Hard Seltzer Calories by Brand: White Claw, Truly and More

By the DrinkLeader team · Published 2026-10-14 · Data updated 2026-10-12 · 8 min read

Most hard seltzers list between 70 and 110 calories per can; the catalog average is 105, and among the brands compared here the lowest average is Barefoot at 75 calories. The brand tables below show each brand's average, range and ABV so you can see whether a brand is low because of its alcohol, its sugar or both.

Calories by brand

Each row averages that brand's hard seltzers in the catalog, and the range columns show the lowest and highest single product. Brands with 30 or more entries show their 30 highest-scoring products. Sorted from lowest average calories to highest:

A few cautions apply when reading this table. Barefoot sells some seltzers in 8.5 oz cans, so its per-can average blends two sizes. Press and Lone River are small samples. And the big three, White Claw, Truly and High Noon, are covered by 30 or more products each, so they are shown as an average of the top 30. For a deeper split of those three by product line, see White Claw vs Truly vs High Noon and the Truly seltzer nutrition guide.

Why the averages differ

Three things move a seltzer's calorie number: the alcohol, the sugar and the can size. Alcohol supplies about 7 calories per gram, and a 12 oz can at 5% ABV holds roughly 14 grams, the NIAAA reference for one standard drink. That alone is about 100 calories. Sugar adds on top. So a brand sitting around 90 calories is usually either below 5% ABV, near zero sugar, or both, while a brand above 110 is carrying either a stronger line or more sugar. The calories in alcohol guide walks through the arithmetic.

The lowest-calorie hard seltzers

Here are the lowest-calorie individual seltzers in the catalog, regardless of brand:

The rows at the top are all 3.7% to 4% ABV cans, and they list 0g to 2g of carbs. This is the same relationship as the brand table: less alcohol, fewer calories. The low-alcohol seltzer guide goes into the ABV side. Michelob Ultra, Smirnoff and Corona all appear on the brand table with averages under the category average.

The highest-calorie hard seltzers

At the other end are the high-ABV lines and a few sweeter ones:

These are 8% ABV products, many with 160 to 170 calories in a 12 oz can, and some in 16 oz cans at 220. At that strength the can holds more than one NIAAA standard drink.

Sugar is the second lever

Among 5% ABV seltzers, the calorie differences come from carbs. These are the highest-carb entries at 5.5% ABV or below:

Compare these with the sub-2g rows in the earlier tables: both sets are called hard seltzer, but they are different drinks in sugar terms. High Noon, for instance, averages more carbs than the category in the brand table, which is why it appears near the high end on carbs while staying low on calories.

How to use this

• For the fewest calories per can, choose the low-ABV, low-sugar rows and confirm the can size.
• For fewer carbs, compare the carb column, not just calories. Sweeter fruit and lemonade flavors list more.
• Treat 8% and 16 oz cans as larger drinks.
• For other drinks in the same calorie range, use the under 100 calories list.
• To compare against other categories, see hard seltzer vs beer vs wine, or low-carb beer for the closest beer alternatives.

How to read the numbers

Hard seltzers are usually sold with a nutrition panel, so catalog figures are mostly producer-stated, rescaled to the can size shown. Brand names are matched by product name, so a brand's average includes every product with that name in the hard seltzer type, and products filed under Canned Cocktail (some vodka sodas) are not included. Truly's own site lists its products under light, bold and high-alcohol groupings, which is consistent with the ABV spread above. The methodology page has the details.

This page is information, not medical advice. The CDC defines moderate drinking as up to two drinks a day for men and one for women when adults choose to drink, and says that drinking less is better for health than drinking more.