldn’t you do the same thing with a bottle of seltzer water, a bottle of vodka and flavored syrup, sugar, ice & add some fruit slices for style?
    I’m not a chef, but i can mix a drink instead of paying $18 for 4 cans of seltzer.
    thanks
    Puppier

  • TD
    Comment Author: Tom Doyen

    May I please get a recipe for a 1 gal batch? I am just a beginner and would like to give it a try.
    Thank yoou

  • C
    Comment Author: Carter

    If you were to make this in a 5 gallon pot at home dose it still need to be stored in a keg or can you just store it in the pot it was cooked in.

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Categories

Various beers in glasses

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A group of people toasting with steins of beer

Learn From Interviews