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The incredible IPAs that belong in your shopping cart

Add these IPAs to your must-try list

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At last count, more than 9,000 breweries are currently operating in the US. That’s a crazy amount of beer being produced daily. And of those 9,000-plus breweries, a large percentage makes at least one (if not many) IPA.

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Even if you were to drink a few dozen every day, you’d never find the time to try even a fraction of them. That means that if you’re a fan of hoppy, dank, and piney IPAs and hazy, juicy, and fruity IPAs, you need to pinpoint the ones that you absolutely need to try.

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You can take a look at BeerAdvocate and try your best to get your hands on bottles and cans of the top-rated IPAs, or you can try our bucket list IPAs. In our opinion, these are the must-try New England-style IPAs, West Coast IPAs, and every IPA in between. From Vermont to California, these are the IPAs every hop-lover needs to try.

The IPAs that belong on your bucket list

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With all those breweries from coast to beer-filled coast, there are countless notable IPAs well worth your time. But there are a few that stand above the rest. These are the sometimes difficult-to-find, memorable IPAs that you need to try if you consider yourself a true hophead. Below, you’ll find our picks for the IPAs that belong on your bucket list. Keep scrolling to see them all.

Russian River Pliny the Elder

Russian River Pliny the Elder
Russian River

Regarding outstanding breweries, it’s difficult to beat the appeal of California’s Russian River Brewing. Located in Santa Rosa, California, this iconic brewery makes multiple noteworthy beers including STS Pils, Blind Pig IPA, and of course Pliny the Elder. The easier to find of the two Pliny beers, Pliny the Elder is an IPA brewed with Amarillo, Centennial, CTZ, and Simcoe hops. It’s known for its balanced flavor profile featuring notes of citrus peels, wildflowers, and dank pine.

Maine Lunch

Maine Lunch
Maine Beer

If you didn’t know any better, you might assume this New England-style IPA is a reference to it being a meal in a can. It’s actually named for a finback whale that’s been seen along the Maine coast since the early 80s. Brewed with 2-row malt, caramel 40L malt, red wheat, Munich 10L malt, and Carapils malt, it gets its tropical fruit, citrus, and pine notes from the inclusion of Amarilla, Centennial, and Simcoe hops.

Tree House Julius

Tree House Julius
Tree House

If you’re a fan of hazy, juicy, New England-style IPAs, look no further than Massachusetts’ Tree House Brewing. All of its hazy IPAs are amazing and often land on the top rankings of BeerAdvocate, but if you want to try one, you’ll grab a four-pack of Tree House Julius. This 6.8% ABV IPA is known for its cloudy, hazy, fresh-squeezed orange juice-like appearance and notes of passion fruit, mango, caramelized pineapple, and bold citrus. It’s a surprisingly well-balanced IPA with a bit of prickly bitterness at the very end to complement the fruity sweetness.

The Alchemist Heady Topper

The Alchemist Heady Topper
The Alchemist

If you enjoy hazy, juicy New England-style IPAs, you have to try The Alchemist Heady Topper. That’s because this is the OG hazy IPA. Before brewer John Kimmich brewed it in 2004, there was no such thing as a New England-style IPA. This 8% ABV double IPA is loaded with aromas of ripe pineapple, mango, guava, and citrus zest, as well as a palate of dank pine, tart grapefruit, pineapple, passionfruit, and lightly bitter hops. It’s a very well-balanced beer and one that belongs on your bucket list, not just because it’s the first New England-style IPA.

Toppling Goliath King Sue

Toppling Goliath King Sue
Toppling Goliath

The easiest to find of the whole bunch, Toppling Goliath King Sue isn’t any less notable. This 7.8% ABV double IPA is brewed exclusively with Citra hops. The result is a juicy, hazy, memorable IPA with notes of tangerine, orange peel, mango, caramelized pineapple, passionfruit, ripe grapefruit, and a dank, lightly prickly finish. It’s adorned with a roaring T-Rex, and it’s filled with ferocious flavor. This is a beer that you’ll check off your bucket list and then go back to again and again.

Bottom line

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We don’t expect you to try every beer on this list, as some are difficult to find. But if you’re an IPA drinker, you should seek out one or two of these iconic, award-winning beers. Trust us. You’ll be pretty happy you did. Plus, you can brag to your friends that you tried one of the most noteworthy IPAs ever brewed. That’s a bonus. If you’re a really good friend, you’ll even share some of these IPAs with them.

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Christopher Osburn
Christopher Osburn
Writer
Christopher Osburn is a food and drinks writer located in the Finger Lakes Region of New York. He's been writing professional

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