A Hoppy Medium

Michigan Hop Water bridges the craft beverage gap

Craig Manning

If you’ve been looking for a local alternative to your favorite sparkling water brand—be it LaCroix, Perrier, or Bublé (sorry…Bubly)— Beards Brewery has you covered.

Since opening its doors in 2012, the Petoskey-based brewery has made its name on cleverly-named craft beers, like Oh! The Citranity!, a citrusy American pale ale; or Deez Nuts, a brown ale with a manic-looking squirrel as its mascot. Last year, though, Beards launched itself into a brand-new market with the introduction of Michigan Hop Water.

Michigan Hop Water is a zero-alcohol, zero-sugar, zero-calorie sparkling water made with locally grown hops. Fans of IPAs will clock the bright, piney, lightly bitter flavor that the hops impart upon the water—a unique left turn for a sparkling water market where flavors like lemon, lime, or grapefruit are far easier to come by. If you love the flavor of hops and want to enjoy it without the alcohol and calories that come with drinking a beer, Michigan Hop Water is the drink. But it’s also a dynamic cocktail mixer, especially, Beards Brewery notes, for gin drinks.

A Bubbling Market

It’s no surprise that breweries like Beards are aiming to expand into the sparkling water market. Projections from Grandview Research say the global sparkling water market will be worth $76.95 billion by 2028, up from $33.43 billion in 2021. That growth coincides with a time that has seen more consumers looking for non-alcoholic beverages, and on the heels of a massive spike in the popularity of hard seltzers.

According to Emily Hengstebeck, the sales rep for Beards, the brewery is well aware of these trends and the need for craft beverage makers to diversify into different markets.

“What’s awesome about the craft beer industry is that beer is just the beginning,” Hengstebeck says. “At Beards, we started with the craft of beer, but we believe craft— creativity, innovation, quality—goes into everything we do. So, when we looked at the market and saw so many seltzers out there… we looked closer to see what was missing. We decided we wanted to offer something simpler, something anyone could drink anytime, anywhere: water.”

Homegrown Inspiration

As Beards started seeking inspiration to guide its first foray into the sparkling water niche, the brewery looked in the most logical place: its own backyard.

“Michigan—and northern Michigan, specifically—really defines who we are as a company already, so we used that to guide our creativity,” Hengstebeck explains. “We had seen and heard about a few other hop waters at the time, but no one in Michigan was owning a specific Michigan-made product yet. So we dived in. It seemed almost obvious to celebrate the Great Lakes by creating a product that was literally water.”

From there, it was a matter of finding ingredients to provide flavor, texture, and aroma. Hengstebeck says, “That, in a way, also became super obvious to us pretty quickly: the Michigan copper hop. Copper hops are born and bred here in Michigan, and we’ve been using them in our beer for many years. So, why not use a Michigan indigenous hop in our all-Michiganingredient product? Great Lakes water, plus Michigan Copper hops, plus carbonation, equals Michigan Hop Water.”

Using copper hops grown in Williamsburg by MI Local Hops, Beards Brewery perfected the formula for Michigan Hop Water and started self-distributing the product early in 2021. Last summer, that distribution strategy moved to the next level thanks to a partnership with Cherry Capital Foods, which has helped widen the footprint. Along the way, Hengstebeck says Beards has had a fun time trying to find the target audience for Michigan Hop Water, given that it’s not quite like any established product in the marketplace right now.

“It’s been really interesting and lots of fun,” Hengstebeck says of crafting, tweaking, and optimizing the marketing approach for Michigan Hop Water. “Hop water is a new category in the craft beverage game so everyone—us, distributors, retailers— we’re all trying to figure out where to put it. Do we put it next to Bubly and LaCroix? Does it belong next to the drink mixers and tonic water? How about next to the CBD drinks and kombuchas? The answer, really, is ‘Yes’ across the board. Because of its versatility and simplicity, it’s a product that has garnered a lot of intrigue and follow-up questions. We’ve been seeing new individual consumers and new stores and restaurants— and even other breweries—reach out to try Michigan Hop Water.”

High Hop(e)s

Right now, Michigan Hop Water is available in three flavors: “Original” (which puts the focus squarely on the local hop taste), lime, and cherry. However, Hengstebeck says there are plans in the works to expand and grow the brand in the not-too-distant future, including, probably, the introduction of more flavors.

Otherwise, Beards Brewery is just hoping to spread the word about the product, especially among loyal, lifelong Michiganders.

“We called it Michigan Hop Water because that’s exactly what it is,” Hengstebeck says. “It’s a Michigan-born product made from Michigan resources. We all know Michiganders have big state pride, so it’s important to us to emphasize and utilize those ingredients that we are lucky to have. Plus, it’s simple and fun hydration in a can that can go with you anywhere.” Learn more at michiganhopwater.com or at Beards Brewery 215 E Lake St, Petoskey. Once you get your hands on some Michigan Hop Water—you can place an order on the website or pick some up at local stores like the Beverage Company or Oryana Natural Foods Market—it’s up to you on how to enjoy it. Drinking Michigan Hop Water on its own is easy and refreshing, but we also had a lot of fun testing out its utility as a cocktail mixer. Here are some basic Michigan Hop Water cocktails to get you started:

Gin & Tonic

2 oz gin 4 oz lime Michigan Hop Water 1 tbsp lime juice

A twist on a classic. Fill a glass with ice, add your favorite local gin (we used Traverse City Whiskey’s Verse Gin in ours), top with Michigan Hop Water and lime juice, and stir gently. Hengstebeck recommends using the lime flavor of Michigan Hop Water in this cocktail, but Original works in a pinch. The hop water imparts a unique, floral flavor to the drink without compromising that familiar G&T character.

Hopped-Up Rye

Rye whiskey Original Michigan Hop Water

This one is even simpler: Hengstebeck recommends “adding a splash of Original Michigan Hop Water” to a glass with a couple (generous) fingers of your favorite rye whiskey in it. “The subtle hop flavor and mellow bitterness really brings out the spicy bite of the rye,” she says. We concur.