Here's Why Hard Mountain Dew Won't Give You A Jolt Like The OG

An OG soda is getting a very boozy makeover. Mountain Dew stans, get ready to upgrade happy hour with your favorite libation taken up a notch. PepsiCo is teaming up with The Boston Beer Company to launch an alcoholic version of the popular soda in three different flavors. Although you’ll need to wait a little while for the sip to release, here’s what you should know about if there is caffeine in Hard Mountain Dew.

PepsiCo and The Boston Beer Company unveiled Hard Mountain Dew, aka HARD MTN DEW, on Tuesday, Aug. 10 — and it sounds like a soda fan’s dream. Hard Mountain Dew will feature the bold citrus flavor synonymous with the soft drink and a 5% ABV, thanks to a malt-beverage base. The sips will come in three flavors at launch — a classic Hard Mountain Dew, Black Cherry, and a Watermelon flavor. There will also be a fourth flavor to follow, according to a spokesperson for Boston Beer, but the details are still under wraps.

When you think about Mountain Dew, a high caffeine content is the first thing that comes to mind: There are 54 milligrams of caffeine in 12 ounces of regular MTN DEW. Surprisingly there’s no caffeine in Hard Mountain Dew, per the Boston Beer spokesperson. In fact, Hard Mountain Dew doesn’t have any stimulants to give you a jolt like regular Mountain Dew.

In the sip, you can expect a malt-alcohol base as well as natural and artificial flavors, but there is zero sugar and no caffeine.

For seltzer connoisseurs who followed Four Loko’s journey to nixing the caffeine in its sips, the caffeine-free Hard Mountain Dew might not be a surprise even though it seems counter to the Mountain Dew brand. You might “do the (non-alcoholic) Dew” to get yourself going with a little energy boost, but Hard Mountain Dew won’t give you the same jolt. If you’re interested in the boozy iteration of a classic, though, and are 21 years or older, Hard Mountain Dew will hit store shelves nationwide in early 2022.

Before heading out to load up on other hard sips or a bottle of regular Mountain Dew soda to tide yourself over, check the CDC guidelines for the most updated health rules.