The Best IPAs of 2019
January 14, 2020
For us, the IPA is the pizza of the beer world. You can change the ingredients, you can make it simpler or heavier, you can make it crisper or softer… but as long as the basic formula is the same, we will love it no matter what. (Also, like pizza slices, it’s difficult to have just one IPA.) Below is a list of the best IPAs we had in 2019. Not all of them were introduced to the market last year, but just like with our lists of the best sour beers of 2019 and the best stouts of 2019, we’re basing our list on date of consumption, not on date of initial creation.
Also like our other lists, we’re only allowing ourselves to put one beer per brewery. It was difficult enough cutting down the hundreds and hundreds of IPAs we had this year down to such a short list, choosing individual beers from breweries like Monkish, Other Half, Alchemist, Moonraker, Mumford, etc.? Why do we punish ourselves so? Yet while there are so many we’ve had that are worthy of being on the list, these forty IPAs stand out as the ones we simply can’t leave off.
Adroit Theory– Heaving Through Corrupted Lungs
Though they thoroughly wowed us with their stouts this year, we were first introduced to Adroit Theory through their delightfully dank double IPAs. How good are they? They inspired Russell to drive from DC to Purcellville just to visit their taproom in 2018. Heaving Through Corrupted Lungs continues their reign of dankness into 2019– it’s a creamy candy melon bomb.
Alarmist Brewing– DDH Citra Le Jus
Alarmist leapt onto our radar in 2018 by winning the insanely competitive Juicy/Hazy IPA Gold Medal at Great American Beer Fest. We had both the winner *and* this double dry hopped citra variant this year, and this one may be even *better* than the champ, packing sweet grapefruit juice into a luxuriously smooth mouthfeel.
“We know this beer’s been a classic forever, and it’s far from “hip” for us to have such a massively known entity on our list here. But this was our first ever experience with Heady Topper. And it lived up to our lofty expectations.” Read more about this beer in our Best Beer From Each of the Fifty States list.
Arrow Lodge Brewing– Buds Best
“Snoop Dogg would approve, not just of the smell, but also of how hard Buds Best brings that West Coast funk. It tastes like we’re rolling around on an autumnal forest floor. Dank you very much, Arrow Lodge. Dank you very much.” Read more about this beer in our LA Beer Week coverage.
Barbarian Brewing– Mo Hops Mo Problems
One doesn’t often think of the word “tropical” when one thinks of Idaho, but Barbarian, already held in high esteem for their top-shelf sours, makes sure Potato Country doesn’t go without some much-needed haze. Mo Hops, Mo Problems brings impressive balance, making sure the juice doesn’t go too far into the nectar realm without mixing in some nice bitterness.
Bale Breaker Brewing– Citra Slicker Wet Hop IPA
Wet hop season is always cherished at our household, because sometimes the haze craze just doesn’t cut it, and you want to mainline that pure, unadulterated bitter hop goodness. Bale Breaker, makers of the legendary Northwest hop bomb Top Cutter, gave us easily one of the best wet hop beers of the year, a deeply hoppy and marvelously fresh crusher.
Beachwood Brewing– O.G.L.A.I.P.A.
Impossible to choose from the variety of tasty Beachwood IPAs we’ve had this year at their taproom, at festivals, and at random bars across LA. “Beachwood’s IPAs are realer than Real Deal Holyfield… we’ll give love to the O.G.L.A.I.P.A. collaboration with Smog City, a crisp west coast IPA with a malty, slightly spiced flavor.” Read more about Beachwood in our LA Beer Week coverage.
Begyle is easily one of the most impressive breweries in Chicago, a city stacked with impressive breweries. They made our Best IPA list last year with Megapixel, and they’re back again in 2019 with No Tomorrow, yet another smooth, citrusy, and balanced hazy. We wouldn’t be surprised to see Begyle back on the list for a third year in a row in 2020.
Bottle Logic– Dagger through the IPA
Bottle Logic is also on our list for the second consecutive year. Each time we make the trek to Anaheim, the night catches up with us at Bottle Logic, because their hazies like Dagger Through the IPA (9.1% ABV) rarely ever taste as boozy as they are. The peach and grapefruit juice is fresh and delicious enough to justify the hangover the next morning.
Brink Brewing– Callista Flocheart
If you’ve never heard of Brink, they’ve won the Very Small Brewery of the Year award at GABF for *two years in a row.* We’ve also raved about them here. And here. And here. We now add to the piles raves about their hazy IPA, Callista Flocheart, a creamy explosion of passionfruit and apricot. This raises the question: what style *can’t* Brink master?
Creature Comforts Brewing– Galactic Space Circus
“A showcase for the galaxy hop, it contains oats and a splash of lactose making it ultra smooth and slightly creamy— it’s like the Georgian Other Half.” Read more about this beer in our Firestone Walker Invitational coverage.
“We were privileged to enjoy several Drekker beers in 2019, but if we had to single one out, the Ectogasm represents everything we’ve come to love about Drekker: giant flavor, major fruitiness, creamy mouthfeel, soft finish. And, of course, exceptional can art.” Read more about this beer in our Best Beer From Each of the Fifty States list.
Durty Bull Brewing– In Search Of IPA
Russell’s visit to Durham this year introduced him to some terrific North Carolinian beer, including Durty Bull Brewing. As we said at the time, “the In Search Of IPA, a collaboration with Barrel Culture, was the best IPA I had in Durham, a bold and juicy Galaxy-and-Mosaic hopped hazy.” Read more about Durty Bull in our Durham brewery hop guide.
Electric Brewing– Salacious Affinity
If you’re in Temecula, Electric Brewing is your home for high-grade haze. If we were picking our top five hazy IPAs in the Temecula area, four of them would almost certainly be from Electric. This makes it hard to choose a favorite– we’ll roll with Salacious Affinity, a bombshell triple with double dry hopped dankness, and a startlingly soft finish for a 10%er.
Exhibit A Brewing– The Cat’s Meow
If you’re in Boston taking the 90 west for a beer run to Tree House, don’t ignore Framingham, which had some of Russell’s favorite beers on his entire Massachusetts visit. Exhibit A Brewing had winners across the board, and their flagship hazy IPA, The Cat’s Meow, is a pure glass of grapefruit and orange juice with some nice pine notes to balance out the end.
“When all the travel is done, there are few pleasures greater than a can of Great Notion haze enjoyed in the comfort of one’s home on a quiet night. Creamy and passionfruity, JB DIPA is yet another of Great Notion’s world-class IPAs.” Read more about this beer in our Best Beer From Each of the Fifty States list.
Highland Park Brewery– Cloud Party
You may have noticed that Highland Park Brewery has been on every Best Of list we’ve released so far. Best sour? Check. Best stout? Check. But they’re not done yet– we’ve had several of their IPAs this year, all terrific. We’ll tip our cap here to our favorite, Cloud Party, whose hazy citrus juices give way to a gloriously dry hop bite.
Icarus Brewing– Touching the Sun
“This New Jersey microbrewery is building its rep on its IPAs, and it brought a group of tasty boys to GABF for us to sample. All were good, but the Touching the Sun triple IPA struck the best chord, giving us a luscious gulp of boozy juice.” Read more about this beer in our Great American Beer Festival coverage.
Kern River Brewing Company– Citra
No fancy name based off a pun or a hip hop lyric here: the beer’s name tells you what it is. We tried several fantastic KRBC beers this year– many of which won medals at GABF— but in terms of frequency of consumption, their classic Citra takes the cake. It’s an old school west coast blast of citrus and pine. Seems simple, but perfect execution of simplicity never is.
Kros Strain Brewing– Fairy Nectar London DDH
You may be surprised to learn one of 2018’s Juicy/Hazy IPA winners at GABF came from Nebraska. Well, once you’ve had Kros Strain’s IPAs, you’ll no longer be surprised. Kros Strain IPAs have been named our Best of Nebraska for two years running, and Fairy Nectar London DDH is a mango and melon explosion the likes of which could hang with the best IPAs in any state.
Lost Cabin Beer– Woodshop Series: IPA #5
Lost Cabin impressed us so deeply at GABF that we started researching reasons to take a South Dakota vacation. (Next stop, Badlands!) From their saison to their chili stout to their best-in-state Scotch ale, we loved it all– and their IPA #5 earned its way onto this list, boasting tremendous balance between tropical juice, deep dankness, and bitter bite.
“Lupulin’s reputation for world-class hazy IPAs is well-known. Hooey’s got big juicy hop flavor, but even beyond that, the aromas are so wonderfully fragrant that you can smell the hops while the person standing next to you is drinking it.” Read more about this beer in our Great American Beer Festival coverage.
Maplewood Brewery– Son of Juice
“Son of Juice is a soft hazebomb, gentle in its delivery but big in its flavor. At a time when the Chicago hazy scene is growing in acclaim, Maplewood’s hazies stand alongside the best of the bunch.” Read more about this beer in our Great American Beer Festival coverage.
Modern Times– DDH Timewave Zero
We’ve had so many Modern Times hazy IPAs at this point– we live in Los Angeles and frequent their Dankness Dojo– that we could probably identify a Modern Times in a blind hazy taste test. (Also, that sounds super fun.) They always have good juice flavor without ever sacrificing the grassy, piney hop kick that makes beer beer. We could’ve included any number of them here, but we ultimately settled on DDH Timewave Zero, a hoppy tangerine masterpiece.
We have nothing new to say about Monkish. By now, you know who they are and the caliber of their work. That said, we enjoyed a growler of this double dry hopped DIPA the day it was tapped, and let us tell you something: if you think the cans of Monkish you get via trade are delicious, you need to find a way to get fresh Monkish from the tap. It’s that much smoother, that much hoppier, that much more citrus-y. Salute to our friend Jake for procuring the goods.
When our local craft beer shop, Blackbeard’s Crafts, says they have fresh Moonraker haze in stock? We stop what we’re doing, hop in the car, and make sure to grab as much as we can before it sells out. Limiting ourselves to just one choice for this list, we’ll pick Low Viz, because any time a triple IPA is this juicy and smooth, it feels like a dream come true. Expect Moonraker to easily make this list again next year.
More Brewing– DDH Double Space Boots
It shouldn’t surprise anyone to see yet another Chicago brewery on this list, and considering we gave More Brewing our Best of Illinois award, it’s not a surprise they also create masterful IPAs. The DDH Double Space Boots– Emily’s favorite beer the day we encountered it at GABF– is Citra and Galaxy loaded dry hopped melon juice. We’re hoping to get back to the Chicago area this year to have more More.
Looking at our spreadsheet this year, we gave *ten* different Mumford IPAs top marks– these are the sorts of IPAs that should garner nationwide acclaim and have beer traders foaming at the mouth with envy. We decided which one to pick based on sheer volume, and we had more cans of Box Logo #7 than any other. Like many of the other Mumford winners, it’s rich, smooth, hoppy, and fruity, without ever getting too sweet. As Russell wrote in his notes, “Typical Mumford beastliness.”
Old Irving Brewing Company– Beezer
“Old Irving continued Chicago’s dominance over the haze categories at GABF, winning the Gold for Hazy or Juicy IPA, the most competitive award of the weekend. It’s a worthy victor, light and tropical, perfect outdoors by the pool or indoors seeking shelter from Chicago wind.” Read more about this beer in our Great American Beer Festival coverage.
Ology Brewing– Galaxy DDH Sensory Overload
Pretty unfair that, in addition to having best-in-state level sours, Ology is also able to boast best-in-state level IPAs. Share your secrets with the rest of the world, Ology! This particular concoction, Galaxy DDH Sensory Overload, is soft and sweet, not very bitter, making it ideal for crushing on those hot Florida summers.
Oozlefinch Craft Brewery– Old Fogey Hazy IPA
One of our new favorite Virginia breweries is Oozlefinch Craft Brewery. This Fort Monroe outfit came to GABF with a loaded slate of saisons and goses, all of which were tasty– but this isn’t the best saison list. They also brought a wonderful hazy, the Old Fogey, that struck a fine chord between its bright fruitiness and its dank hoppiness. We’re excited to see what Oozlefinch has in store in 2020.
Other Half Brewing– DDH Daydream in Green
Like with Monkish, we’re not sure what to say about Other Half that hasn’t already been said by millions of IPA aficionados across the country. Our first visit to Other Half in 2019 did not disappoint, and the DDH Daydream in Green lived up to the hype– it’s a creamy, full-bodied grenade of orange, lemon, mango, and grass clippings. We’re planning our next Brooklyn trip as we speak.
“This year, we got our hands on DDH Nova Vert courtesy of Tavour, mailed out impressively shortly after its bottling. It’s a smooth citrus crusher and another insanely high quality IPA from some of the best IPA manufacturers in America.” Read more about this beer in our Best Beer From Each of the Fifty States list.
Pipeworks Brewing– Ninja vs. Unicorn
Hazy IPAs: “We run Chicago now!” Ninja vs. Unicorn: “Hold my beer.” We’ve been chugging Pipeworks’s instant classic hopbomb at every opportunity over the past couple of years, and the few fresh cans we enjoyed this year reinforce that it remains one of the best double IPAs in the country. Grapefruit, pine, and a splash of malt do battle on your tastebuds as you drink, and the winner… is you.
Revision Brewing– Hops in a Can
“We were delighted to find Revision Brewing on tap, as we’ve loved their IPAs since our first exposure to them in Tahoe last year (they were our Best of Nevada pick last year as well). Hops in a Can was dank, citrusy, and absurdly smooth for 10.5% ABV.” Read more about this beer in our Best Beer From Each of the Fifty States list.
Santa Monica Brew Works– Head in the Clouds
Everyone has a local craft brewery, the one closest to your home. Ours is Santa Monica Brew Works, and we’re very lucky that their beer is very good. We probably drank more Head in the Clouds than literally *any other beer* in 2019. It’s juicy, it’s got some nice dry bitterness on the end, and its 8.5% ABV is well-disguised. We’ll drink this by the gallon again in 2020.
Tree House Brewing– Curiosity 58
“It was impossible to single out just one of the incredible beers we enjoyed at Tree House. Gun to head, we choose to Curiosity 58, a sensationally smooth and creamy 8.1% IPA, rich with flavors of melon, mango, and bubble gum.” Read more about this beer in our Best Beer From Each of the Fifty States list.
Turning Point Beer– Kama Citra
“Turning Point’s Kama Citra is a single-hopped NE IPA featuring, you guessed it, Citra hops. And it was as clean, juicy, and memorable as any IPA at the festival.” This is, in all likelihood, the best IPA we’ve ever had from Texas. Read more about this beer in our Great American Beer Festival coverage.
Untitled Art Brewing– Hazy IIPA Triple Dry Hop with Weldwerks
We could’ve included a couple of different Untitled Art or Weldwerks IPAs in this slot, so we figured why not instead highlight their superb collaboration? Like most Untitled Art collabs we’ve had, it’s packed full of flavor, and like most Weldwerks beers we’ve had, it’s only mildly dank and bitter, instead leaning into the rich smoothness and fruitiness.
Wild Leap Brew Co.– Alpha Abstraction V7
After a couple of Alpha Abstraction installments, we can safely call this IPA series an instant purchase whenever a new can drops. V7 was our favorite, making this an unusually berry-forward IPA with a nice dry finish. Any time you can make your haze stand out from the pack in a good way? It’s a massive win. Wild Leap has leapt wildly up our rankings.
What were your favorite IPAs in 2019? What are you looking forward to trying in 2020? Please let us know in the comments below! Check out our lists of the best sour beers of 2019, the best stouts of 2019 and our favorite beers in each of the fifty states— and keep an eye out for what we have in store in 2020! Cheers!
A bit surprised that nothing from Cellarmaker of Alvarado Street made your list – Dank Williams and Delorean Dust were definitely in my top 15 IPAs from 2019.