Bud Light Next is a Zero-Carb Beer That Looks Just Like a Hard Seltzer

Lately, Bud Light has relentlessly moved away from being a light beer brand, staking a sizeable claim to the hard seltzer market, flavored malt beverages like “Lime-a-ritas,” and the mouthful-of-a-concept “seltzer hardcore soda.” Or is it HARD seltzer HARD soda?

Either way, today, the AB Inbev brand announced a new beer innovation nearly ten years in the making called Bud Light Next.

The breakthrough brew sports zero carbohydrates, 80 calories, and 4% alcohol by volume. If Bud Light Next’s calorie and ABV content sound less like beer and more like a hard seltzer, maybe that’s not a coincidence, and the new beer is just the thing for drinkers that wished there was a beer-flavored hard seltzer.

Branding and packaging are also more seltzer than beer. Instead of the usual beer vessel, Bud Light Next comes in slim 12oz cans, like many seltzers. Half the label is white, with a silver line slicing through it, dividing the bottom half of a grid pattern in light blue. The Next wordmark is tech-inspired with sharp edges and executed in light and dark blues with the “X” in silver; the top of the can carries the parent Bud Light logo (itself a sub-brand of Budweiser).

As part of this Bud Light NEXT breakthrough release, we’re launching our first-ever NFT collection, where holders will have the chance to be a part of the brand from its inception. pic.twitter.com/rJZiU3zyJO

— Bud Light (@budlight) January 27, 2022

It wouldn’t be 2022 if a new beverage line didn’t have a Web3 component tied to it at launch, and Bud Light Next is no exception. Starting February 6th, fans will have a chance to purchase one of 12,722 unique Bud Light N3XT NFTs. They’ll also get a snazzy generative token inspired by Bud Light Next, which opens exclusive opportunities like voting on future merchandise and other unspecified perks and exclusives.

“As we usher in a new era of beer with the launch of Bud Light Next, we’re simultaneously seeing a revolutionary shift in the way brands engage with people on the internet,” Corey Brown, senior digital director for Bud Light, said in an announcement. “Our NFT project celebrates this new era and those who similarly are breaking barriers in technology and creativity.”

Bud Light Next hits stores nationally on February 7th, 2022. You will not find it under the name Hard Seltzer Hard Beer.

By Rudy Sanchez