The 24 Best Hard Seltzers Available In Australia

Are hard seltzers a revolution or a fleeting alt-alcohol trend that’ll fizzle as fast as vapourised cocktails?

That’s a question we posed back in 2021 when we originally published this list of brands making hard seltzers in Australia. And the answer favoured the former. A cynical take would be irrelevant by now, given the alcoholic seltzer market is now estimated to have a value of US$18.97 billion in 2023.

It’s easy to see why. Seltzers are a valuable step forward in the “better for you” drinks movement, spearheaded around the world by brands like White Claw and Desert Dry.

I’m going to give you a definitive round-up of my favourite seltzer labels to show you just how far this market has come, and how far it has yet to go.

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Hard Seltzer Brands Available In Australia

1. Moon Dog Fizzer Seltzer

Brewed in Victoria, Moon Dog Fizzer Seltzer is one of the newer brands on this list. And while the range is as expected, focusing on fresh natural fruit flavours, the fact that it’s coming from one of Australia’s most reliable brewers is a seal of approval worth noting.

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2. Fellr

While Fellr wasn’t the first hard seltzer to hit the Australian market, it’s one of the most recognisable (arguably just behind White Claw). The brand was created by two Sydney mates, Andy Skora and Will Morgan, who left their day jobs to tackle the pre-mix category with a focus on simplicity, a proprietary brewing method, and great packaging.

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3. Hard Fizz

A couple of mates from the Gold Coast and a handful of notable Aussies including Paul Fisher & Hayden Quinn sit behind the funky flavours of Hard Fizz. The caloric count sits stands somewhere in the middle of the crowd, with just 77 calories per can and the accessible “99% sugar-free” and “gluten-free” labels. All-natural flavours have been used to work up a small but delicious range which includes grape & strawberry, blueberry lemonade, and lychee & apple.

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4. Gravity

Founded in 2022, Gravity Seltzer is one of the newest brands on the market and is doing things (slightly) differently from the traditional seltzer brand. The point of distinction generally centres around flavour. Gravity Seltzer is the only brand, to my knowledge, with a unique kiwi and guava expression. That’s as summer-appropriate as any flavour combination I’ve come across.

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5. Vacay

Vacay is the first seltzer brand in Australia to be worked up in collaboration with an award-winning sommelier (Alex Kirkwood) who was bought on board by the new Sydney-based label to help develop the flavour profiles of raspberry, lime, Kakadu plum, and ‘pure’. Brewed off a malt base, the alcoholic water has all artificial colours and preservatives removed before all-natural ingredients are infused and then carbonated, resulting in a seltzer that’s vegan-friendly and less than 62 calories per can.

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6. Great White

The team at Margaret River brewery Cheeky Monkey have entered the ring with their own inventive take on a hard seltzer, off-shooting to the standalone label Great White. Already stocked in places like Dan Murphy’s and BWS, the gluten-free seltzer comes in either black cherry, raspberry, or orange & grapefruit, sitting at a saintly 97 calories per can.

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8. Saintly

You wouldn’t expect a sugar-free, zero-carb drink from the same team behind the Australian push for infamously sweet Rekorderlig cider, yet seltzer continues to bring out the health-conscious in all. The Saintly brand is easily found at any Dan Murphy’s or BWS and comes in either mango, watermelon & mint, lime, or pink grapefruit flavours. Those first two flavours sit at what seems to be the standard ABV for seltzer, that being 4%, but the latter two push things up to a bit to 6%.

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9. Good Tides

Asahi-owned Good Tides is designed a bit differently from most other seltzers available in Australia; instead of the brew method employed by most, this drink takes Australian sparkling water and spikes it with premium triple distilled Vodka O before adding a hint of natural fruit flavours.

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10. Smirnoff Spiked Seltzer

It was only a matter of time before Smirnoff jumped on the seltzer train, throwing their own hat in the ring with three varieties of the zero-sugar spiked water. The cans sit at a nice 5% ABV and come in lime, passionfruit, or raspberry rosé flavours. Most recently, the brand has introduced a mango flavour to its range which, like the others, sits at a petite 70 calories per can.

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11. Rainbird

With an ABV of between 6% and 8%, the Woolworths-backed Rainbird from Pinnacle Drinks is one of the stronger seltzers on the market. The hard seltzer is clearly the pick for drinkers who like a stronger punch, although I think the overall flavour profiles are quite weak and much too sickly. The cans come in ‘natural’ or lemon-lime flavours, with each packing in 135 calories.

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12. Sunly

Trust Byron Bay favourite Stone & Wood to enter the seltzer market in style. Sunly’s eye-catching slim cans in their sorghum-brewed range echo the quintessential flavours of Australia, spanning blood orange & grapefruit, native Davidson plum & berry or ginger & lemon.

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13. White Claw

You can’t have a hard seltzer revolution in Australia without the brand that started it all. We have Lion the thank for bringing the unstoppable White Claw to Australia, and oddly cutting the ABV down to 4.5%. And the label’s success in the States has been easily replicated down under, with a bigger range of flavours than any alternative brands.

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14. ‘Ray

Straight out of Footscray, Hop Nation’s ‘Ray (named for the Melbourne suburb) is as simple and straightforward as the drink’s minimally designed cans. Cutting it at 4.5% ABV, Ray comes in several naturally brewed hard seltzer flavours, ranging from peach to watermelon & mint, and lemon & lime.

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15. Actual

It’d be foolish for Carlton & United Breweries not to throw themselves at such a high-octane market as hard seltzers. With Actual, the company has pushed into the growing market with just two flavours: pure (vodka and soda), and lime, with the latter using actual lime juice instead of just extract. Despite the confoundingly limited range, I’d say this is one of the more refreshing seltzers I’ve tried; if only CUB made more flavours.

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16. Tidal Artesian

Tidal Artesian is a sub-brand of Mornington Peninsula’s St Andrews Beach Brewery. And the crew didn’t land on the name without reason. Their interpretation of the hard seltzer craze makes use of pure water from an underground spring with yeast, fermented cane sugar and malted barley. The sharp focus on purity is expressed well, making this one of the better seltzers on the market.

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17. Delvi

Delvi claims their hard seltzer is ‘tree to tongue’ in a nod to the farm-to-fork movement, focusing on locally farmed and organic ingredients used with pure Australian waters. It’s certainly a way to stand out, crafted into the two key flavours of either blood orange or desert lime.

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18. Lost Palms

As one of the only hard seltzers coming down from the sun-soaked Queensland, Lost Palms have put forth a namesake entry that’s brewed from rice and blended with real fruit. At 4.5% ABV, the spiked seltzer sticks to the tried-and-tested key flavours of peach and watermelon, brewed in the hip suburb of Miami on the Gold Coast.

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19. Coast

Representing Victoria’s coastal town of Torquay, Coast rolls out of Blackman’s Brewery, sticking close to the classic profiles with watermelon, blood orange, lime, and cucumber & mint flavours. Physical stockists are mostly limited to Victoria, but these nice-looking cans can be bought online directly as four and sixteen packs, or in a mixed pack.

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20. NoSh

Another one from Victoria’s Surf Coast, NoSh Boozy Seltzer comes from Torquay Beverage Company and has been given a considerable boost in reach from a partnership with Woolworths. The cans are attractive and fresh fruit flavours are paramount with either peach or mango & pineapple. Truth be told, it’s a bit too diluted for me with a 5% ABV but the mango & pineapple is satisfying enough on summer days.

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21. Somma

Like Quincy, Somma got in early, hitting Australian shores in late 2019 with the backing of Coles. Marketed as alcoholic sparkling water, without the official hard seltzer label, the vegan-friendly drink uses water drawn from an extinct volcano in regional Victoria and comes in two key flavours: cucumber & mint and watermelon & lime.

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22. Sunny Eddy

Born on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, Sunny Eddy is a triple distilled gin-based seltzer built with sparkling water and a “hint of real fruit flavour”. You’re looking at less than 1g carbs, 0 sugar and 76 calories across three vibrant flavours, crisp pink apple, lime & cucumber, and blood orange & grapefruit.

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23. ARC

Based along the Great Ocean Road, ARC is a newly launched hard seltzer brand that was started by uni mates Thomas Hogan and Jeremy Irwin. The label joins the Australian-only approach, employed by the likes of Sips and Delvi, by crafting flavours with native ingredients. Here you’ve got mango & finger lime, and pink grapefruit & lemon myrtle, waving the flag high for the country’s ever-growing hard seltzers market.

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24. 5 PM

5 PM Hard Seltzer goes hard with just three key flavours, watermelon, grapefruit, and berry pomegranate. Each pushes the seltzer barrier at 98 calories and sits at 5% ABV. Plus they stick out amongst the other hard seltzers on the shelf at your local BWS or Dan Murphy’s, simply because the cans are midnight black as opposed to the summery brightness you’d get from most seltzers.

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What Exactly Is A Hard Seltzer?

At the most basic level, a seltzer is a soda or sparkling water that’s been spiked with alcohol and finished with (usually natural) fruit flavours.

The alcoholic beverage used as a base can either be naturally occurring, thanks to natural fermentation, based on a brewing process or simply a classic triple-distilled vodka.

Whether it’s made or mixed, hard seltzer fits into the health-conscious, ‘sober curious’ zeitgeist with a barely-there caloric density that typically ranges between 60-90 calories per can, hardly ever exceeding the 100-calorie barrier. 

If you want to drink alcohol on a diet, grabbing a hard seltzer is now one of your best bets. Just remember that hard seltzer is alcohol. As such, we remind you that it’s illegal to supply alcohol to any person under the age of 18 in Australia. Just to reiterate how easy it is to forget, given the taste.

Increasingly, craft breweries are making the easy switch to supplement their existing ranges with a few hard seltzers. And it’s a smart move, seeing as brewing a hard seltzer requires little equipment and usually doesn’t require an additional license.

The combination of little effort and the potential to grab a slice of a burgeoning market is evidently hard to resist, seeing as some of Australia’s best craft breweries are already making their own seltzer, alongside the bigger names like Lion, Asahi, and Carlon & United Breweries. Hard Seltzer has even taken attention from light beer and craft beer production at times.

It’s gotten so out of hand that you can even find bud light seltzer now, along with other big names like corona hard seltzer.

Popularity has been so swift in Australia that there is now a dedicated online store entirely dedicated to hard seltzer, simply called The Seltzer Store.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What goes into a hard seltzer?

Hard seltzer is usually built with vodka as the base, although sometimes the alcohol comes from fermented cane sugar with flavours and carbonation added after the process.

What is the most popular hard seltzer brand in Australia?

While there are plenty of hard seltzer brands on the market now, the most popular so far include White Claw, Vacay, Smirnoff, and Fellr.

Can you get a hangover from hard seltzers?

Rarely. In addition to just being lighter for the body, with fewer sugars than RTDs and fewer carbohydrates than beer, seltzers also hydrate much better than most alcoholic drinks on the market. They also contain a very low concentration of cogeners, a chemical byproduct of fermentation that can contribute to hangovers, compared to dark spirits and red wine.