Beers You Must Try Before You Die

Beer is a diverse and exciting beverage with a rich history and a wide range of flavours. From crisp lagers to bold stouts, there's a beer to suit every taste. Whether you're a fan of light and refreshing beers or something with more complexity, there's a beer for everyone.

The world of beer is constantly evolving, with innovative craft beers and new styles emerging all the time. It's easier than ever to explore different beers and discover new favourites. So, whether you're a seasoned beer enthusiast or just starting to explore the world of beer, there's always something new to try.

So, get ready to crack open a cold one, settle into your comfy chair, and discover some must-drink beers!

IPAs

Today, IPAs are divided into regional categories, such as West Coast or New England styles, and are one of the most popular styles of beer in the United States. Here are some of the must-drink IPAs:

Lagunitas Little Sumpin' Sumpin' Ale

This IPA is widely available and offers a hint of bitterness with a smooth and soft mouthfeel and a hoppy finish. It's a great option if you're looking for an IPA that's easy to find and full of flavour.

Tampa Bay Brewing Company Cloudy Donkey

This IPA won gold at the Best of Craft Beer Awards. It has a soft mouthfeel and is super aromatic, with a very cool can design. You'll definitely impress your friends bysection=facts&text=Cloudy%20Donkey%20won%20gold%20at%20the%20Best%20of%20Craft%20Beer%20Awards,&text=It's%20super%20aromatic%20with%20a%20soft%20mouthfeel%20and%20has%20a%20very%20cool%20can%20design. a gold at the Best of Craft Beer Awards, and its cool can design will definitely impress your friends.

Voodoo Ranger Imperial IPA

If you're craving a complex, rich, and pine-y IPA, the Voodoo Ranger Imperial IPA is the one for you. It has garneredsection=facts&text=Voodoo%20Ranger%20Imperial%20IPA%09If%20you're%20looking%20for%20a%20complex,%20rich,%20and%20pine-y%20IPA,%20check%20out%20the%20Voodoo%20Ranger%20Imperial%20IPA.%20It%20has&text=It%20has%20garnered%20hundreds%20of%20five-star%20reviews,%20with%20fans%20gushing%20about%20its%20smooth%20taste. garnered hundreds of five-star reviews, with fans gushing about its smooth taste.

Old Nation M-43 N.E. IPA

The Old Nation M-43 is a delicious hazy IPA with a wide variety of hops, resulting in a bolder flavour and tropical citrus accents to balance out the bitterness. It's the perfect choice if you're looking for a fruitier and creamier IPA.

Industrial Arts Power Tools IPA

This IPA took home the gold medal for Best American IPA at the 2022 New York State Craft Beer Competition. It boasts clean malt and pungent citrus aromas, making it a great option if you're seeking a well-rounded and award-winning IPA.

Ballast Point Sculpin IPA

The Ballast Point Sculpin IPA uses hops at five different stages during the brewing process, resulting in apricot and citrus flavours. It's an excellent summer beverage and a great choice if you want a refreshing and flavourful IPA.

Double Dry Hopped Double Mosaic Dream

With a perfect score of 100 on BeerAdvocate, this IPA is extra hoppy and citrusy due to being double-dry hopped. If you're seeking a smooth IPA that hides its high ABV well, the Double Dry Hopped Double Mosaic Dream is an excellent choice.

Dogfish Head Slightly Mighty IPA

The Dogfish Head Slightly Mighty Lo-Cal IPA stands out for not tasting as heavy as a typical IPA. It's a fantastic option if you want an IPA that's on the lighter side but still packs a punch of flavour.

Sierra Nevada Hazy Little Thing IPA Beer

This IPA is widely available and comes from one of the OGs of craft beer. It strikes the perfect balance, with just the right amount of bitterness and juiciness. It's the ideal choice if you want a consistent and well-rounded IPA that's easy to find.

Goose Island IPA

Goose Island's IPA is a craft beer that's easy on the wallet without compromising on taste. Reviewers love its smooth and tasty flavour, making it a fantastic option if you're seeking an affordable and well-balanced IPA.

Alchemist Heady Topper

The Alchemist Heady Topper is a highly sought-after IPA that's hard to come by outside of Vermont, where it's brewed. People have been known to road trip for this beer, and it was even rated the number one beer in the world by Beer Advocate magazine. If you can get your hands on it, you'll be treated to an intense bitterness and citrus and pine notes.

Baja Brewing Mexican IPA Por Favor

The Por Favor IPA is a Pacific Coast-style IPA that's high on hops and crisp and refreshing, making it the ultimate IPA for a hot summer day. Despite its high alcohol content, it's still highly drinkable, with mild malt flavours.

Founders All Day IPA

The Founders All Day IPA is a top-rated IPA with almost 600 five-star reviews. It's crisp, clean, refreshing, hoppy, bitter, and light, making it the perfect choice if you want a well-rounded and highly-rated IPA.

Lagunitas IPA

The Lagunitas IPA is another top-rated IPA that's rich and full while remaining very drinkable. If you're seeking a flavourful and highly acclaimed IPA, the Lagunitas IPA is an excellent choice.

Bell's Two Hearted Ale

With 160 five-star reviews, the Bell's Two Hearted Ale is a fan favourite. It offers a full flavour and a nice hop balance, and the brewery suggests it's "well suited for Hemingway-esque trips to the Upper Peninsula." If you're looking for an IPA that's highly rated and potentially inspirational for your next trip, this is the one for you!

Stouts

Milk Stouts

Milk stouts are brewed with lactose, making them slightly sweet and very low in carbonation.

• Left Hand Milk Stout Nitro is a textbook example of a milk stout. It has mild bitterness and a lovely coffee-tinged flavour.
• Mast Landing Gunner’s Daughter Milk Stout is lactose-infused and has rich flavours of peanut butter, toffee, and malted milk balls.

Oatmeal Stouts

Oats bring a creaminess to oatmeal stouts, while also boosting the roasted malt character.

• Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout is a well-balanced, straightforward oatmeal stout. It has a subtle sweetness and is great for stout beginners.
• New Holland The Poet is an oatmeal stout with tasting notes of coffee, chocolate, and roasted malt.

Barrel-Aged Stouts

Barrel-aged stouts can take on a thick, syrup-like quality and have high ABV.

• Goose Island Bourbon County Stout is the patriarch of the barrel-aged stout category. It has tasting notes of chocolate, charred oak, and caramel.
• Founders KBS is a bourbon barrel-aged stout brewed with a massive amount of coffee and chocolate.

Imperial Stouts

Imperial stouts tend to have high ABV and bold flavours.

• North Coast Old Rasputin is a well-balanced Russian imperial stout. It has tasting notes of chocolate, roasted malts, and bitterness.
• Prairie Artisan Ales Prairie Bomb! is an American imperial stout with tasting notes of espresso, chocolate, vanilla beans, and ancho chilli.

Traditional Stouts

• Guinness Extra Stout is filled with tiny bubbles and has notes of malt, coffee, and unsweetened chocolate.
• Deschutes Obsidian Stout is a classic example of an American stout with complex flavours of dark roasted coffee, chocolate, and caramel.

Lagers

Some popular variations of lagers include:

• Amber lager: Light in colour with a sweet, crisp taste and an ABV of around 5%.
• Bright lagers: Also known as Helles, these lagers are golden in colour and have a soft malty taste with low bitterness and ABV.
• Bocks: A lager popular in the US, ranging from light and creamy maibock to darker domestic varieties. They have a strong malty taste and an ABV that generally starts at 6%.
• Pilsners: A crisp and slightly bitter lager with a low ABV. German pilsners tend to be lighter and thinner in texture than other variants.

Ales

Newcastle Brown Ale

Newcastle Brown Ale is an English beer that has been brewed since 1927. It is a classic brown ale that is light and bready, with touches of nuttiness and dried fruit. It is a reliable choice when looking for an ale on the menu.

Bell's Oberon American Wheat Ale

Bell's Brewery in Michigan is credited with pioneering the American approach to wheat beers with its Oberon Ale. American wheat ales emphasise wheaty-ness with subtle fruit aromas and a hint of spice from the hops. Oberon Ale is so popular that its annual spring release, Oberon Day, is celebrated with events and parties in breweries, bars, and shops.

Allagash White

Allagash White is a Belgian-style witbier, a benchmark for American craft beer. It is a hazy wheat ale with a touch of orange peel and coriander, brewed in the classic Belgian Wit style. It is soft on the palate, refreshing, and low in alcohol content, making it a super crushable ale.

Firestone Walker Pivo Hoppy Pils

Firestone Walker Pivo Hoppy Pils is a hoppy take on the Czech pilsner style by American brewer Matt Brynildson. It is bone dry and hop-driven, with zippy effervescence and earthy bitterness, along with inviting aromas of fresh-cut flowers and lemon candy.

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale helped put craft beer on the map in 1979. It is a piney, citrusy hop character that paved the way for America's love affair with the IPA. It remains a staple in the craft beer scene, with its approachable yet nuanced flavour.

Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA

For hop lovers, Dogfish Head's 120 Minute IPA is a must-try. While their 60 Minute and 90 Minute IPAs are more sessionable, the 120 Minute IPA is high in alcohol and IBUs, delivering a punchy hop experience.

Wheat Beers

German Weizenbier

Also known as Hefeweizen, this variety is traditionally from Bavaria and was introduced there in the 15th century. By law, Weizenbiers brewed in Germany must use a "top-fermenting" yeast. Specialized strains of yeast are used, which produce overtones of banana and clove as by-products of fermentation. Other flavour notes produced by Weizenbier yeast include "bubble gum" and sometimes "vanilla". Weizenbier is available in several other forms, including Dunkelweizen (dark wheat) and Weizenstarkbier (strong wheat beer), commonly referred to as Weizenbock. The four largest brands in Germany are Erdinger, Paulaner, Franziskaner, and Maisel.

Belgian Witbier

Also known as bière blanche or simply wit, this variety is brewed mainly in Belgium and the Netherlands. It gets its name from the suspended yeast and wheat proteins, which cause the beer to look hazy or white when cold. Witbier uses flavourings such as coriander and orange peel. Belgian white beers are often made with raw unmalted wheat.

Other Wheat Beers

Other wheat beer styles include Lambic (made with wild yeast), Berliner Weisse (a cloudy, sour beer), and Gose (a sour, salty beer).

• Weihenstephaner Hefe Weissbier: A German wheat beer that is hazy, fluffy, and fruity, with no bitterness at all.
• Allagash White: A Belgian-style witbier that is the perfect balance of coriander, noble hops, and yeast.
• Blue Moon Belgian White: A citrus-forward wheat ale with plenty of orange, coriander, pepper, and bready flavour.
• Bell's Oberon: An American wheat ale that plays up the "wheaty-ness" with subtle fruit aromas and a touch of spice from the hops.
• Schofferhofer Grapefruit Hefeweizen: A fruity take on the German wheat beer, with banana, clove, and bread flavours brightened by tart citrus.

Frequently asked questions