Mountain Dew has kicked off the first two months of 2024 by truly dew-ing it all. They announced three new summer flavors, they brought the Dew to your kitchen with Mtn Dew SodaStream mix, and now they have continued their quest to satisfy Dew-drinkers’ partying demands on a national scale. That’s right, baby, Hard Mtn Dew is set to take over the nation.
How is this happening? Why is this happening? What is Hard Mtn Dew?
Hard Mtn Dew, Mtn Dew’s flavored malt beverage with 5% ABV, has been the talk of the town since its initial release in February 2022—and not always in a good way. The drink has been called out for its artificial sweetener flavor and for phasing out of one its most popular flavors, black cherry, after just one year. And the most recent controversy sprung from the limited availability of the spiked Dew.
While Hard Mtn Dew has continued to make even more boozy Dew flavors since its launch, including their Hard Mtn Dew Baja Blast Variety Pack from this past summer, it turns out you still can only get down with the Dew in 18 states (Iowa, Tennessee, Florida, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Minnesota, Virginia, Ohio, Illinois, Arizona, Kentucky, Connecticut, Wyoming, Oregon, Vermont, Idaho, and Colorado) and the city of Las Vegas. Personally, I’m disappointed that I can’t enjoy a can of Baja last during my work hours and crack a cold Hard Mtn Dew to unwind at the end of the day. Is that too much for a Californian woman to dream of?
Well, maybe not. According to soda savant @teamsupernovafb on Instagram, Boston Beer Company, one of the largest American-owned brewing companies, has announced on an earnings call that they will take over distribution of Hard Mtn Dew. This decision has been made in order to speed up the expansion of the malted drink across the nation, with the goal of selling nationwide by late 2024 or early 2025.
Regardless of how people feel about the taste of the drink itself, I think this expansion can only mean good news. If people generally enjoy the drink then, good, more people get to enjoy it. If the fake sugar taste is just too much, hopefully a future nationwide call for a full-sugar version could be the messaging Mtn Dew needs to hear to make some changes. If Lemonade Mouth taught me anything it’s that we must voice our beverage grievances!
Thoughts? Questions? Complete disagreement? Leave a comment!