Truly is a brand of
hard seltzer
Hard seltzer, adult seltzer, mature seltzer, spiked seltzer and hard sparkling alcohol water is a type of highball drink containing seltzer (carbonated water), Alcohol (drug), alcohol, and often fruit flavorings. In the US the alcohol is usually ...
and
vodka
Vodka ( ; is a clear distilled beverage, distilled alcoholic beverage. Its varieties originated in Poland and Russia. Vodka is composed mainly of water and ethanol but sometimes with traces of impurities and flavourings. Traditionally, it is ...
produced by the
Boston Beer Company
The Boston Beer Company is an American brewery founded in 1984 by Jim Koch, James "Jim" Koch and Rhonda Kallman. Boston Beer Company's first brand of beer was named Samuel Adams (beer), Samuel Adams after Founding Fathers of the United States, Fo ...
introduced in 2016.
History
Truly was launched as a hard seltzer brand in 2016.
In 2019 Truly and competitor
White Claw together controlled 85% of the hard seltzer market. Truly reformulated their flavors in 2019 in order to deal with increased competition. Also in 2019 Truly was offered on an airline for the first time through a partnership with
JetBlue
JetBlue Airways Corporation, stylized as jetBlue, is an American major airline headquartered in Long Island City, in Queens, New York City. Primarily a point-to-point carrier, JetBlue's network features six focus cities including its main hub ...
.
The Truly brand was one of the largest drivers of Boston Beer Company's sales growth over this period. In 2021 the Boston Beer Company said that the hard seltzer craze was coming to an end sooner than expected which was negatively impacting market growth. At that time Truly and competitor White Claw controlled 75% of the hard seltzer market.
A 2021 marketing effort saw the brand satirize
Dry January
The Dry January challenge is a campaign developed and delivered by UK charity Alcohol Change UK where people sign up to Teetotalism, abstain from alcohol for the month of January. The term "Dry January" is a Trademark, registered trademark with A ...
as "Try January" inducing millennials to try Truly.
The Boston Beer Company refreshed the Truly brand in 2023 to adjust to the new post-craze market. The brand continued to decline as a percentage of the Boston Beer Company's earnings through 2024.
Products
Hard seltzer
Truly's hard seltzer is made using a
cane sugar
Sucrose, a disaccharide, is a sugar composed of glucose and fructose subunits. It is produced naturally in plants and is the main constituent of white sugar. It has the molecular formula .
For human consumption, sucrose is extracted and refined ...
based fermented but not distilled alcohol. The production process is similar to that for
hard kombucha.
In 2019 it introduced hard seltzer
On tap.
In 2021 the brand had 30 flavors across its hard seltzer portfolio.
In 2021 Truly launched Truly Extra with an
ABV
Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as alc/vol or ABV) is a common measure of the amount of alcohol contained in a given alcoholic beverage. It is defined as the volume the ethanol in the liquid would take if separated from the rest of the solution, ...
of 8%.
In 2023 Truly introduced spirits based hard seltzer in addition to its traditional malt alcohol based offerings.
Vodka
In 2022 Truly branded vodka produced with
Beam Suntory
Suntory Global Spirits Inc., formerly known as Beam Suntory, Inc., is an American beverage company that is a subsidiary of Suntory Holdings, a Japanese multinational beverage conglomerate. The company produces alcoholic beverages.
It is the th ...
was released. It was initially offered in three flavors.
See also
*
Seltzer
Carbonated water is water containing dissolved carbon dioxide gas, either artificially injected under pressure, or occurring due to natural geological processes. Carbonation causes small bubbles to form, giving the water an effervescence, effer ...
*
Samuel Adams (beer)
Samuel Adams (often shortened to Sam Adams) is the flagship brand of the Boston Beer Company. It is named after US Founding Father Samuel Adams, who inherited his father's brewery on Boston's King Street (modern day State Street) and worked as ...
References
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Drink brands
Carbonated water