Winter has just begun (technically) but we’re already over it. Sadly, we can’t just wish the sunless months away. We can do something to fight the frigidity though. And it doesn’t even cost a flight!
Just sip on a fruity, juicy, hazy IPA. Seriously, a well-made hazy IPA is as close to a tropical getaway in a pint glass as you’re going to find. These unfiltered IPAs are known for featuring the flavors of ripe pineapple, peach, mango, guava, passionfruit, and all manner of bright, vibrant citrus fruits.
Below, you’ll find eight of our favorite juicy IPAs. We ranked them based on a balance between juicy tropical fruits and dank hops.
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8) Cigar City Fancy Papers
ABV: 6.5%
Average Price: $12 for a six-pack
The Beer:
This year-round offering from the folks at Tampa Cigar City is named for the “fancy paper” that adorned cigar boxes. It’s juicy, sweet, hazy, and loaded with tropical fruit flavor thanks to the liberal use of Idaho 7, Strata, and Sabro hops.
Tasting Notes:
On the nose, you’ll find aromas of grapefruit, tangerines, limes, and a nice kick of floral, piney hops. The palate is a little more tropical fruit flavor with ripe pineapple, mango, tangerine, lemongrass, and dank pine. It’s a nice mix of tropical fruit sweetness, citrus, and hops.
Bottom Line:
This is a great beer for drinkers not sure if they’ll embrace a hazy IPA. It’s a balanced, fruity, hoppy, memorable beer.
7) Drake’s Juicy Hoot Hazy IPA
ABV: 7.5%
Average Price: $15 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
With a name like Juicy Hoot, you should have a pretty good idea about what’s inside this can. Brewed with Simcoe, Galaxy, Talus, HBC 692, and Mosaic hops, it’s known for its hazy, juicy, tropical fruit aroma and flavor.
Tasting Notes:
The nose is a symphony of tropical aromas with notes of pineapple, mango, guava, passionfruit, and light pine needles. More of the same in the best way possible with a ton of caramelized pineapple, grapefruit, orange peels, passionfruit, and ripe peaches, The finish is a nice mix of sweetness and subtle bitterness.
Bottom Line:
This hazy IPA is all about balance. The sweetness-to-bitterness ratio is borderline perfect.
6) Fair State Party Forward
ABV: 6%
Average Price: $11 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
Who wouldn’t want to crack open a beer called “Party Forward” it sounds like something Wayne Campbell would say to Garth Algar. This year-round offering gets its soft, tropical fruit flavor from being brewed with Citra hops as well as wheat and oats.
Tasting Notes:
A complex nose of pineapple, passionfruit, tangerines, grass, and pine greet you before your first sip. Drinking it reveals flavors like wheat, sweet oatmeal, passionfruit, pineapple, orange peels, mango, peach, and lightly floral, dank pine. The finish is very citrus-centric with almost a hint of spice to round it all out.
Bottom Line:
This is a sweet, softy, creamy, fruit IPA with a hint of wintry spice to give it a unique overall flavor.
5) Almanac Big Love Hazy IPA
ABV: 9%
Average Price: $19 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
We have so much love for this juicy, hazy, IPA, you might even say it’s some “big love”. This double IPA is dry-hopped with Cashmere, Centennial, and Citra hops. The result is a boozy, high-ABV banger loaded with tropical goodness.
Tasting Notes:
A lot is going on with this beer’s nose. There are aromas of toasted coconut, pineapple grapefruit, mango, and floral, lightly dank pine. Sipping it brings forth notes of tangerines, lime zest, grapefruit, pineapple, coconut, mango, guava, and a nice kick of floral, resinous hops at the finish.
Bottom Line:
This is one for coconut and citrus fans. It’s like an island punch in a pint glass. What could be better on a cold night?
4) Lawson’s Finest Hazy Rays
ABV: 5.3%
Average Price: $15 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
Sometimes, even in the winter months, you want something a little lighter and more sessionable. That’s where Lawson’s Finest Liquids Hazy Rays comes in. This beer is only 5.3% ABV, but it’s a flavor bomb is brewed with Citra and Mandarina Bavaria hops.
Tasting Notes:
A nose of orange peels, ripe peach, grapefruit, mango, caramel malts, and floral pine greets you first. Drinking it brings forth notes of mango, juicy peach, caramelized pineapple, tangerine, and a nice bite of floral, hoppy bitterness at the finish.
Bottom Line:
Hazy Rays is a sessionable, flavorful respite from the high-ABV hazy IPAs on the market. It’s a nice, crushable break from the norm.
3) Sloop Juicier Bomb
ABV: 8%
Average Price: $19 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
Sloop Juice Bomb is already a mammoth of a juicy IPA. It only improves in the double IPA version aptly called Sloop Juicier Bomb. Tropical fruits and a nice, dank finish surround a nice malt backbone. This is a truly complex, bold hazy IPA you won’t soon forget.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a ton of orange zest, tangerine, and lemongrass on the nose as well as mango, caramel malts, oats, and a nice hit of floral, dank hops. The palate is loaded with toasted coconut sweetness, caramelized pineapple, mango, passionfruit, oats, papaya, and a nice finish of spicy, floral hops.
Bottom Line:
As double IPAs go, this is surprisingly well-rounded and drinkable without the boozy flavor you’d expect from an 8% ABV brew.
2) Fort George Magnetic Fields
ABV: 7.2%
Average Price: $13 for a six-pack
The Beer:
Brewed with Citra, Strata, Azacca hops as well as 2-row barley, Weyermann pilsner malt, white wheat, flaked wheat, flaked oats, and oat malts, Fort George Magnetic Fields is known for its juicy, fruity, balanced flavor profile.
Tasting Notes:
A lot is going on with this beer’s nose. There are notes of ripe peaches, berries, tangerines, lemongrass, mango, and a nice kick of dank pine. On the palate, you’ll find notes of orange cream, lime, grapefruit, apricot, pineapple, and a nice bite of resinous pine at the very end.
Bottom Line:
Everything is in perfect balance with this beer. Sweet malts, dank hops, and ripe fruit. This beer has it all.
1) Exhibit ‘A’ The Cat’s Meow
ABV: 6.5%
Average Price: $13 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
If you have never tried a beer from Exhibit ‘A’, we suggest trying its Exhibit ‘A’ The Cat’s Meow first. This year-round, award-winning hazy IPA is known for its cloudy appearance and mix of sweet malts, stone fruits, ripe citrus fruits, and dank bitterness.
Tasting Notes:
A complex nose of ripe peaches, clementines, wet grass, grapefruit, mango, passionfruit, and resinous pine needles makes for a very welcoming start. Sipping it reveals notes of apricot, tangerines, lemons, grass, caramel malts, grapefruit, guava, and a nice kick of floral, pine needles at the very finish.
Bottom Line:
It’s very sweet and loaded with tropical fruits, but it’s not a cloying, sugar bomb. There’s a perfect hint of malts and a nice bitterness at the finish to tie it all together nicely.