I’ve never tried a NA beer, nor do I want to. Hopwater is different.
Sure is. Water with just a smack of hops. Comes in a bottle.
0.5% in the US. I drink NA beers, but hop water isn’t really the same category. It seems to be marketed that way, but it’s just, as you note, another flavor of seltzer, essentially.
Sure, for things like O’Douls and the other “non-alcoholic” old-school NA beers. The newer 0.0 “beers” have a typical range of 0.03% to as high as 0.05% ABV, though. So, magnitude less in ABV.
I never had those latter ping any kind of alcohol BrAC meter in any quantity.
I’m resisting the urge to go on a rant against “hard seltzers”…one of the many, many things I cannot comprehend, but completely off topic. Yes, I know people who drink those, and they’re pretty dedicated to their favorite shows brands. Someone I know once compared hard seltzers to drinking the equivalent of a television show whose picture is almost completely stymied by static.
But, yes, back onto hopwaters, more than a few bartenders have suggested that they’re best served with a splash of some kind of fruit juice or something…grenadine, perhaps, even.
I have been enjoying Saint Arnold Hop Spring , very refreshihg, not very hoppy. The Sierra Nevada offering is also good but a lot more citrusy.
I ran out of tonic water and discovered a Gin n Hop water is very good
Gin. Ice , squeeze of lime and the hop spring instead of tonic water. I guess it kind of makes sense , floral hoppy bitter replacing the quinine.
The Sierra Nevada hop water would be even better with its more pronounced flavors.
ETA a vodka hop spring with some fresh jalapeños is something I think should work out as well.
Just had my first one from Siren Craft Brew in the UK. This one is made with Idaho 7 hops. It smells hoppier than it tastes. Very refreshing.
We’ve been getting a case of Helltown Brewing’s Hopwater any time we are at the brewery.
I mentioned to the owner that I’d like a more hoppy version if they ever decided to make one. He ran in the back and brought me an unlabeled six pack of his “experimental” hopwater to try. Very nice, very hoppy, I loved it but it was too much for my gf.