The growing wave of the booze-free beverage industry is continuing to pick up steam in the Inland Northwest as societal norms shift and the prevalence of the sober-curious movement remains.

“People are drinking less alcohol than they have in the past, especially younger generations,” says Anthony Ward, co-owner of Spokane-based PNW Hop Water.

From mocktails to nonalcholic beer to hop water, alcohol-free alternatives are making their way onto more menus and filling more fridges, industry experts in Spokane say.

“People still want to go out,” Ward says. “They want to be out with their friends, go to bars, watch games, go dancing, but they’re just looking for alternatives outside of alcohol.”

Hop water is alcohol-free carbonated water infused with hops and brewed using a similar method and the same equipment that’s used to make beer. PNW Hop Water uses mineral water and freeze-dried hops from Yakima, Washington.

“We definitely view ourselves as a healthier alternative to alcohol that’s still going to give you something that satiates the urge to drink without necessarily providing any negative effects of alcohol,” says Ward.

Since the company began selling hop water in 2022, it has expanded from a booth at one farmer’s market to multiple farmer's markets and grocery stores, as well as seven Spokane-area restaurants, Ward says.

“We’re at Main Market Co-op downtown and are working on completing an agreement with Huckleberry’s and Rosauers,” he says.

Sales for the Spokane company have risen 300% since opening, Ward says, noting that the company also launched a website to sell its products directly to consumers.

The zero-proof segment of the beverage industry is here to stay, says Chef Adam Hegsted, the owner of Liberty Lake-based Eat Good Group, which includes Inland Northwest establishments like Baba, Francaise, Honey Eatery, Republic Kitchen & Taphouse, and The Yards Bruncheon.

“Sometimes, you just want something refreshing and different, and not a soda,” Hegsted says.

The trend is something he’s noticed while traveling to various chef conventions.

“Some of the best bars in the world have zero-proof cocktails, because I think that’s what people are asking for,” Hegsted says, adding that all his restaurants offer alcohol-free alternatives.

Hegsted has expanded his zero-proof selections in recent years to meet the growing demand.

Offering alcohol-free options at restaurants is akin to offering gluten-free or vegetarian specialty dishes, Hegsted explains.

“They may not be the things that are the top sellers,” he says. “But if you have a group of four people and you have one person that’s gluten free or one person that’s vegetarian, and you don’t offer those things on your menu, then that group’s not going to eat at your restaurant.”

A growing community of sober and sober-curious people in the Inland Northwest has also been developing since January, when Diversion Events, a Post Falls-based sober nightlife company, hosted its first alcohol-free event.

“You have people who want alcohol-free nightlife for a variety of different reasons,” says Christine Burns-Harrison, co-owner of Diversion Events.

Since that first event in downtown Spokane about nine months ago, Diversion Events has hosted five sober-nightlife functions and has plans for three more this year, including the Spooky Soiree, on Oct. 18.

The alcohol-free events typically attract over 100 people, about a third of whom are regulars that attend all of the events.

“You’d think that a large part of our demographic would be people who are completely sober, but we find that that’s actually a pretty small portion of people,” says Bailey Bowerman, also a co-owner of Diversion Events. “It’s more people who are just dabbling in sober curiosity, or taking off a night, or on a little bit of a health kick.”

The term “sober curious” derives from a movement that has become more mainstream in recent years, in which more people are questioning their relationships with alcohol and choosing to not drink for varying lengths of time for a host of reasons, Bowerman told the Journal in January.

On top of the sober-curious movement, there are entire months—Dry January and Sober October—in which many people choose to abstain from alcohol.

Bowerman says that for so long, U.S. culture has been dominated by alcohol, to the point that when people chose not to drink, whether it’s for a night or a year or forever, that they felt ostracized.

That’s changing now, she says.

“I think people feel less alone,” says Bowerman.

For PNW Hop Water, the journey began when Ward and some of his family members were stuck at home during the pandemic.

Ward and his brothers-in-law have always been big beer drinkers, he says.

“But as we’ve gotten older—I just turned 40—we're just trying to drink less,” says Ward. “Especially during COVID, we were probably drinking a little more than we should have, just out of boredom.”

Ward first tried hop water from a California-based company, but the flavor of the hops wasn’t as enjoyable as the flavors he had become accustomed to with beer in the Pacific Northwest.

His father-in-law, Jerry Porter, then created his own hop water using a home-brewing kit, and Ward and his family were blown away by how much they liked it.

Ward thought the beverage would only appeal to beer drinkers, but he quickly found out that wasn’t the case.

“We’re like 'We might be on to something here if we can make a product that doesn’t just appeal to beer drinkers,'” says Ward. “There might be a larger-size market for this than we thought.”

The larger market is at least partly due to health and generational factors, Ward contends.

“I really think it’s a combination of people just having better education on the negative effects of alcohol, as well as a generation that has grown up in a world that’s a little different and it’s not as glorified to drink as it was when I was younger,” Ward says.

The goal for PNW Hop Water is to expand to a larger facility and increase production by installing a professional canning system.

“We sell out the majority of what we’re making now,” Ward says.