As breweries continue to excel at their core product, but look to monetize in adjacent ways, several in Minnesota have tuned to both hop water (N/A option) and THC seltzers (part of a growing $180M revenue state-wide business that now includes taps).
While the THC seltzers are a genre of beverage unto their own (several have experimented with both light flavoring/zero calorie options, like Chill State, while others have loaded ingredients to create a more substantial beverage, like Trail Magic), there is increasing sophistication in the hop water offerings, and they have gotten so good I enjoy them more than half the time vs grabbing a beer, especially in the summer.
Surly
Was just out on Lake Minnetonka with Surly’s offering, simply called Sparkling Hop Water, and it was a very pleasant alternative to keep the DD (me) from intoxication. The citrus + mosaic hops smash through the light but bubbly carbonation, fulfilling on its promise to deliver the flavor you’d be looking for, all in a package with minimal ingredients (but including Vitamin C!) and 0 calories. Can design is a little Liquid Death-like and extreme for my tastes, but it’s what’s inside that matters.
Overall, this one reminds me of a flavored La Croix can, so if that’s your fix, this is a good option.
Fair State
A clear winner here is the set of hop waters from Fair State. They batch a set of cans for each hop predominantly used — so they’ve got a Citra & Centennial, a Citra & Galaxy, and more recently, a Hop Water Plus that features mosaic and strata hops paired with 50 mg of caffeine (because everyone seems to be finding new ways of pile-driving caffeine into our system). Each of these tastes, rightfully so, unique based on the hop(s) used, and I love the large format 16oz cans.
The Citra & Centennial is my favorite, I could drink this all day — it’s a super bright and super hoppy chug, and it will convert you to the hop water cause.
Fulton Hop Water
First of all, this can design is just lovely. Fulton has had an iteration out prior to this with an even more charming design, but I couldn’t find it as it looks like they changed the product to fit into their Hop Kingdom Family. It’s now called Hop Kingdom Hop Water, and I imagine it tastes the same as before. This one was a fairly chill, lightweight can when I originally tasted it, and I imagine it hasn’t changed. It was (and still isn’t) clear what kinds of hops are used in this, so your mileage of taste expectation may vary. Given that it’s kin to their variety pack of IPAs, it’s anyone’s guess. But this is a nice option to have if the other two I mentioned here aren’t available.
It’s better than Lagunitas’s option, which honestly I would have as a backup but never as a first choice.
It’s too bad these local cans aren’t more easily found across the state (so many nationwide grocery stores, like Whole Foods, stick to more national brands like Lagunitas), but I’ve spotted Surly and Fair State at several liquor stores and spots like Kowalski’s. They’re an excellent substitution for alcohol, but they’re also just a stellar beverage option.