Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Food & Drink

The Manual may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site.

The incredible IPAs that belong in your shopping cart

Add these IPAs to your must-try list

By

beer
Josh Olalde/Unsplash

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.

Recommended Videos

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.

Related

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

beer
Growth + Co. / Unsplash

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

beer
Branimir Petakov/Unsplash

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.

Editors’ Recommendations

Topics
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
Peanut butter coffee: A creamy twist on your favorite brew (and how to make it)
3 variations of peanut butter coffee
Peanut butter

Unlike french vanilla or hazelnut coffee, the term "peanut butter coffee" isn't one you've likely heard often (or at all). I first encountered peanut butter coffee on an Instagram reel where a fellow coffee lover showed a latte brewed into a cup filled with peanut butter. Since I love creamy peanut butter almost as much as I love coffee, it's safe to say the idea of peanut butter coffee intrigued me.

As it turns out, Alex Zapata's variation of peanut butter coffee is only one of the many ways creative coffee lovers use peanut butter and coffee together. If you're as intrigued about this flavor pairing as I am, here are three ways to try peanut butter coffee for yourself.
Plant-based peanut butter coffee

Read more
What is triple sec? The underrated hero of your favorite cocktails
What exactly is triple sec?
Bottles

When you write about alcohol for almost two decades, you tend to learn at least a little about sometimes overlooked spirits, liqueurs, and cocktail ingredients. While I’ve spent a long time learning about (and drinking) bourbon, single malt Scotch, rye whiskey, tequila, gin, rum, and even vodka, sometimes the lesser thought of spirits are the most interesting. This is the case with triple sec.

If you’re a fan of cocktails, especially the Margarita, Sidecar, or Cosmopolitan and more, you know all about the prowess of triple sec. But while you know that it adds flavor to your favorite cocktail, do you really know what those flavors are? Also, what exactly is triple sec.
What is triple sec?

Read more
Ease into your Easter celebrations with these low-ABV cocktails
Crate of peaches

Easter is a great excuse to mix up some delicious cocktails, but as it's a traditionally daytime brunch affair, you might be looking for some options which aren't too high in alcohol. There are classic choices for brunch drinks like a Mimosa, but if you want something a bit different then you can explore some long drinks which incorporate ingredients like soda water or Prosecco to create a more mellow, lower-ABV drink while still keep the fizz and flavor of a great cocktail.

We've got a pair of recipes from Phillip’s Distilling Co’s 2025 Cocktailmanac guide, which suggests on-trend cocktails for you to try throughout the year. These include a melon-y gin highball and a fun, fruity drink which makes use of UV vodka for a glowing effect.

Read more