Updated March 2026
Hard seltzer is not vodka soda. Most US cans are fermented sugar or a clear-malt base, then carbonated water and flavor. Sugar-base lots are beer for tax (27 CFR Part 25) but not a malt beverage for Part 7 labeling. Malt-plus-hops lots are malt beverages. A distilled-spirit RTD is a different bottle. Typical core cans sit near 5% Under 0.5% cannot say beer.
Related: what alcohol is in White Claw, what alcohol is in Truly, hard seltzer vs beer.
Class vs can
| Language | 12 oz |
|---|---|
| Sugar-base seltzer | Not Part 7 malt |
| Malt-plus-hops | Malt beverage |
| Spirit RTD | Different bottle |
| Typical core ~5% | Not a legal type |
| 12 oz at 5% | From labeled ABV |
Read the can. Pair: how long hard seltzer lasts.
Sources
- 27 CFR Part 7 malt beverage vs Part 25 beer. Sugar-base = not Part 7 malt. 27 CFR 7.145 under 0.5% cannot say beer.
- NIAAA December 2025. Official leftover unused.
- 27 CFR Part 5
- NIAAA one drink