Regardless of how you feel about the IPA, there’s no arguing with its undying popularity. From West Coast IPAs to milkshake IPAs to New England-style IPAs and everything in between, you’d have a tough time finding a more beloved beer style in the US craft beer world. And, as we’ve mentioned in the past, there are more than 9,000 breweries in the US and it’s a safe bet that most (if not all) have an IPA (or three) on its menu. The US is figuratively drenched in hoppy, sometimes juicy, sometimes bitter India Pale Ales.
Since summer is hurtling towards us like a hop-fueled bullet train, we figured it was the perfect time to rank some of the best IPAs in America. Instead of the usual top ten (boring), we decided to instead opt for the top thirty IPAs in America. Ranked, obviously.
Selections below include dry-hopped bangers, hazy, juicy New England-style IPAs, bitter, floral West Coast IPAs, and other IPA styles. It should be noted that we tried our best to showcase as many beers from different breweries as possible. We’re magnanimous like that. Maybe your favorite IPA made the list — time to find out!
30) Trillium Scaled Way Up
ABV: 8%
Average Price: $8 for a 16-ounce can
The Beer:
This double IPA is brewed with a ton of Nelson Sauvin, Galaxy, and Mosaic hops. The result is an aromatic flavorful, hoppy beer with a ton of candied citrus peels and tropical fruit flavors. There’s a reason Trillium is such a popular brewery.
Tasting Notes:
This is a classic hazy IPA from the start. A nose of ripe peach, guava, mangos, and dried orange peels starts everything off. The palate is more of the same and that’s not necessarily a bad thing if you enjoy a beer that more resembles freshly squeezed juice than beer. The finish has just a hint of pine.
Bottom Line:
This is an outstanding New England-style IPA. It ticks all the boxes. Its only downfall is that for casual IPA fans, it might be a little too sweet.
29) 3 Floyds Permanent Funeral
ABV: 10.5%
Average Price: $17 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
This beer has a rather grim name, but the beer is anything but. This 10.5% ABV double IPA is a fall favorite from the folks at 3 Floyds. This 100 IBU (international bittering units), dank, citrus-filled beer was brewed in collaboration with the band Pig Destroyer.
Tasting Notes:
This beer’s nose is exactly what you expect from a classic West Coast IPA. There’s a nice mix of grapefruit, orange peel, and dank, resinous pine needles. Drinking it reveals hints of grapefruit, lime, candied orange peel, wet grass, bready malts, and more bitty pine needles at the finish.
Bottom Line:
This is a decent West Coast IPA for fans of the style. It’s a little one-dimensional with mostly just citrus and pine sticking out over any other flavors.
28) Hop Butcher Blazed Orange Milkshake
ABV: 7.5%
Average Price: $19 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
Milkshake IPAs definitely aren’t for everyone. But fans love beers like Hop Butcher Blazed Orange Milkshake. It’s brewed with Citra and Strata hops as well as lactose, vanilla, and oranges and it’s creamy, juicy, and filled with fresh squeezed oranges flavor.
Tasting Notes:
The nose is heavy on orange and vanilla and not much else. It smells very sweet. The palate continues this trend with orange peels, vanilla cream, and just a hint of bitter, floral, piney hops at the finish. Overall, it’s decent but a bit of a one-trick pony.
Bottom Line:
This is like an orange creamsicle in beer form. If that’s your jam, go ahead and grab this. Otherwise, opt for something a little less specific.
27) Ballast Point Sculpin
ABV: 7%
Average Price: $14 for a six-pack
The Beer:
In the IPA world, few beers are as popular, highly rated, and easier to find than Ballast Point Sculpin. Named for the stinging Sculpin fish, it’s known for its citrus, pine, and biting hops flavor profile. It’s a simple and classic West Coast IPA.
Tasting Notes:
A nose of ripe pineapple, grapefruit, orange peel, bready malts, and bright pine greets you before your first sip. The nose is highlighted by tangerine, grapefruit, lemon, wet grass, and dank, biting hops. The finish is floral and loaded with citrus peels and surprisingly bitter, resinous hops.
Bottom Line:
This popular West Coast IPA is named for a stinging fish for a reason. It’s bitingly bitter at the finish and might be a bit much for some drinkers.
26) Creature Comforts Tropicália
ABV: 6.6%
Average Price: $13 for a six-pack
The Beer:
The year-round favorite from Athens, Georgia’s Creature Comforts is known for its complex flavor profile featuring a mix of tropical fruits, citrus peels, and dank, resinous, piney hops. It’s balanced and has a nice mix of fruity and bitter flavors.
Tasting Notes:
On the nose, you’ll find aromas of mango, peach, grapefruit, tangerine, bready malts, and floral, piney hops. Drinking it brings forth flavors of caramel malts, passionfruit, ripe pineapple, grapefruit, tangerine, and dank pine needles. The finish is lightly bitter and tempers the fruit well.
Bottom Line:
This is a great, well-balanced IPA. It’s just a little lighter on aroma and flavor than some IPA fans would prefer.
25) Societe The Pupil
ABV: 7.5%
Average Price: $13 for a six-pack
The Beer:
Societe is a big name in the San Diego brewing world. It’s a brewery that seems to brew nothing but memorable beers. Its best is arguably The Pupil, a West Coast IPA known for its clean, crisp, tropical fruit-filled flavor profile.
Tasting Notes:
Yeasty bread, grapefruit, lemongrass, orange peel, and a ton of floral, piney hops can be found on this beer’s nose. On the palate, you’ll find notes of honeydew melon, grapefruit, freshly-baked bread, pineapple, lemon, wet grass, and more dank pine. The finish is pleasantly bitter.
Bottom Line:
It’s obvious why this West Coast IPA is so popular. While it does end with the bitter bite IPA fans know well, it’s balanced with citrus and tropical fruit flavors.
24) Bissell Brothers Swish
ABV: 8%
Average Price: $18 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
This double IPA gets its name from the hooch imbibed on the Canadian television cult comedy ‘Trailer Park Boys’. It’s brewed with Maine-grown wheat, Golden Promise malt, Simcoe, Citra, and Mosaic hops.
Tasting Notes:
Sweet wheat, lemon peel, ripe mango, grapefruit, orange peel, and herbal, floral hops are prevalent on the nose. The flavor is a tropical paradise in beer form. It’s centered on flavors of guava, peach, mango, honeydew melon, caramelized pineapple, tangerine, and lightly floral, piney hops. The first is lightly astringent, sweet, and dry.
Bottom Line:
This is a sublimely well-balanced hazy IPA. It’s filled with tropical fruits and citrus peels and ends with a nice hint of acidity. It’s a great example of the style.
23) Lawson’s Finest Triple Play
ABV: 7%
Average Price: Limited Availability
The Beer:
Lawson’s Finest Liquids is a popular Vermont destination for IPA fans. Its flagship offering Sip of Sunshine is a great beer. But, if you really want to taste something special, you’ll grab a Lawson’s Finest Triple Play. Its name comes from the use of three different hops: Amarillo, Citra, and Simcoe.
Tasting Notes:
Aromas of honey, cracker-like malts, tangerines, mango, peach, and just a hint of floral, spicy hops make up a very welcoming nose. The palate continues this trend with notes of ripe pineapple, caramel malt, grapefruit, wet grass, tangerine pulp, mango, honeydew melon, and floral, herbal, and spruce tips. The finish is a nice mix of sweet fruit and bitter, resinous hops.
Bottom Line:
This is the type of beer that shows you just how important the included hops are to a well-balanced IPA. The three hops used work together in perfect unison to make a very flavorful beer.
22) Heist CitraQuench’l
ABV: 7.1%
Average Price: $18 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
This aptly named 7.1% ABV double dry-hopped IPA was brewed exclusively with Citra hops. It’s a New England-style IPA known for its hazy appearance and creamy, tropical fruit-filled, citrus, and piney hop flavor profile.
Tasting Notes:
The nose is all lemon zest, candied orange peels, tangerine, grapefruit, tropical fruits, and floral, herbal, earthy hops. Take a sip and you’ll find notes of bready malts, orange juice, lemon zest, tangerine pulp, ripe pineapple, grapefruit, and light pine. The finish is resinous and lightly bitter. Overall, a well-balanced citrus-driven beer.
Bottom Line:
This is a hazy, creamy New England-style IPA that’s brewed completely with Citra hops. The result is a well-balanced, citrus-filled brew.
21) Surly Axe Man
ABV: 7.2%
Average Price: $20 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
This popular beer from Minnesota’s Surly Brewing was made in collaboration with Denmark’s Amager Brewery. This double dry-hopped banger was made with Golden Promise malts and Citra and Mosaic hops. It’s known for its tropical fruit, citrus, and lightly dry flavor profile.
Tasting Notes:
Sniffing it brings forth tremendously dank pine needle aromas. This is followed by caramel malts and candied orange peels. The palate is even more complex than the nose with flavors like lemongrass, caramel malts, tangerine peels, grapefruit, pineapple, peach, honey, and pine taking center stage. The finish is a memorable mix of fruity sweetness and bitter, dank pine.
Bottom Line:
This beer’s flavor lives up to its name. It’s a big, bold IPA loaded with sweet malts, tropical and citrus fruits, and a nice kick of bitter, floral, piney hops. What’s not to love?
20) Lupulin Hooey
ABV: 6.2%
Average Price: $18 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
This beer gets its name “Hooey” because that’s what some people would say about this IPA’s over-the-top recipe. It’s brewed with a ridiculous number of hopes including Mandarina Bavaria, Simcoe, Citra, Amarillo, El Dorado, and Mosaic hops. On top of that, they don’t filter out the yeast or hop oils.
Tasting Notes:
The nose is centered around toasted malts, caramelized pineapple, mango, tangerine, and floral, herbal pine. The palate is wet grass, lemon peels, candied orange peel, ripe pineapple, peach, fruit esters, and just a hint of floral, resinous, chewy bitterness at the finish.
Bottom Line:
This aromatic, flavorful hop explosion of a beer is creamy, hazy, and sublimely well-balanced. It’s the kind of beer you’ll want on hand at all times.
19) Fat Head’s IBUsive
ABV: 7.5%
Average Price: $12 for a six-pack
The Beer:
This IPA isn’t necessarily tipping to scales at 75 IBUs as the name might suggest, but it’s loaded with aromatic and flavorful hops including Strata, Citra, Mosaic, Mosaic leaf, and Citra leaf hops. It gets its malt backbone from the use of Caramel Light, Carapils, and pale wheat.
Tasting Notes:
A nose of caramel and toasted grains is only added to with aromas of spruce tips, grapefruit zest, tangerine, and lightly herbal, floral scents. A dank, fairly bitter, hoppy ending starts with notes of grapefruit, caramel malts, yeast bread, ripe mango, and tangerines. It’s juicy, sweet, and has a nice kick of hop bitterness.
Bottom Line:
This is a well-balanced beer that deserves to land on your radar. It’s fresh, floral, and loaded with mouth-watering citrus flavors.
18) Parish Ghost in the Machine
ABV: 8%
Average Price: $15 for a four-pack of 12-ounce bottles
The Beer:
This 8% ABV double IPA is brewed exclusively with Citra hops purchased from a farm in Yakima Valley in Washington State. It’s well-known for its bold, bright tropical fruit and citrus aromas and flavors, without the usual bitterness that some IPAs have to offer.
Tasting Notes:
A lot is going on with this beer’s nose. There’s a nice mix of dank, aromatic hops as well as ripe mangos, tangerines, lemon peels, and other tropical fruit aromas. The palate is an explosion of lime juice, ripe guava, juicy mango, peach, cantaloupe, caramel malts, and more floral, earthy, pine.
Bottom Line:
This is a surprisingly well-balanced beer. It feels like the malts, bitter hops, and tropical fruit flavors are working together like a philharmonic of flavor.
17) The Lone Pint Yellow Rose
ABV: 6.8%
Average Price: $12 for a four-pack of 12-ounce bottles
The Beer:
Located in Magnolia, Texas, The Lone Pint might not have the production of some of the beers on this list. But its Yellow Rose IPA is one of the most highly-rated of all time. This single hop and single malt IPA was brewed exclusively with Pilsner malt and Mosaic hops. It’s known for its citrus, fruit-filled flavor profile.
Tasting Notes:
This beer’s nose is about as classic as an IPA gets. There are notes of ripe grapefruit, juicy mango, peach, and a ton of floral, dank pine. Take a sip and you’ll be greeted with flavors of orange blossoms, grapefruit pulp, spruce tips, pale malts, honeydew melons, and mango. It all ends with a dank, resinous, medium bitter hop finish.
Bottom Line:
This beer is a nice mix of medium to high bitterness and fresh fruit flavor. It’s an all-around great, classic-tasting IPA.
16) Other Half All Citra Everything
ABV: 8.5%
Average Price: $25 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
One of Other Half’s flagship IPAs, this double dry-hopped monster of a beer is hazy, and juicy, and gets all of its hop flavor and aroma from the use of Citra Hops. The result is an orange, lime, and grapefruit-centered beer you’ll never get tired of.
Tasting Notes:
Complex aromas of ripe clementines, passionfruit, guava, mango, coconut, and dried apricots start everything off right. This is followed by just a hint of floral, herbal pine. Sipping it reveals more mango, guava, passionfruit, candied orange peel, caramel malts, and dank, not very bitter pine. It’s creamy, sweet, and very drinkable.
Bottom Line:
There are few New England-style IPAs as balanced as All Citra Everything. Its light bitterness is the perfect complement to the citrus elements.
15) The Alchemist Focal Banger
ABV: 7%
Average Price: $18 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
One of the most famous IPAs in America, The Alchemist Focal Banger is brewed with British-sourced malts as well as Mosaic and Citra Hops. This results in a memorable, hoppy, flavorful beer that’s best if enjoyed immediately. As if you’d be able to wait anyway.
Tasting Notes:
This beer has it all. Orange peels, honeydew melons, ripe berries, juicy pineapple, mango, and lightly floral hops are big on the nose. One sip and you’ll be treated to flavors like orange blossoms, candied orange peels, tangerine pulp, grapefruit juice, freshly cut grass, mangos, peaches, and dank, sticky, resinous pine with just a hint of bitterness to temper everything together nicely.
Bottom Line:
When it comes to New England-style IPAs, Focal Banger (along with Heady Topper) is one of the OGs. It’s still just as great today as it was when it was first crafted in 2007.
14) Monkish Adios Ghost
ABV: 10.2%
Average Price: Limited Availability
The Beer:
This is definitely not a beer for the faint-hearted. This juicy, hazy triple IPA sits at a potent 10.2% ABV. Brewed completely with Citra hops, it’s known for its divinely dank, cosmically citrus, memorable flavor profile. It’s a beer you’ll want to try if you ever happen upon it.
Tasting Notes:
The nose starts everything off on the right foot with a ton of melon, berry, tropical fruit, tangerine, grapefruit, peach, and dank spruce tip aromas. The palate is filled with caramelized pineapple, tangerine, mango, peach, grapefruit, and pine resin. The finish is pleasantly hoppy and bitter.
Bottom Line:
Even at its high ABV, it still manages to be creamy, sweet, fruity, and drinkable. Yet it’s also undeniably complex.
13) Toppling Goliath King Sue
ABV: 7.8%
Average Price: $20 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
This beer is adorned with a roaring dinosaur. Is this the titular “King Sue”? Who knows. Regardless, this ferociously delicious hazy IPA gets its monstrous flavor from the liberal use of Citra hops and Citra hops alone. The result is a mango, peach, pineapple, and citrus juice bomb.
Tasting Notes:
With grapefruit zest, tangerine, mango sorbet, apricot, pineapple, caramel malts, and lightly cracked black pepper, this beer is an adventure for your nose. The palate continues this trend with juicy peach, tangerine, apricot, mango, tart grapefruit, light sweet malts, and floral hops. It ends with a nice hoppy, piney, barely bitter dry finish.
Bottom Line:
King Sue is a beast of a beer. This New England-style IPA might be brewed very far away from Vermont, but it has everyone fans of the style enjoy and they’re all in perfect balance.
12) Maine Beer Lunch
ABV: 7%
Average Price: $7 for a 16.9-ounce can
The Beer:
We’d all like to have nothing but a beer (or three) for lunch and Maine Beer actually crafted a beer so we wouldn’t feel so bad about actually doing it. Brewed with American 2-row, Caramel 40L, Munich 10L, and Carapils malts as well as red wheat, Amarillo, Simcoe, and Centennial hops, it’s malty backbone and fruity flavor profile.
Tasting Notes:
The nose starts with a healthy dose of yeasty bread, honey, and caramel malts. It then dives into tangerine, mango, guava, and floral, herbal pine depths. There’s more of the same when it comes to the palate with papaya making an appearance along with juicy peach, more caramel, tangerines, grapefruit, and more tropical fruit juice sweetness. The last sip is crisp, dry, and sublimely bitter.
Bottom Line:
The brewers at Maine Beer gave the classic West Coast IPA a bit of an East Coast spin and created this highly memorable beer. If you’re a fan of traditional IPAs, you need to try this one at least once even if it’s nowhere near lunchtime.
11) Kern River Citra
ABV: 8.5%
Average Price: $18 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
Citra seems to be the hop of choice when it comes to highly-rated IPAs. Kern River’s most popular beer uses Citra as its main hop but also utilizes Amarillo hops as well. The addition of a good amount of bold malts gives this beer a sweet, malty backbone. It’s also loaded with citrus and tropical fruit aromas and flavors.
Tasting Notes:
Aromas of grapefruit, candied pineapple, yeasty bread, caramel malts, and tangerine start things off on a great note. The palate is all caramel malts, grapefruit pulp, more pineapple, pithy orange, and resinous, dank, pine needles. The finish is bitter, citrus-filled, and lightly acidic.
Bottom Line:
This is a truly aptly named IPA (even if it also contains a healthy dose of Amarillo hops). It’s loaded with fresh citrus flavor that will make it a must-try for traditional IPA fans.
10) Hill Farmstead Susan
ABV: 6%
Average Price: Limited Availability
The Beer:
Like many of its beers, Hill Farmstead Susan is named for an actual person. This 6% ABV IPA was named for the brewery’s founder’s grandfather’s sister. It gets its fresh, complex flavor from the use of house ale yeast as well as Yakima Valley hops from Washington State and Riwaka hops sourced from New Zealand.
Tasting Notes:
On the nose, you’ll find orange peels, clover honey, peach, tangerine, caramel, and grassy, floral hops. Take a sip and you’ll be treated to flavors of freshly baked bread, candied orange peels, apricots, honey, pineapple, and grapefruit. The finish is lightly bitter and dry with a nice final flourish of pine needles.
Bottom Line:
Like all of Hill Farmstead’s beers. This bright, floral, memorable beer is best when enjoyed fresh. Don’t even think of putting this one down in your cellar and forgetting about it. Drink it now.
9) Lawson’s Finest Double Sunshine
ABV: 8%
Average Price: $18 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
As we mentioned earlier, Lawson’s Finest Sip of Sunshine is an outstanding beer. But who wouldn’t want to double all of that goodness? This 8% ABV double IPA is loaded with 2-row pale malt, Carapilsen malt, Vienna-style malt, Caramunich malt, and flaked oats. It gets its hop presence from the addition of Citra and Columbus hops.
Tasting Notes:
Bready malts, yeast, tangerine peels, ripe grapefruit, stone fruits, and dank, resinous hops are heavy on the nose. There’s more of the same with the palate. There’s a ton of great sweet malt in the background that elevates the grapefruit juice, orange peel, grass, lemon zest, peach, mango, and more sticky pine needles. The finish is filled with citrus flavor and lightly biting hops.
Bottom Line:
If there’s one dominant flavor in this beer, it’s grapefruit. But, due to the nice malt backbone and other flavors, it doesn’t take over and outweigh anything else.
8) La Cumbre Project Dank
ABV: 7.5%
Average Price: $15 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
La Cumbre’s Project Dank is exactly what the name suggests. It’s a project that’s always changing and evolving. Depending on the release, the malts, yeast, hops (even hopping techniques), and other ingredients vary greatly. The brewery has still managed to drop some of the best IPAs ever made time after time.
Tasting Notes:
The most recent version has a ton of citrus right away on the nose. Grapefruit, tangerine, lemongrass, and a healthy dose of fur tips. The classic IPA aroma moves into the palate with more grapefruit, tangerine juice, lime peel, candied orange peel, light pepper, and a ton of sublimely dank, resinous pine. The finish is perfectly bitter and filled with pine. All in all, it’s a great, balanced, classic IPA.
Bottom Line:
You’re going to want to pick up La Cumbre Project Dank. And then grab it again a year later if you see it again and compare it to the previously year’s version.
7) Alpine Nelson
ABV: 7%
Average Price: $14 for a six-pack
The Beer:
Alpine Nelson got its name because of the liberal use of New Zealand-sourced Nelson Sauvin hops. It’s kettle-hopped and then dry-hopped with the popular hop variety. This gives it nice pine, tropical fruit, and citrus flavors. The addition of European rye malts adds a little spice to the equation.
Tasting Notes:
This IPA has a rather unique nose and that’s definitely a good thing. It starts with grapefruit, tangerine, bready malts, yeast, peach, and ripe pineapple, and then delves into spicy, peppery rye. The palate continues this awesome trend with caramelized pineapple, ripe mango, guava, papaya, clementines, more rye spice, and pine needles. The finish is dry, pleasantly bitter, and has a nice mix of citrus peels, rye, and pine needles.
Bottom Line:
This is a classic IPA with a spicy rye spin. It’s already a great, flavorful beer and the addition of rye malts gives it an added dimension.
6) Maine Beer Dinner
ABV: 8.2%
Average Price: Limited Availability
The Beer:
The ramped-up version of Maine Beer Lunch is a robust 8.2% ABV and is brewed with American 2-row malt, Caramel 40L malt, Carapils malt, and dextrose. It gets its hoppy aroma and flavor from the use of Mosaic, Simcoe, Citra, and Falconer’s Flight hops.
Tasting Notes:
The nose is loaded with aromas of ripe peach, pineapple, guava, mango, passionfruit, and other tropical fruits. There’s also a ton of pine. Sipping it reveals flavors like papaya, ripe pineapple, passionfruit, peach, light garlic, caramel malts, honey, and a ton of bright, vibrant pine. The finish is dry and gently bitter.
Bottom Line:
Maine Beer Dinner is an exceptional beer. It’s one of the most well-balanced IPAs on the market. Try this one and Maine Lunch whenever you get a chance.
5) Russian River Pliny The Elder
ABV: 8%
Average Price: $8 for a 16.9-ounce bottle
The Beer:
Nobody brings up the “best IPAs” without including Russian River Pliny The Elder. One of the beers that started the West Coast IPA craze, it’s brewed with Simcoe, CTZ, Amarillo, and Centennial hops. It’s known for its classic pine, citrus, and floral aromas and flavors.
Tasting Notes:
Traditional West Coast IPA aromas of lemon zest, grapefruit, sweet malts, and floral, dank pine set the table for what’s to come. The palate only adds to this with a ton of ripe grapefruit up front followed by caramel malts, sweet honey, tangerine, nectarine, pineapple, and a wallop of dry, bitter (almost aggressively so), piney hops.
Bottom Line:
If you only purchase one classic West Coast IPA on this list, make it Russian River Pliny The Elder. It doesn’t get much better than this.
4) Hill Farmstead Abner
ABV: 8.3%
Average Price: Limited Availability
The Beer:
This imperial IPA, featuring Centennial, Chinook, Columbus, Simcoe, and Warrior hops was named for Hill Farmstead’s founder’s great-grandfather. It’s even brewed using water from a well named in his honor. It’s double dry-hopped, unfiltered, and should be enjoyed fresh.
Tasting Notes:
Freshly cut grass, ripe grapefruit, lemon peel, honeydew melon, honey, caramel malt, and lightly spicy, floral hops are prevalent on the nose. On the palate, you’ll find hints of cracker-like malts, caramel, sweet honey, tangerine, grapefruit, and grassy, herbal, piney hops. The finish is dry, and a nice mix of sweetness and bitter hops.
Bottom Line:
Hill Farmstead is a can’t-miss brewery. It’s the kind of place to take a pilgrimage to. If you get a chance try this beer. It’s the kind of IPA you’ll compare other IPAs to.
3) The Alchemist Heady Topper
ABV: 8%
Average Price: $18 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
When The Alchemist brewer John Kimmich first brewed Heady Topper in 2004, he might not have realized that he created a new kind of IPA: the New England-style IPA. Years later, the style is hugely popular thanks to this unfiltered, hazy brew featuring tropical, citrus, and bold pine flavors.
Tasting Notes:
This beer pours like a cloudy glass of freshly squeezed orange juice and the aroma with its tangerine, candied orange peel, lime zest, and grapefruit only adds to it. There are also notes of sweet malts and dank pine as well. The palate is centered around more sweet malts, honeysuckle, lemon zest, grapefruit, clementine, pineapple, mango, and more herbal, earthy, floral pine. There are more pine needles and a little bitterness at the end.
Bottom Line:
If you’re a fan of New England-style IPAs or you want to get into them, you must try The Alchemist heady Topper. The beer that started everything is still just as memorable today.
2) Russian River Pliny the Younger
ABV: 10.25%
Average Price: Limited Availability
The Beer:
It’s difficult to pick between Russian River Pliny the Elder and Pliny the Younger. But it’s all about the ABV and style. While Pliny the Elder is a double IPA sitting at 8% ABV and Pliny the Younger is a 10.25% ABV triple IPA. This Amarillo, Chinook, Citra, CTZ, Mosaic, Nelson, Simcoe, and Warrior hop-filled IPA is known for its surprisingly easy-to-drink flavor profile featuring citrus, stone fruits, and floral, earthy pine.
Tasting Notes:
There is a ton of pine resin on this beer’s nose. If that’s your jam, you’ll love this beer. There are also notes of fresh-cut grass, orange peel, grapefruit, and floral hops. The inviting nose leads to a memorable palate of fur tips, spicy, floral hops, tangerine, lemongrass, grapefruit, stone fruits, and caramel malts. The finish is dry and gently bitter on the tongue.
Bottom Line:
This is not an easy beer to find as it’s only released in limited quantities once per year. If you find yourself with a bottle, treasure it. You might never get it again.
1) Tree House King Julius
ABV: 8.1%
Average Price: $6 for a 16-ounce can
The Beer:
Tree House is a big name on the list of top-rated beers. You could work your way down the Massachusetts-based breweries’ beer menu, and you’d be treated to some of the best beers in the world. But we believe its best beer is King Julius. This hazy, juicy New England-style IPA is known for its over-the-top tropical fruit aromas and flavors.
Tasting Notes:
Complex aromas of ripe pineapple, sweet malts, cantaloupe, mango, papaya, passionfruit, juicy peach, tangerine, and other tropical fruit flavors start everything off right. The palate continues this explosion of fruit juice with even more mango, tangerine, grapefruit, caramelized pineapple, honeydew melon, peach, and lightly floral, piney hops. The finish is sweet, and juicy, and has just a tickle of bitterness to make you realize it’s an IPA.
Bottom Line:
This is an absolute juice bomb. It’s so filled with tropical fruit flavors, sweet malts, and light hops that it’s probably the best beer to showcase the New England-style IPA. It’s absolutely outstanding.