Natty Light, PBR, Four Loko takes on White Claw with boozy seltzer

When students return to college, alcohol companies will quench their thirst not only with beer from frat parties past, but also with harsh seltzers.

Over the past week, Natural Light (or "Natty Light"), PBR and Four Loko have all announced plans to roll out hard seltzer. Natty Light's hard seltzer is 6% ABV, PBR is 8% ABV, and Four Loko promises a full 14% ABV.

Read more: Four Loko teases a hard seltzer with nearly triple the alcohol content of White Claw while spirits fight to win "bros"

"Hard seltzer jumps between groups," Euromonitor told beverage analyst Matthew Barry to Business Insider.

Originally, Barry says, most hard seltz fans were people who drank seltzer of all kinds. These people were generally health conscious and perhaps switched from soda to sparkling water. They liked that the hard seltzer had fewer calories and thought it was a nice alternative to beer on a hot day.

"Then this summer, White Claw is hoping to become a mainstream drink," Barry said. "Men start drinking it ̵[ads1]1; it's something you can drink without being harassed, more or less, to drink an evil drink."

"It opens up a big market," Barry added.

Winning over beer-ditching bros

Over the Fourth of July weekend, hard seltzer was the top growing segment in the beer category. Sales increased by more than 200% over the past year, according to Nielsen.

"Bros" played an important role in fueling this growth, Business Insiders Bethany Biron reported.

"Throw an arrow at my fraternity composite and you will find a guy who is in hard seltzer," a junior and fraternity member told Biron.

Read more: & # 39; Claw is the law & # 39 ;: Why American & # 39; bros & # 39; suddenly can't get enough of White Claw hard seltzer

Now beer giants and other alcohol companies are trying to raise money for American young men's new drinks of choice. Beer sales by volume fell by 1% in the US from 2017 to 2018, according to Euromonitor data shared with Business Insider.

"The iconic American beers are for decades – it's the ones who are really struggling to keep younger consumers," Barry said.

Beer giants have been working to diversify their offerings and add new wine, spirits and non-alcoholic alternatives to their portfolios.

White Claw accounts for about half of all American hard seltzer sales. As the category goes mainstream and rapidly grows, many alcohol companies see an opportunity.

Natty Light, PBR and Four Loko are well-established brands for less discriminating beverages, with more focus on alcohol content than nutrition or taste depth. Now that hard seltzer has gone mainstream and been embraced by bros, these brands are likely to see a chance to be the even harder choice, with significantly higher alcohol content than White Claw's 5% ABV.

As summer draws to a close, will the thirst for hard seals also dry up? Barry doesn't think so.

"I think the hard seltzer is here to stay," he said. "I think that's in line with many of these long-term trends."

"Next year, people probably aren't going to shout & # 39; Are there no laws when you drink claws, & # 39; anymore, but they probably drink claws," Barry added.