Hop Water: A New Non-Alcoholic Fascination

Continuing my trend of covering non-alcoholic beer and similar non-boozy beverages, today I want to talk to you about hop water.

I’m sure that, at some point in the past, someone referred to regular beer as hop water. It makes sense, considering two of the five main beer ingredients are hops and water. But no, hop water is not beer.

Hop water is seltzer.

What is Hop Water?

Hop water is just non-alcoholic beer seltzer. Unlike alcoholic seltzer, which stormed the nation thanks to large brands like Truly and White Claw, hop water is relatively unknown, and for good reason.

Let’s corner this hop water market.

To enjoy hop water, someone must:

• Enjoy drinking beer, specifically for the hop flavor.
• Enjoy drinking seltzers.
• Want to cut back on alcohol.

Ok, so our niche audience is very small, but I’m included which is the only reason I’m writing about this. 

A little more about hop water — yup, it’s basically just carbonated water. Like a brewer’s La Croix. 

Hop Water vs. Beer

Time for the real reason you came here. This is my pitch. This is where I convince you that hop water is better than beer!

Well, it isn’t. Hop water and beer couldn’t be more different. Sure, they could, but they’re pretty different. To show you, I’m going to compare hop water and beer based on flavor, health, and production methods.

Flavor

The biggest noticeable difference between hop water and beer is that hop water is clear and bubbly while beer is…not.

Hop water tastes like water, plus whatever hops are added to the mix. Beer is a combination of hops, malts, and yeasts. So, the flavors really couldn’t be more different. 

Health

There’s no way to say this other than directly: hop water is significantly healthier for you than beer. Remember that hop water is just water with some hops. That’s it, no frills, no calories, no carbs, and no gluten!

Beer has pretty much everything in it — calories, carbs, gluten, sugar, alcohol — and might be one of the most unhealthy drinks created. Ok, beer isn’t actually the worst, especially if you choose a better low-cal beer. 

Regardless, while hop water doesn’t have health benefits, you are essentially getting a big glass of water.

Brewing process

I’ve broken down the brewing process over the course of many articles (but not in one, which I should do). The gist is basically:

• Mash
• Lauter
• Boil
• Separate
• Ferment
• Mature
• Filter (or not)
• Drink

Hop water isn’t brewed so much as steeped, sort of like a giant hoppy tea. Unless, of course, you or someone you know makes it differently, because it’s not like there’s some strict process for creating hop water.

Is Hop Water Good for You?

Hop water is not medicine or vegetables. Hop water isn’t going to add health benefits to your body (aside from hydration). Hop water is definitely good for your soul, though.

Knowing me and some of my readers, I’ll say that hop water is good strictly because the alternative, beer, is not that good for you.

So yes, hop water is good for you, if you are one of those people that picks hop water over beer.