How hop water became the new non-alcoholic drinks craze

If you haven’t yet tried (or even heard of) hop water, it’s not far from a brewery near you. Currently experiencing a huge growth spurt in the US, sales of the booze-free beverage have doubled there over the past two years to create a market worth $5.5 million (£4.4 million) in 2023. Industry predictions see the category growing further and now the trend has crossed the Atlantic – British brewers are just a hop, skip and jump away from making hop waters mainstream.

Widely purported to have been pioneered by American Paul Tecker, who founded H2OPS in 2013 to offer a non-alcoholic drink with a beer feel, hop water is in essence just another flavoured water. Tecker sees his sparkling hop water as a “session extender”, noting that “when drinking a H2OPS after drinking a beer, it feels like you are still in the session”.

Unlike beer, which, in its most basic form, is made by using grains, water, hops and yeast for fermentation, hop waters are not derived from grains and they don’t undergo fermentation. Most don’t contain yeast, either, and they’re generally zero-calorie.

But it’s not as simple as chucking some hops in sparkling water and hoping for the best; other elements of brewing know-how are also applied to the process. For the most successful results, the water chemistry must be adjusted to ensure it is very soft, while the pH of the hops is altered to ensure they are not too acidic. The carbonation itself must be high to make up for the lack of texture you’d normally get from the proteins, sugar or carbohydrates in beer – and to turn out something superior to run-of-the-mill, flavoured fizzy water.

The type of hops used is crucial, too: no one wants a mouthful of bitter, resinous water, which can be key characteristics of certain hops, when it’s possible to extract exquisite flavours reminiscent of everything from pineapple and peach to white wine and strawberries.

In the UK, brewers are approaching the style in many different ways. Some use whole-leaf hops or hop pellets that are heated in the water to extract their flavours and aromas (taking care to keep it below boiling point to avoid extracting astringency and signature hop bitterness). Others use pure hop oils and natural fruit flavourings that are heated just a little in the production process, while some use no heat extraction at all, letting the true nature of the hop flavours and aromas shine through in a way that is not always apparent in beer.

For consumers this means a promising range of drinks that capitalise on the benefits of hops, which studies have shown can help fight antibiotic-resistant infection. They also have a long history of homoeopathic applications for everything from blood disease to anxiety and sleeplessness.

Quite apart from which, with over 3,000 known flavour and aroma active compounds, hops are ripe for experimentation in booze-free drinks aimed at an increasingly health-conscious population that is either moderating its intake or rejecting alcohol entirely. And the good news is, hop water is proving to be a very palatable sip.

Four hop waters to try

Siren Idaho 7 Sparkling Hopwater

0%; sirencraftbrew.com, £6 for 4 x 440ml cans

By far my favourite of all those I tried. “Canned fruit cocktail with a hint of pine sugar” is what I immediately think of when I smell and taste it, and there’s a (very pleasant) hint of Juicy Fruit chewing gum at the end. It’s elegant and packs a punch without being overdone.

Abbeydale Sparkling Hop Water Amarillo

0%; abbeydalebrewery.co.uk, £9.50 for 6 x 440ml cans

Amarillo hops have long been coveted for their ripe peachy flavours, along with mandarin and grapefruit notes, and here that peach character really shines through without being cloying. The lack of sugar or sweeteners in the drink help to ensure that effect.

Track Hop Infused Sparkling Water Citra

0%; trackbrewing.co, £6 for 4 x 440ml cans

The closest to being like a beer in flavour and probably the fullest in mouthfeel, this is actually not a bad beer substitute and is, quite frankly, better than quite a few non-alcoholic beers I’ve tried in the past. The best choice for IPA lovers.

Northern Monk Holy Hop Water Sabro

0%; northernmonk.com, £1.25 for a 440ml can

Sabro, an American hop variety, is sometimes guilty of delivering intense fake coconut notes but not here; it’s very different in this infused sparkling water, instead contributing to a lychee flavour that is floral and perfumed but still pleasant.