Ex Novo Brewing launches nonalcoholic electrolyte hop water NovoLyte

Hops aren’t just for beer anymore.

In recent times, hop waters have been gaining in popularity as a refreshing, nonalcoholic alternative to a cold one. While hops are generally associated with brewing beer, a hop water can offer some of the enjoyable taste characteristics of its counterpart without the accompanying sugar, carbs, gluten — and of course, ABV content.

Ex Novo Brewing Co. has been “tinkering” with its own brand of hop water for about two years, said founder and CEO Joel Gregory. That ultimately resulted in the Dec. 29 launch of NovoLyte, an electrolyte hop water that features citrus and tropical hop notes as well as 10% coconut water. In addition to its classic version, Ex Novo will also make a rotating seasonal hop water. The first iteration — with a release date to be determined — is a kiwi-lime-honeydew blend billed as “juicy, cooling and lightly tropical,” according to a release.

Even with the proliferation of nonalcoholic options across the country, hop water stands out as a versatile choice.

“I was at a barbecue (recently) and didn’t really feel like having beers,” Gregory said. “Also, drinking a sparkling water doesn’t really offer that craft experience. It doesn’t make you feel like you’re drinking something interesting or a true substitute for an alcoholic drink. This can be that.

“This can be a substitute if you don’t feel like drinking. This can be something where you’re also having a few beers and this is the perfect thing to mix in. It’s going to make you feel better. I think across the country we’re seeing some different trends in drinking for sure. We have people drinking a little bit less alcohol, but also wanting interesting combinations and interesting approaches to their beverages. The whole expanding enhanced water segment of the grocery store that didn’t exist a few years ago was just plain sparkling water. Now it’s blowing up.”

It doesn’t hurt that the team at Ex Novo is already well-versed in experimenting with all things hops. In some ways, the process from creating NovoLyte isn’t all that different from brewing beer.

“We really start with our water chemistry and making sure we have very purified RO, reverse osmosis water. And then we’re adding our salts in there to add the electrolytes to our specified level,” Gregory said. “We send this product to a fermenter just like any one of our beers where we are adding hops in kind of a dry-hopping regimen like we would for a beer. And then we have some more proprietary things that we’re adding in the brite tank for packaging. So it’s overall not too dissimilar from brewing a beer, except for that we’re not using any malt products or yeast. All the other equipment that we’re using is the same.”

The NovoLyte launch coincides with Dry January, when people typically abstain from consuming alcohol for one month to begin the new year. While that movement could add momentum to early sales, this new brand is intended to be a staple. The drink will be available at both Ex Novo taprooms initially and will gradually make its way to various retail outlets. Gregory expects that will begin on a local level before eventually expanding to national chains.

“It’s a different part of the supermarket that we’re not typically in. Some of these will appear near the nonalcoholic beverages and beers, but I think a lot of them will be on the other side of the store near the enhanced water. So that’s the space that we are earning our right to be in, but that’s going to take some time,” he said. “We’ll probably see some through the spring and then a little bit more widely adopted in the fall.”

Gregory says it’s possible that NovoLyte could eventually expand to include an alcoholic version with more of a “hard seltzer base,” but that likely wouldn’t be until the end of 2026 at the earliest. Thus far, returns on the classic flavor have been promising.

“People that are typically not hoppy beer drinkers are enjoying it,” Gregory said. “It’s not bitter. You do get hop aroma and flavor. It’s not heavy like an IPA or anything like that would be. It’s really refreshing.”