Michigan’s Short’s Brewing is on the verge of its 17th anniversary — one that will go without an in-person celebration for the second consecutive year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Anheuser-Busch touted the successful first-week performance of its hard seltzer collaboration with rap star Travis Scott, Cacti Agave Spiked Seltzer, which sold out in many brick-and-mortar stores within 24 hours and online within 12 hours.

It’s April Fool’s Day but this is no hoax. Stone Brewing Company is launching a hard seltzer line. In fact, Buenavida Hard Seltzer is now available on draft at all of Stone’s taprooms and pubs, including its World Bistro & Gardens locations in Escondido and Liberty Station, and Stone Brewing Napa.

If you’re getting into the $4 billion hard seltzer segment in 2021 with a glut of new offerings, you better go hard. For New Belgium Brewing Company, that amounts to the biggest investment behind a brand launch in the company’s history for Fruit Smash, the Fort Collins, Colorado-headquartered craft brewery’s irreverent seltzer line, which began hitting retailers earlier this month.

On the verge of Night Shift Brewing Company’s ninth anniversary, the Everett, Massachusetts-based craft brewery is investing in its first “real advertising campaign.”

Molson Coors Beverage Company said the Topo Chico line will begin hitting store shelves in nine states starting March 29, giving the company yet another hard seltzer brand to compete within the more than $4 billion hard seltzer segment that has thus far been dominated by two brands: Mark Anthony Brands’ White Claw and Boston Beer Company’s Truly Hard Seltzer.

Boston Beer Company executives believe Truly Punch could be the next big thing in hard seltzer, rivaling the brand’s Lemonade and Iced Tea offshoots.

Spindrift is going hard. The Newton, Massachusetts-based premium sparkling water brand announced today the launch of Spindrift Spiked, a hard seltzer line rolling out to stores next month. Similar to the brand’s core non-alcoholic products, the new line is made with real fruit juice and contains alcohol fermented from cane sugar with a 4% ABV.

The launch of Dogfish Head’s ready-to-drink canned cocktails into near national distribution marks the culmination of what brewery founder Sam Calagione described as “the single longest R&D project” of his career.

The May 1 launch of a line of hard seltzers branded with fast-food chain Sonic’s name and proprietary beverage flavors has the potential to make Oklahoma City craft brewery COOP Ale Works a player in the $4 billion hard seltzer segment, president Sean Mossman told Brewbound.

Sarasota, Florida-based JDub’s Brewing is alive and about to launch a new flagship offering, following its April 2020 Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing thanks to a partnership with Orlando-based contract brewer Brew Theory.

Oregon lawmakers are considering a tax hike on alcoholic beverages that would increase taxes on malt beverages by $70 per barrel. The U.S. House of Representatives passed the American Rescue Plan, a $1.9 trillion pandemic relief bill in the early hours of Saturday, February 27. The bill includes a $25 billion fund for grants for bars, restaurants and breweries.