Hop Water

A category on the rise

And of course, with it being ‘Dry January’ still, a number of new non-brews are joining the already burgeoning category in the US. The brand new launch from Iron Hill Brewery uses Azacca, Jarrylo, Cascade, Chinook, Cashmere and El Dorado hops, said to give a combined citrus and pine flavour. Director of Brewery Operations Andrew Johnston, said: “I’m a brewer, which means I love beer and everything about it, but I was excited when we made the decision to create a beverage with beer attributes and zero alcohol. As a beer drinker myself, I often drink water while I’m drinking beer for added hydration.” Austin Beerworks has also just added its own hop water, made with Citra, Centennial and El Dorado hops, designed to allow customers to enjoy the hop-forward quality of its drinks, more of the time. 

There are a myriad of other new launches. But, they are broadly similar and brewers are largely aiming for the same prize; to win back lapsed customers and tap into broad lifestyle shifts that are seeing more consumers moderate, abstain, or else choose alcohol without associations of bloating etc. 

Full-flavour refreshment

And aside from the taste profile – which unlike hard seltzers stands apart from anything else on the market, both with and without alcohol – the appeal technically is easy to see. Hop waters don’t require new, expensive machinery to create, nor do they require technical processes like de-alcoholisation. So, both better for the consumer, easier for the brewer and less impactful on the environment… it’s easy to see why many brewers think they may be the answer to their dwindling sales. 

And neither do hop waters feel like a betrayal of everything the craft beer movement promised it would be. Whereas hard seltzers felt like many brewers had backtracked on their pledges of full-flavour against the backdrop of watery, tasteless, mass produced liquids, hop waters actually seem to align with the values consumers have spent years buying into. 

Is UK success likely? 

So, could they be successful in the UK? There’s at least one brewer already keen to find out. Northern Monk launched its Hop Water last year. In fact, it’s had two iterations of the liquid. First up came its Holy Hop Water. Packaged in something more resembling an energy drink with gothic font and skull imagery, it promised an “amped up” sparkling water with Citra hops, designed to refresh body and soul. It’s fair to say though, that the packaging design screamed rebellion rather than refreshment. 

Its newer product is H2OP, which again focuses on the fruity character of the Citra hop. And it’s here you can see a notable shift to the clean white packaging cues more commonly associated with hard seltzers. Unlike US audiences, UK drinkers are not au-fait with what a hop water actually is. So leading on the purity of water in its name and its branding is a key move. 

Cultural affinity

Will other brewers join in? Should they? It’s likely many who were quick to join the hard seltzer trend – of which there were many – may be feeling a little burned. The products did not culturally land here in the UK, where the fast track of launches left consumers confused and unengaged and the perceived lack of flavour left little for drinkers to remember or set them apart from competitors. 

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