Keto dieters rejoice: Bud Light made a beer you can drink on your strict meal regimen. The light beer brand announced its latest innovation, Bud Light Next, a zero-carb beer, the first of its kind.
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Bud Light Next has been 10 years in the making, says Paul Scholz, senior director of Bud Light’s Innovation and Extensions team. And as this is the first zero-carb beer on the market, the team at Bud Light is holding its secrets close to the chest. While Scholz couldn’t dive into exactly how Next totally nixes the carbs, he does say it was “really born as a beer.” Next starts the same way a regular Bud Light does: malted barley, water, rice, corn grains. Then somewhere along the brewing process, the carbs are gone.
Besides having zero carbs, Next has just 80 calories, clocking in at 4% ABV. As consumers have shifted tower lower calorie and more sessionable drinks (hard seltzer comes to mind), Next might find people turning back to beer once again thanks to comparable stats and sessionability.
Now about how Next tastes: It’s an enjoyable light beverage. One of our staffers who tasted it says “it’s like someone poured a plain seltzer into a glass that was previously used for beer,” and he means that as a huge compliment. He can’t wait for a Bud Light Lime Next, something that Scholz says could come to fruition in the future — just don’t hold your breath for it.
Bud Light Next is slated to hit shelves on February 7, 2022, just in time for Super Bowl LVI on February 13. And if you’re into the whole NFT thing, Bud Light is launching an NFT collection of 12,722 unique tokens to commemorate the release of Next, which you can learn more about on its website.