WTF is Hop Water Dude?

Hop Water has been around for a while now and is starting to show clear signs of promise both in the United States and here in Australia as an alternative non alcoholic beverage (NAB) for health conscious adult drinkers.  With young adults and older adult drinkers alike leaning into the “less is more” and the “no-lo alc” space undertaking regular “fasts” or “breaks from alcohol” many craft brewers' minds turn to the simple question “What can I realistically and easily produce in my brewery to serve this growing category and customer base?”

The Answer is right under their noses - quite literally, or in their brewery cool room and pouring out of their taps.  Hops + Water = Hop Water.  Hop Water is a beverage that does not require expensive capital equipment to distil out alcohol from alcoholic beverages and it is both healthy and tastes delicious.  It is not trying to be a beer and it is not trying to be a water.  However, Hop Water has hops in it just like beer and it is a tasty water with all the positive health benefits, refreshment and hydration of well, regular water! 0 Sugar, 0 Calories, and importantly 0 hang over! Drink as much of it as you like guilt free and wake up feeling refreshed!

Scan data from NIQ shows that off-premise sales of the beverage in the US were up 20 percent year-over-year for the 52 weeks through Dec. 28, 2024.  Sales spiked during “Dry January” — 2024 up 48 percent over 2023 for the month and Mary Mills, 3Tier consultant, tells us, Hop Water has got legs year-round. “I really don’t think this is a fad,” she says. (Infante, 2025).

There has been a steady increase in start-up Hop Water brands and both craft brewery hop waters in the United States and Australia.  Start-up Hop Waters in the United States include H2OPS, Hop Wtr, Athletic Brewing Co DayPack Sparkling Water infused with Hops, HopLark Hop Water and Hop Tea  and Hike Hopped Seltzer and we have seen Hopr launch in Australia.  Hop Wtr in the States was launched in 2020 by Jordan Bass and Nick Taranto, HOP WTR’s sales increased nearly 200% in 2023. They are the top hop water and the fourth largest player in the overall craft non-alcoholic arena. “In non-alcoholic beer, we’re a top-ten product by dollar sales and a top-five category grower from major to craft breweries,” Bass says.  

The rise of hop water and HOP WTR specifically has revealed just how wide the consumer base is. Bass says when HOP WTR debuted, its messaging was more beer-centric. They then saw demand in more mainstream retailers, and found their audience skewed more toward women (over 50%) than they’d anticipated. They also learned about 80% of their consumers drink alcohol but seek moderation.

“Our brand is up 162% in the last 52 weeks in scan; the category is up 108%,” says Bass. “But this is a massive market, and we’re just scratching the surface… We’ve got 10 years of runway, where we can introduce this to new consumers and keep broadening our availability in retail. Many consumers still don’t know hop water, and the opportunity to drive that knowledge is important – it leads to continued growth.”

There are also a number of leading craft brewers in the United States with a Hop Water on the market and a host of smaller brewpubs serving their own hop waters on tap as a NA (Non-Alcoholic) beverage option for customers.  Notable brands include: Lagunitas Hoppy Refresher, Sierra Nevada Hop Splash, Pelican Sparkle Hops, Allagash Sparkling Citrus Hop Water, Ruse Brewing Familiar Flower, and that is just a short list of what is already out there Stateside!

Meanwhile in Australia, while hard data is hard to come by in terms of the overall category size, growth and scale of the brands there is a lot of anecdotal evidence of strong category growth. Instagram stories and posts of the fast growth story of Hopr as well as the recent launches from Craft Brewers like Aqua Lupa | Sparkling Hop Water from Wayward Brewing Co, The Hip Hip Hop Water from Batch Brewing Co and Sparkling Hop Water 0 from Noosa Brewing Co all point towards a growing category for hop waters and consumer trial and repeat purchase.

If you are an existing Australian Craft Brewer and you are thinking - how do I go about making my own Hop Water to offer an NA beverage on tap, keg, or can or bottle to my customers then we are only too happy to help share what we know to help you grow your business.  As drinkers look for NA options and consume less alcohol in venues and at home it's a great option to broaden your beverage offer and capture sales you are otherwise missing out on if you only sell alcoholic beverages and beers on premise and off premise.

So, what makes a good hop water? And furthermore, how do you recreate those favoured flavour characteristics?  As brewers know there are many ways to get hops into your beer from the mash, to the boil - start, middle or end, the whirlpool and dry hopping and there are hop backs and other gadgets to extract more flavour from hops as well.  But before we get to hops and hopping techniques, lets talk about water!

Water and pH:

A very important consideration when making any NA beverages is that they should be pasteurised as well as acidified to deter pathogens.  Your water source and quality and pH levels are super critical to taste with Hop Waters.  To keep your beverage safe to consume and also to give a sharp taste acidity matters.  The food industry standard is 4.6 pH.  At or below this pH botulism spores are unable to grow.  Hop Water has a lot less growth potential for pathogens than non-alcoholic or alcohol-free beer. 

Given many modern hops give off citrus and tropical flavours and aromas your choice of acid to lower the pH of your Hop water is an important consideration as well.You can use several types of acid to adjust the pH level: Phosphoric Acid, Lactic Acid, Citric Acid, Malic Acid, or Ascorbic Acid.  Many popular hop waters use Citric Acid.  Some experts suggest buffering with Sodium Citrate as well.  Hops will nominally raise the pH so a buffer will help to maintain and stabilise a targeted pH.

If you don't have a pH meter, aim for a pH of 4 or below.  You can achieve this by adding approximately 1 gram of Phosphoric Acid or Lactic Acid per 4 liters of water. This translates to roughly 5-6 ml of Phosphoric Acid or 3-5 grams of Citric Acid.  Keep in mind that your water source may have varying pH levels, so testing is highly recommended.

For an additional flavor enhancement, consider using fresh lemon or lime juice to adjust the pH.

Soft water is recommended. Many brewers perform a simple treatment on their already soft water. Delucchi’s (2023) article on Lagunitas proposes a 2:1 chloride to sulfate ratio, which is a common benchmark for many hazy IPAs. Any harshness in the hops will be noticeable. With high carbonation, anything that dries the palate or increases the perception of bitterness should be avoided.

Pasteurisation:

It is recommended that these “high acid” beverages are pasteurised, so at a minimum you should bring your water up to a boil.  We advise a quick 10 mins boil of your water which also aids to deaerate your water.

Hop Additions:

To hot steep or cold steep? That seems to be the main question for producers.

Hop expert and author of The New IPA: A Scientific Guide to Hop Aroma and Flavor, Scott Janish, advocates for a brief, cool dry hopping process. He explains that terpenes like myrcene and linalool reach their solubility limit within hours. Janish also points to research that indicates a cooler extraction (mid-30s Fahrenheit compared to 68°F) is faster, with linalool reaching maximum extraction in two days. Furthermore, he notes that studies have found that longer extraction times result in increased bitterness and polyphenols. This would be significantly more noticeable in a hop water than in the beer used in the studies.

Delucchi (2023), states that Lagunitas uses a two-step process. First, they heat a portion of the water to 77°C and steep half of the total hops in it; they call this "dip hopping" and claim it removes vegetal compounds. The remaining water is boiled for 10 minutes, and the rest of the hops are added at flameout for a 10-minute whirlpool. The liquid is then chilled and separated from the flameout hops, and combined with the dip hop slurry in the fermenter.

The amount of hops used in brewing hop waters varies among producers, but all use significantly less than what you would find in a typical IPA or even a pale ale. Ruse Brewing uses approximately 2.5 lbs per barrel (or roughly 1.25 ounces per gallon) on the higher end, while Lagunitas uses closer to 1 ounce per gallon. They all recommend trial and error based on your own setup (Gabbard, 2024).

The possibilities are endless from preparing hop teas, boils, dry hops, dip hopping, cold steeping, etc.  Ultimately, what works best for your brewery set up, taste and drinkers will require prototyping and developing in your brewery.  We have a suggested simple recipe for brewing a hop water at home outlined here: Lenny | LupoWater | Sparkling Hop Water Refresher Drinks Kit

Brewing Aids and Botanicals

Many producers are using brewing aids or additives like natural citrus flavours for extra complexity in their beverages. In the case of our own Lenny | LupoWater offers the option of pairing your favourite hops pairing with one of our popular Vlavours which are vacuum distillates from 100% Australian whole citrus fruit to accentuate the citrus or tropical characteristics of your hop waters.  True Citrus all natural, granulated citrus would be another option to add to give an extra citrus overtone to your Hop Water. Some adventurous brands in the United States have discovered that tea pairs really well with hops. In the case of Hoplark Hop Tea everything from Spruce Tips to Hibiscus, Chamomile and Black and Green Tea are used.  The sky is the limit or the limit is your own imagination in terms of botanicals to pair with your hops.

Fermentation and Biotransformation:

Whilst it is common to see in Hop Water labelling and advertising 0 Sugar, 0 Calories there are naturally occurring low amounts of sugar in Hops.  To learn more about this topic, I suggest reading "The New IPA" by Scott Janish, which provides a more in-depth analysis.  During his homebrewing experiments, Delucchi added approximately 8 oz. of hops to 1 gallon (3.8 L) of water and observed that it registered on his Anton Paar EasyDens. When the readings were extrapolated to a 5-gallon (19-L) batch, the result was around 1.001. This is below the FDA's 0.5 percent ABV limit, but it is enough for the yeast to metabolize and biotransform the hop compounds.

The Australia New Zealand Food Standards (FSANZ) Code does not contain a single, explicit definition of a "non-alcoholic beverage" with a specific ABV limit, the regulatory framework strongly implies that a beverage containing 0.5% or less alcohol by volume (ABV) can be sold and declared as non-alcoholic. This is supported by  Standard 2.6.2 and Standard 2.7.1, which restrict labeling beverages above this threshold as "non-intoxicating" and require mandatory alcohol content labeling for products at or above 0.5% ABV.

Carbonation

Producers all agree on the importance of high carbonation levels. Of the five producers who shared their CO2 volumes with Gabbard (2024), all were between 3.0 and 4.0, with most right around 3 volumes.  Keep in mind that you are balancing against hop bitterness, not sweetness, when adjusting carbonation levels. Higher carbonation will accentuate any perceived bitterness, instead of making the drink sweeter.

Final Considerations:

Ultimately, this beverage is not beer, so avoid using a beer-centric recipe. Winslow of St. Elmo advises to “steer clear of bitterness and treat it like water.” Kalis of Ruse agrees and suggests a “food and beverage approach,” and good filtration to avoid astringency from leftover solids. Umbinetti-Hutton of Aslan and Welch of Pelican recommend simplicity, as enhancing the flavor will probably create an imbalance. All producers recommend experimentation, as this beverage is still new, but suggest that your favorite hops for beer will likely also be good for hop water (Gabbard, 2024).

We advise our customers to consider single or a few keg releases on tap in their craft brewery taprooms before dialing in on a preferred formulation and recipe design and process that forms the foundation of your packaged product.  We have seen innovative taprooms offering Hop Waters on tap FREE of charge to designated drivers or their sober curious customers.  There is nothing stopping you from asking these hop water drinkers to fill out a quick questionnaire, on an iPad or similar when you pour them a FREE Hop Water while you dial in your hop water beverage design.

We have a recipe kit for homebrewers that you might like to try or buy for some trial and error research into this emerging category: Lenny | LupoWater | Sparkling Hop Water Refresher Drinks Kit

We also sell a host of Brewing Aids, Vlavours, True Citrus, Botanicals and other ingredients so there really is no excuse not to start mixing, brewing and offering some refreshing Hop Water in your taprooms today!

Well, what are you waiting for? Dry July? SoberOctober? Dry January? FebFast? I think you know where we are coming from and NOW! Is the time to expand your horizons beyond beer and capture and excite the curious adult drinkers of today and tomorrow.

Cheers #brewhappy #brewhoppy #hopwater

Dermott Dowling (an avid Hop Water drinker and Hop Water super-fan)

Managing Director | BeerCo Pty Ltd

BeerCo.com.au

Your no.1 Buddies in Brewing, Distilling and Making Supplies

References and Knowledge Sources:

Vito Delucchi (2023) Hop Water, Brew Your Own Magazine, September.

Dave Infante (2025), Hop Water Is Poised for a Breakout Year, January 10, Vinepair.

Courtney Iseman (2024), HOP WTR Helps Both Create and Meet Growing Demand for Full Flavor, No Alcohol, August 28, Origlio Beverage Blog Online.

Cody Gabbard (2024) Hop Water: Capturing the Essence, Zmurgy Magazine, Mar/Apr ed.

Scott Janish (2019)  The New IPA: Scientific Guide to Hop Aroma and Flavor, ScottJanish.com

Ben Keogh (2025) Hop Water Isn’t Trying to Be Beer. That’s Why We Like It. New York Times, Wirecutter, updated January 8.