Photo: Detanan (Getty Images)
There are few beer styles as divisive as the India Pale Ale. IPA fans sing the praises of bitter, floral West Coast IPAs, juicy, hazy New England-Style IPAs, and crushable, light sessions IPAS. But beer drinkers who don’t like IPAs make it known. In their opinion, the whole style is over-hyped, bitter garbage. Regardless, even with the IPA haters in full force, it’s still the most popular craft beer style in America.
We love a good, crisp lager from time to time, but it’s hard to beat an IPA on a hot, sunny day. That’s why we decided to rank the all-time best IPAs you can buy pretty much anywhere. Check them all out below.
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10 best IPAs
10. Ballast Point Sculpin
There’s a reason Ballast Point’s Sculpin is always named to top IPA lists. It’s fresh, crushable and full of tropical fruit flavors and just the right amount of bitter hop presence.
Photo: Ballast Point
9. Cigar City Jai Alai
The use of six different hops give Cigar City Jai Alai its well-regarded flavor. It’s hoppy, floral, bold, and completely balanced.
Photo: Cigar City
8. Creature Comforts Tropicalia
This 6.6 percent ABV IPA is well-known for its balance and overall juiciness. It’s full of mango, passion fruit, and citrus flavors with very little bitterness.
Photo: Creature Comforts
7. Elysian Contact Haze
This 6 percent ABV IPA is hazy, juicy, subtly hoppy and full of flavors like guava, mango, and grapefruit. The perfect beer for a steamy, summer evening.
Photo: Elysian
6. Founders All Day IPA
Founders All Day IPA is pretty much always listed as the best session IPA on the market. That’s because it’s light, hoppy, low in alcohol, and totally crushable.
Photo: Founders
5. Goose Island IPA
One of the most popular IPAs in America, Goose Island IPA is everything a hop-head wants in a beer. It’s crisp, refreshing, and full of resinous hops.
Photo: Goose Island
4. Oskar Blues Can-O-Bliss Tropical IPA
This 7.2 percent ABV “Tropical” IPA is a unique flavor experience. Half tropical fruit bomb and half hop explosion, it’s juicy, fruit, and full of floral hoppiness.
Photo: Oskar Blues
3. Sierra Nevada Hazy Little Thing
If you enjoy hazy IPAs, you’d be remiss to sleep on Sierra Nevada’s Hazy Little Thing. It’s juicy, cloudy, and full of tropical fruit flavors.
Photo: Sierra Nevada
2. Stone IPA
Probably the most famous West Coast IPA on the market, Stone IPA is crisp, subtly malty and loaded with Magnum, Chinook, Centennial, Azacca, Calypso, Motueka, Ella, and Vic Secret hops.
Photo: Stone
1. Bell's Two-Hearted Ale
This 7 percent “American” IPA is made using only Centennial hops. The result is a complex, well-rounded beer with a great malt backbone that’s propelled by citrus and piney hops.
Photo: Bell’s