The Versatility Player

MODSUB#80

Wotcha!

It’s good to be back in the saddle after a great visit with the fam in England — more on that next week.

I’m stoked to bring you my interview with Kyle Coogan of Hilfens, where we dig a little deeper into one of my favorite spirits: HopHit.

Enjoy some great drinks this week!

Cheers,

Myles

In this week’s edition:

NAN
New NA Drink News

INTERVIEW
The Versatility Player

How Kyle Coogan went from hobbyest homebrewer to creating Hilfens, one of the most unique and versatile spirits in the non-alcoholic beverage industry.

Read time: 8 minutes 28 seconds

NAN
New NA Drink News

NORTH AMERICA

• WINE: Starting off this week, with the news from Kally who’ve released a spritzed up verson of their Early Cabernet called Ruby Sparkler! (Link)

• SPIRIT: Tricky containing my excitement on this one: Figlia has introduced their second non-alcoholic aperitivo—Sole—with a flavor profile drawn from Meyer Lemon, Peach and Basil. (Link)

• WINE: New from Oddbird is the limited edition Low Intervention Sparkling Orange No. 1, available in the EU, UK, U.S. and Canada. The release is also accompanied by some gorgeous photography. (Link)

• FUNCTIONAL: The folks over at Other Half Brewing in NYC have created the offshoot, Oh2 Chill, debuting two tropical THC-infused seltzers. (Link)

• COCKTAIL: Needing a little spice in your life? Slice of Spice is the newest flavor from Pari with ingredients that include black pepper, chili extract and horseradish. (Link)

• HOP WATER: Pennsylvania’s Tröegs Independent Brewing has announced the addition of Sidekick Sparkling N/A Hop Water to their line. (Link)

• COCKTAIL: Lyre’s have just announced a new RTD Mojito. (Link)

• BEER: Upstate New Yorker’s can now enjoy Northern Altitude, the first NA beer from Adirondack Brewery. (Link)

WORLDWIDE

• BEER: Belgian beer fans will be excited to learn that Alken-Maes is launching non-alcoholic versions of their Maes and Cristal lagers, initially on tap. (Link)

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INTERVIEW • PART 1

A Chat with Kyle Coogan, founder of Hilfens

The second I took my first sip of a cocktail made with Hilfen’s HopHit, I knew I was experiencing something special. Unusual, yes—but definitely special. After all, hops are supposed to be in beer, right? Or maybe a hop water. Not in a cocktail.

But it works. Boy, does it work. So I had to find out more about the person behind Hilfens—and why he decided to create HopHit.

Meet Kyle Coogan.

ModSub: Who came up with the idea for HopHit and what inspired it?

Kyle: That would be me! In 2017, I was diagnosed with epilepsy and as a result of that started down the path of changing the role of alcohol in my lifestyle. I then went fully alcohol-free back in 2022, as I was about to become a new father. 

During that whole journey, I explored many different NA options and found that hopped sparkling water was a favorite of mine. However, it was relatively difficult to find and lacked the versatility of many of the botanical spirits that I had also come to enjoy.

As a former engineer, I was inspired to start experimenting. It required a lot of research, not just about the science of hops (and the various constituent components in hops), but also about the food science that goes into making a craft beverage. After a few hundred failed recipes and processes, I arrived at Hilfens HopHit!

ModSub: Why did you choose to focus on hop oil?

Kylie: The focus on hops more broadly comes from the problem I was trying to solve – i.e., the current lack of availability and versatility of hops as a key NA option/flavor. At the moment, the only options are NA IPAs (which can be very hit or miss), or hopped seltzer waters (which are pricey, hard to find, and usually mask the hop flavors behind intense, non-hoppy and sometimes artificial flavors). 

As a former hobbyist homebrewer (of beer, mead and kombucha), I always loved experimenting with different hop varietals, particularly with dry-hopping mead and kombucha. So when I started down this path, exploring the plethora of advanced hop products that have more recently become available was really interesting. It involved a lot of experimentation and really encouraged me to keep down this path until I arrived at the final formulation.

Hop oils, specifically, allowed me to pack more hop flavor into a smaller package, increasing Hilfens’ versatility (i.e., it can be a seltzer infusion, a mocktail base, a mocktail additive, etc.) and improve the per-serving price point when compared to canned hop-infused seltzers.  

Additionally, some studies have shown that hops (i.e., Humulus lupulus) can have adaptogenic-like qualities, with calming and sedative properties that may help improve sleep and reduce anxiety. Using hop oils as a key ingredient allows for Hilfens to have rather dense levels of hops (when compared to more traditional dry-hopping methods), which makes Hilfens more like an adaptogenic botanical spirit.

ModSub: What’s the story behind the name Hilfens?

Kyle: My wife is German, so I’ve picked up some (mediocre) German over the years during our trips over there to visit her family. “Hilfen” loosely translates from German to English as “help” or “helpful,” with the idea being that Hilfens (the brand) exists to create products that can help people with their goals relating to changing and reducing the role of alcohol in their lifestyle.

ModSub: How long have you been working on this project?

Kyle: The idea came in August 2023 when I was frustrated at the hop water options and availability in my area, not to mention the relative price for a six-pack of hop water (which is generally comparable to craft NA beer, despite NA beer requiring a much more involved process and many more ingredients than hop water). 

By Labor Day of that year, I was benchtop prototyping with various hop products, and after many, many attempted recipes I had a minimum viable product by spring 2024. At the same time, I was also working on all the less interesting stuff (branding, trademarking, entity formation, sourcing, etc.) to get ready for our Sober October 2024 launch.

ModSub: What was the process like, taking your creation from home brewing to full-scale production? Was it difficult to find a partner willing to take it on?

Hilfens is currently produced in a licensed commercial kitchen, which allows us to stay locally made and handcrafted in Atlanta for the time being. The next step is to move to a co-manufacturer or co-packer, and we’re actively exploring options for a partner to help take us to the next level.

I leaned on my engineering background to create a medium-scale production model—something efficient enough to meet demand while maintaining the flexibility (and cost-efficiency) of a commercial kitchen setup during this early growth stage.

Scaling the actual recipe was surprisingly smooth. There were no major ingredient or quality challenges, though I will say: handling the delivery of a few pallets of glass bottles in a residential driveway is a memory I won’t soon forget. Let’s just say my neighbors had questions.

ModSub: When Hilfens launched, there was a lot of enthusiastic curiosity, but also some skepticism. What has it been like bringing this to market and educating consumers about the spirit’s versatility?

Kyle: The biggest challenge has been reshaping how people think about hops. Some folks immediately associate it with the aggressive bitterness of an imperial IPA and assume they won’t like it.

On the flip side, there are hop heads who want that same punch-in-the-face intensity—and are surprised when Hilfens presents a more nuanced profile.

What I find myself saying over and over is this: Hilfens isn’t beer, and it isn’t trying to be. Yes, it's loaded with hops, but those hops are presented in a totally different way—more like dry hopping without the malt backbone of a beer. That shifts the entire flavor profile. Additionally, we carefully selected and balanced the hop varietals in HopHit to create something approachable, aromatic and bright.

Hops are incredibly diverse, much like grape varietals in wine. But because many people mostly only know them through one narrow lens—IPA—it takes some education (and a few taste tests) to show what they’re really capable of.

Part 2 - continued below

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INTERVIEW • PART 2

ModSub: What has been the most surprising part of the journey so far—good or bad?

Kyle: One of the biggest surprises was how differently hop varietals behaved in this format. The usual flavor/aroma charts used in brewing didn’t always hold up when applied to hop oils in a concentrated, alcohol-free medium. 

For example, I tried to avoid anything too pine-forward, but even varietals that supposedly had minimal pine character ended up showcasing more of those terpene notes than expected. It took a lot of trial and error to land on the final blend—more than I anticipated.

On a personal level, the most surprising thing has just been how far this has come. What started as a personal project—a passion experiment—slowly began to feel like something with real market potential. Eventually, it got to a point where I felt like I had to bring it out into the world. I couldn’t let it die on the vine.

ModSub: What does the future look like for Hilfens? Will you follow Wilfred’s approach and focus on growing a single spirit nationally and internationally, or do you have variations in the works?

Kyle: In the near term, we’re focused on growing this flagship product and introducing more people to HopHit. But long term, the goal is definitely to expand the line. Hops are such a versatile and underutilized botanical, and there’s so much more we can do by showcasing different varietals from different regions of the world.

This original formula will always be our core, but future releases will spotlight specific blends—some familiar to beer lovers, others totally unexpected. Since hops behave so differently without the malt of beer, we’re excited to create flavor profiles you haven’t quite tasted before.

ModSub: When I featured Hilfens in my newsletter back in December, I highlighted Hop, Spirits and Jump—mixing Hilfens with Pentire’s Coastal Spritz—which remains one of my all-time favorite non-alcoholic cocktails. Have you come across any new cocktails or creative uses for Hilfens since then?

Yes! One of my favorites came from Mr. Zeroproof on Instagram—he created a really inventive cocktail that combines Hilfens with rosemary syrup, pomelo and sparkling water. The result is a fresh, herbal, and citrusy cocktail that wouldn’t feel out of place at a top-tier cocktail bar. It was incredible—and totally different from anything I had come up with myself. [ModSub: it’s delicious, though I switched out the pomelo for a ruby red grapefruit.

I’ve also seen people experimenting with Hilfens in plenty of other ways, including in tea-based booze-free cocktails. The versatility continues to surprise me.

ModSub: Aside from Hilfens, what three other non-alcoholic drinks have you been enjoying over the past year?

I’m a huge fan of Bitburger 0.0% and Best Day’s Kölsch. Both are super reliable and refreshing—especially now that we’re heading into warmer weather.

As for non-alc cocktails, my go-to has always been a really simple one: 2 parts Pathfinder, 2 parts seltzer, and 1 part Tenneyson. It’s easy to eyeball and delicious every time. If I’m feeling fancy, I’ll add an orange peel garnish and a few dashes of All the Bitter (their Orange, New Orleans and/or Aromatic all work well for this one!).

And during the colder months, I spent some time exploring the Curious Elixirs line (albeit sparingly, since those premium-priced RTDs were actually part of what sparked my drive to create something more affordable and customizable like Hilfens).

For more information on Hilfens or to purchase a bottle, please visit www.hilfens.com

For cocktail recipes feauring HopHit please visit their recipe book.

READS + LISTENS
Last Week’s Edition + Other Suggestions

Okay, it’s really the week before last but you know, last week’s newsletter was, well … short.

Here’s an interesting podcast interview with Andy Miller, founder of Heaps Normal in Australia. Andy discusses how Heaps Normal got started, his philosophy behind the brand, their support for emerging musicians and where you'll be able to find their non-alcoholic beer as they enter the U.S. market.