While White Claw didn't invent the concept of an alcoholic seltzer, it certainly brought the beverage to the mainstream. In the years since White Claw's debut in 2016, countless companies have put out their own take on the alcoholic seltzer, from Bud Light to Michelob Ultra. It's a whole industry now. Then you have Pabst Blue Ribbon who, uh, make a hard coffee.

Even though I am a die-hard fan of Rainier beer, I was skeptical that they could pull off a hard seltzer. But I can tell you that amidst the oversaturation of the seltzers, Rainier's take is a great one. Here's what I like about it.

Pete Christensen
Pete Christensen
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Flavor

Prior to Rainier's hard seltzer, I had yet to see an apple-flavored seltzer. Sure, hard ciders are a big deal and Smirnoff has their green apple beverage. But a red apple-flavored seltzer? Nah. Rainier nails it with their apple hard seltzer and it's perfectly Washington, even if Rainier hasn't been brewed here since before the end of the Cold War. The other flavors, huckleberry and lemon, are also quite tasty.

Dietary considerations

At 90 calories, this seltzer clocks in under Michelob Ultra, which postures itself as a beer for physically active people. For people on a macro diet, you'll be pleased to know there is one single carb in this bad boy, plus it's gluten-free. As for alcohol content, it does pale in comparison to White Claw's 8% but at 4.5%, it's right in line with regular pilsner beers. The long story short is; you can get buzzed on the weekend without worrying so much about the beer belly. But, type-1 diabetics can go to town on these, which is very cool.

If you've tried this seltzer or have any drink recommendations, I would love to hear them.

LOOK: Best Beers From Every State

To find the best beer in each state and Washington D.C., Stacker analyzed January 2020 data from BeerAdvocate, a website that gathers user scores for beer in real-time. BeerAdvocate makes its determinations by compiling consumer ratings for all 50 states and Washington D.C. and applying a weighted rank to each. The weighted rank pulls the beer toward the list's average based on the number of ratings it has and aims to allow lesser-known beers to increase in rank. Only beers with at least 10 rankings to be considered; we took it a step further to only include beers with at least 100 user rankings in our gallery. Keep reading to find out what the best beer is in each of the 50 states and Washington D.C.

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