A Californian homebrewer with 15-years experience in the beverage industry might be on to something with his H2OPS beverage, winner of the 2018 Beverage Industry Innovation of the Year Award.

If you have a brewery, hops, water, and carbonation, you too can be jumping onboard this new trend.

Hop water is the simple combination of hops and water. H2OPS sparkling hop water is brewed like a beer except the brewery only use hops, says Paul Tecker who created H2OPS.

“We add hops in the kettle and also generously dry hop for flavor and aroma. There are no yeasts, sugars or grains used in the process so it has zero alcohol and zero calories,” he says.

According to Whole Foods and Forbes, hops-infused sparkling waters are one of the items they see as part of a food trend next year.

“We use a blend of aroma hops from the Northwest such as Citra, Simcoe, Centennial and Amarillo, but we are always evaluating new varieties and blends. We go for aroma and flavor, not bitterness,” says Tecker.

“We are continually learning about what type of occasions people drink our H2OPS Sparkling Hop Water.  Somewhat surprisingly, several notable tech companies have begun stocking us in their office fridges and offering H2OPS as a non-alcoholic alternative at company parties.

“Netflix Hollywood had a company event recently with an Oktoberfest theme – dubbed ‘Oktoberflix’. Since it was a lunch event and the company wanted some productive work in the afternoon, they offered H2OPS as their hoppy festive drink. 

“Google San Francisco now offers us in their fridges alongside other sparkling waters and other non-alcoholic drinks.  They also offer H2OPS as a non-alcoholic alternative at after work events where alcohol is served. 

“After talking to some of these innovators, they cite a variety of reasons.  Some say the flavor and aroma of the hops is a sensory awakener that recalls time of celebration and hanging out with friends. Rather than making you sleepy, it hydrates and refreshes. But it’s not a beer or even a non-alcoholic beer most say.  It’s something different. It’s something new and innovative. Is H2OPS a tech company or beverage company? I say beverage company, but some in tech may disagree,” says Tecker.