Molson Coors launches soft drinks in Ocado

Brewing giant Molson Coors has entered the soft drinks market in the UK with a sparkling water flavoured with hops.

Molson Coors, which posted its second quarterly financial results this week, has unveiled a new brand devoted to hop-flavoured sparkling water.

The soft drink, called Wellraiser Sparkling Hopped Water, is currently available in Ocado with an introductory offer of 89p per can.

It is hoped the new brand will be rolled out in the wider UK retail market later this year, reports The Grocer.

A number of breweries have started to experiment with soft drinks launches in recent months. Last month Paul Jones, the founder of Manchester-based brewer Cloudwater, revealed his team are developing a range of sodas that use ingredients from the brewing process, such as hops, with “none of the alcohol”.

Jones debuted a test batch of the sodas at the Mindful Drinking Festival in London, dedicated to low and no-alcohol drinks.

Last year, California-based brewery Lagunitas launched a non-alcoholic sparkling water in the US, inspired by its flagship IPA.

The soft drink, called “Hoppy Refresher”, contains no alcohol, no calories, and no carbohydrates, but is “made using everything we know about hops,” according to the Heineken-owned beer brand’s website.

Japanese drinks giant Suntory also announced plans to sell a clear, non-alcoholic ‘beer’ in May 2018, packaged in a plastic bottle which it hopes will be particularly popular with office workers.