What a Journey

It is hard to believe it has been over 6 years since the H2OPS trademark was officially born.  After years of development and testing, we launched in November 2014 at a BevMo! Beer Festival at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco.  That’s my sister Anne in the photo, who gratefully dropped everything to help me pour sample after sample for the unexpected crush of people lining up to try this unheard of hop water creation. Back then, there was no Dry January or Sober Curious movements in place.  For us, it was about moderation choices and just enjoying what I loved on more occasions….the flavor from hops.   Since then, we have built a community of like-minded drinkers and even provided a social reawakening to those who have abstained from alcohol permanently.  It has been rewarding to hear the many stories on the lives we have improved in small but meaningful ways. 

A big thank you to our supporters, customers and retailers who took big risks in carrying something new and unproven.

Today we have competitors large and small offering different hop water choices and helping to create awareness and credibility for this new category of healthy beverages we take pride in having created. Our mission continues to be the true craft brewed, best and most authentic expression of hop water. I cannot wait to see how the next 6 years develops. 

Cheers!

    

Maintaining a Healthy Immune System

Many of us craft beer fans have been self-medicating to numb the bad news of this health crisis.  Hand raised.   I have also been consuming more news and doing research.  What I have discovered is that there is a lot of science backed information on things to support your immune system. As it turns out, it’s not just one thing but rather a combination of things.     

An important one is to moderate your alcohol consumption.  This leads to better sleep, better mood and more energy to be productive.  This also can free up your body’s ability to defend against other things.   

Links: Global Health Cleveland Clinic WebMD Health Harvard  

Whether it’s one of the many amazing new non-alcoholic craft beers, wine, spirits or our zero calorie, zero alcohol H2OPS hop water, these drinks can be “satisfying substitutes” for people moderating, taking a health crisis break or to maintain sobriety.     

Let us know if this is working for you.  We would love to hear from you directly or with an Instagram or Facebook post. @h2opswater Sharing helps others.  

Cheers to your good health.  Stay well.

Paul Tecker – Founder H2OPS Hop Water

Celebrating 5 Years of Happiness Through Hops

Its hard to believe that it was back in 2012, when I was home brewing with some backyard grown hops, when lightening struck to create what may be the first ever hop brewed sparking water.  After 2 years of trials (watering the yard with less than perfect batches) and blowing the minds of beer drinkers in tests at beer festivals, I founded the company in 2014.  Our brewing methods are craft and our original only contains a blend of hops and water for flavor.  This naturally results in zero alcohol, zero calories and zero gluten.   Without the sugary grains, malts and yeasts in beer, the taste of H2OPS is something entirely new and astoundingly refreshing.

Our motto is happiness through hops and we simply believe that the amazing flavor of hops should be enjoyed on more occasions.  This is not a non-alcoholic beer, it’s a hoppy sparkling water that can be enjoyed anytime and anywhere with no stigma attached.  This is revolutionary for hop heads (like me) to expand our enjoyment of hops and a game changer for the growing number of people who choose for health and other reasons not to drink beer or alcohol or just take a break.

Cheers!

Paul Tecker

Founder & Hop Pioneer

Drinking at Work – Fueling Tech Innovation?

We are continually learning about what type of occasions people drink our H2OPS Sparkling Hop Water.  Somewhat surprisingly, several notable tech companies have begun stocking us in their office fridges and offering H2OPS as a non-alcoholic alternative at company parties. No there is no caffeine in H2OPS hop water, but for some reason it seems to fit. Netflix Hollywood had a company event recently with an Oktoberfest theme – dubbed Oktoberflix.” Since it was a lunch event and the company wanted some productive work in the afternoon, they offered H2OPS as their hoppy festive drink.  Google San Francisco now offers us in their fridges alongside other sparkling waters and other non-alcoholic drinks.  They also offer H2OPS as a non-alcoholic alternative at after work events where alcohol is served.  After talking to some of these innovators, they cite a variety of reasons.  Some say the flavor and aroma of the hops is a sensory awakener that recalls time of celebration and hanging out with friends. Rather than making you sleepy, it hydrates and refreshes. But it’s not a beer or even a non-alcoholic beer most say.  It’s something different.  It’s something new and innovative.  Is H2OPS a tech company or beverage company?  I say beverage company, but some in tech may disagree.

Cheers

Paul Tecker
Founder & Brewer
H2OPS Sparkling Hop Water

H2OPS and the hop drop logo are trademarks of H2OPS LLC

H2OPS & Beer – a perfect pairing

After seeing this photo someone posted on the H2OPS Instagram page, it reminded me what a great session extender H2OPS is. As an example, I was cleaning up my garage this weekend.  To make it more enjoyable, I put on some music and cracked open one of my favorite beers.  After two, I could tell my productivity was going down.  I pondered cracking another but wisely twisted open a bottle of H2OPS and finished off the job refreshed and hydrated.  If I would have had another beer, it might have been nap time and weekend plans delayed or cut short.

After consuming and serving H2OPS over the course of several years on different occasions and pouring it at over 30 beer festivals, I have come to the strong conclusion that H2OPS pairs exceptionally well with beer.  H2OPS is brewed with hops (like beer) and when drinking a H2OPS after drinking a beer, it feels like you are still in the session.  Yet there is no alcohol or calories.  It tastes more refreshing and a bit different for sure, but it doesn’t shock your system like drinking plain or sparkling water as a spacer.

Of course H2OPS is fantastic as a stand-alone beverage enjoyed without beer, but H2OPS as a “session extender” is one of its most enjoyable and life improving uses.

Cheers!

Paul Tecker
Founder & Brewer
H2OPS Sparkling Hop Water

H2OPS and the hop drop logo are trademarks of H2OPS LLC

 

Relax Don’t Worry Have a Homebrew

Its National Home Brew Day today.  For some it’s just another “drink a beer day.”  To me, home brewing is personal and meaningful on many levels.

Home brewing kicked off when Senator Alan Cranston from California sponsored a bill to legalize it in 1978. It was a different time back in 1978.  In these early days of home brewing, all beer was essentially the same; the American Pale Lager, aka Bud, Miller, Schlitz, Hamms, etc.  Homebrewers at that time were motivated because they could brew beer they couldn’t buy in the store.  Today with the plethora of craft beer in many styles, that’s not the main motivation.  It’s more about understanding the process and becoming intimate with something you admire and appreciate.  For a select few, it’s about learning the craft and figuring out if you have the chops to be a pro craft brewer.

On a personal level, it was a shared appreciation of the reds, porters and unusual style beers that I could sometimes find at Trader Joe’s and other specialty California retailers back in the early 1990s that led this girl I was dating to buy me a basic home brewing kit as a birthday gift.  It was then that I knew she was a keeper.  We have been married now for 22 years.

About 5 years ago, my hobby of home brewing had evolved to where I was growing hops in my backyard.  It was after a day of brewing with these freshly picked hops, when it hit me that hops could be brewed in a way to create a flavorful hop water without grains or yeast.  After having friends and family taste this new brew, I knew I was onto something.  After 2 years of trial with many different hop blends and methods, I set out to commercialize what is now the first craft brewed hop water: H2OPS.

So cheers to all my fellow home brewers on this special day.  Raise a glass to Alan Cranston for legalizing it and again for the home brew shop owners who have poured their passion and life savings into providing quality home brewing supplies so that we could innovate and appreciate the wonder of beer.

As famous home brew author Charlie Papazian says:  “Relax, Don’t Worry Have a Home Brew”

Cheers!

Paul Tecker
Founder & Brewer
H2OPS Sparkling Hop Water

H2OPS and the hop drop logo are trademarks of H2OPS LLC.