Coming off the heels of seltzer growth in the market is a new creation — hop water. Hop water is a non-alcoholic drink made from sparkling water flavoured with hops.

“There are telltale signs craft is eroding [the major brewers’] macro share, notably all the crafty brands invented by the big guys to masquerade as craft beer, the buyouts a few years ago and the way they’ve embraced this seltzer category as a means to bring in new consumers,” said London, Ont.-based beer writer Ben Johnson.

Local craft breweries in Guelph and Kitchener-Waterloo have embraced seltzers over the last few years. Some brewers have added new beverages to their product lineups, from sparkling hop water — zero-alcohol sparkling water with added hop flavour — to hard seltzers either brewed like beer or with spirits to cream soda and other traditional pop flavours.

“Focusing on single hop varietals like Wellington Brewery is very interesting,” said Marc Lecompte, Sidewalk Beer Shop in Waterloo. “It lets your customer get intimate with one specific hop. There aren’t many others, but I think it’s growing.” Currently, Wellington offers Cascade and Chinook sparkling hop waters.

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