Holy Water hits downtown Asheville

The popular Hard Seltzer category has gained another advocate in the Appalachian region. Thirsty Monk, Asheville’s storied craft beverage bar, which began work on its own Holy Water Hard Seltzer line in 2019, now brings the seltzers to its downtown pub.

Thirsty Monk’s ground level bar was reimagined late last year, and rebranded as the Holy Water Hard Seltzer Brewpub. It now serves up to 10 different Holy Water hard seltzer flavors, along with several Thirsty Monk craft beers. The seltzer pub is located on the street level of Thirsty Monk’s complex at 92 Patton Street in Asheville.

Hard Seltzer category strong nationally

While nationally, the hard seltzer market is dominated by ten or so very large players, the category’s growing popularity gives others a chance to play too. The success of the Holy Water line, which is contract brewed for Thirsty Monk at the Green Man Brewery in Asheville, shows that smaller players can compete in the category.

The Holy Water line performed very well last fall at the U.S. Open Hard Seltzer Championship, taking home medals for its Pomegranate, Hibiscus & Ginger (Silver Medal), Margarita (Silver Medal), and Pina Colada (Gold Medal). And Holy Water’s Smoked Grapefruit Paloma was additionally awarded a Gold Medal for the Judges’ Award.  

It is apparent that, as in the craft beer market, high-quality small-batch, locally-brewed products still have a good upside. Thirsty Monk CEO Barry Bialik thinks they have a winner in more ways than one.

“There is no other drink quite like our Holy Water Hard Seltzers,” Bialik says. “We literally have created our own style class—a Belgian-style Hard Seltzer. With unique flavor combinations and higher ABV than your average seltzer, Holy Waters drink like draft cocktails.” 

The flavors for Holy Water products are cocktail themed, such as margarita, pina colada, cosmo, paloma, etc. The hard seltzers are offered with ABVs in the mid-6% range.

Bialik says they hand craft every Holy Water flavor recipe to add depth and balance of profile, and their base hard seltzer is brewed with Thirsty Monk’s proprietary house Belgian-style yeast. Thirsty Monk also reports that a Holy Water Hard Seltzer 12-pack is in the works and should be appearing in distribution.

The Holy Water brewpub adds another cool spot to Asheville’s strong craft beverage portfolio. For hard seltzer fans, it should be especially fun to explore these cocktail-inspired beverages. 

ABOUT THIRSTY MONK

Founded in 2008, Thirsty Monk Brewery currently operates a family of establishments — Thirsty Monk Downtown, featuring Holy Water Hard Seltzer Brewpub, The Delirium Pink Elephant Bar, and Top of the Monk Craft Cocktail Bar; and Thirsty Monk Biltmore Park, featuring Thirsty Monk Brewery’s Belgian style beers, Holy Water Hard Seltzers, offerings from Green Man Brewery, and a full pub food menu. Find the company on Facebook at this link.

Thirsty Monk – Holy Water Hard Seltzer Brewpub
92 Patton Street
Asheville, NC