Courtesy Schlafly
In the world of bubbly beverages, this year has undoubtedly belonged to hard seltzers, such as White Claw and Truly. Now, Schlafly is getting in the game by launching its Boomerang mead spritzer. Boomerang is on tap at Schlafly’s two locations and available in six-packs at retail locations starting today, December 6.
Boomerang is initially available in lemon-lime, but other flavors will follow if the drink is well-received. The citrusy flavors are not overpowering or tart but instead complement the mellow sweetness from the fermented honey. The mead base and a gentler carbonation than some hard seltzers give Boomerang echoes of a very light beer. The drink weighs in at a pleasantly sessionable 4 percent ABV.
Like many hard seltzers, it's low in calories. The lemon-lime Boomerang is just 90 calories and contains no added sugar. Schlafly earns a bonus point for using all-natural ingredients and only three of them at that: water, honey, and naturally occurring citrus flavors.
Schlafly head brewer Jared Williamson says the launch is the culmination of a process that began a year ago. Recognizing the growing popularity of hard seltzers, Schlafly decided to develop a hard seltzer that could stand apart from the spiked water drinks that dominate the category while honoring Schlafly’s tradition. “We felt like we could craft something that we completely fermented from the ground up to the final product and stay true to our history of fermenting things,” Williamson says.
The drink is based on mead, the fermented honey wine that’s said to be the oldest type of alcohol created by humans. Schlafly has occasionally featured mead throughout the brewery’s 28-year history, so the fermented honey drink was an ideal contender to serve as the basis for a hard seltzer.
“The honey gives it a light but perceivable sweetness and body, even though it's completely fermented out, so there's no sugars left behind,” Williamson says. “It leaves a very clean and crisp and refreshing beverage.” Mead’s gluten-free properties gave it added appeal as the Schlafly team developed the beverage, Williamson adds.
Mead is typically higher in ABV, but Schlafly’s brewers scaled back the traditional recipe to hit a lower target ABV. “There’s a history of ‘small’ meads that were designed to be more sessionable,” Williamson says. “So the idea of using a small mead as a jumping-off point and turning that into a very modern, carbonated mead spritzer, then adding different flavors made sense to us.”
After making the first batch of Boomerang in April, Schlafly experimented with different flavors internally and tested samples on select groups of family and friends, then later at Schlafly events through the summer.
“I was taking it to picnics and barbecues with friends and neighbors and sampling it with people who aren't necessarily beer drinkers,” Williamson says. “It's easy to be in the echo chamber with your brewing team, but this was really outside our normal wheelhouse, so we wanted to make sure we were vetting this with a lot of potential consumers, both traditional beer drinkers and non-beer drinkers.”
Williamson was reluctant to reveal other flavors that are being considered but says a tropical fruit flavor was another option tested alongside the lemon-lime at events through the summer, and it narrowly missed the final cut.
Whatever flavors are in the pipeline, Williamson says mead will remain the foundation of the Boomerang line, though Schlafly may experiment with other spritzers. “We talked a little bit about using cider as a base and doing a lower-alcohol cider spritzer,” Williamson says. “That might be something we explore in the future, too. But for now, the plan is to use mead as the basis.”
Boomerang will be available on draft at both the Schlafly Taproom in midtown and at Bottleworks in Maplewood. Williamson says a number of other bars and restaurants are also keen to have Boomerang on draft, and 12-ounce cans of the mead spritzer will retail in six-packs for $7.99 at Schlafly venues and retail locations around the city, including Schnucks and other grocery stores.
“It’’ll definitely be out in full force next week,” Williamson says.
