I know it seems like we say it a lot, but March is a great month to be a beer drinker. It’s one of those “changing of the season” months. The beginning is still winter and that means you can get away with enjoying a few darker, maltier beers like stouts, porters, or barleywines. The middle and end represent the beginning of spring — a great time of year to get a jump start on IPAs, lagers, sour beers, and other lighter beers. What could be better?
But while it’s a great month for beer drinkers, it’s also a month where you might find yourself overwhelmed with the choices in front of you. Do you want to get wacky with it and just start drinking nothing but hoppy, dank IPAs? Do you want to have a few stouts while you still can? How about the fact that St. Patrick’s Day and all of its stouts, red ales, and general revelry lands in the middle of March (and stay on shelves most of the month)? There are too many beers to be enjoyed this month!
Fear not, we’re here to help. We picked ten great beers for your March consumption. Between tropical IPAs, sour ales, lagers, red ales, and stouts, March offers something for everyone. Keep scrolling to see them all.
Deschutes Tropical Fresh IPA
ABV: 6.5%
Average Price: $12 for a six-pack
The Beer:
It’s not easy to wait for spring and the warm weather it brings. That’s why we’re sipping on this tropical, hazy IPA this month. Brewed with 2-row pale malts and unmalted wheat, it gets its fruity, citrus, piney, hoppy flavor from the addition of Mosaic, Simcoe, Strata, and Experimental 586 hops.
Tasting Notes:
The nose is heavy with tropical fruit aroma with pineapple, mango, tangerine, and herbal, floral pine making appearances. The palate continues this tropical vacation vibe with a nice caramel malt backbone that adds notes of ripe pineapple, grapefruit, mango, passionfruit, and herbal, floral, earthy hops. The finish is sweet and lightly bitter.
Bottom Line:
Deschutes Tropical Fresh IPA really is like a tropical vacation in a can. It has everything you need to get into the spring spirit early.
Ommegang Dream Patch
ABV: 6.5%
Average Price: $16 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
In-between months like March are great for fruity, tart sour beers like Ommegang Dream Patch. This fruited sour with cherry, blueberry, and raspberry was brewed with help from the Belgian sour beer experts at Liefmans. The result is a sweet, sour, tart, highly memorable beer worthy of spring.
Tasting Notes:
The nose is loaded with ripe raspberries, other tart fruits, and funky yeast. It draws you in and makes you want to take a sip. Drinking it reveals wine tannins, raspberries, tart cherries, and more funky yeast. It’s not the most complex sour beer ever made, but it’s tart, sweet, and does the trick on a cool March day.
Bottom Line:
If you’re new to sour beers or you enjoy the tart flavor of raspberry, this is March beer for you. It’s available all year but shines in a chillier month.
Switchback Roasted Red Ale
ABV: 5.6%
Average Price: Limited Availability
The Beer:
Vermont’s Switchback is a big name in the craft beer world and its Roasted Red Ale isn’t a new beer. But it is finally available in cans and that’s reason enough to drink it this month. Brewed with caramel malts and Amarillo hops, it’s a malty, hoppy beer well-suited for March weather.
Tasting Notes:
On the nose, you’ll find a delicate balance of caramel, roasted malts, and floral, piney hops. The palate follows suit with citrus peels, caramel malts, sweet roasted malts, chocolate, and floral, lightly bitter hops. It’s malty, sweet, and has just the right amount of hop presence to make you want to crack open one more.
Bottom Line:
This malty, sweet, hoppy beer is a great choice for March on aroma and flavor alone. But it’s also being canned for the first time. Seek it out this month.
Harpoon Sticky Bun Stout
ABV: 7.5%
Average Price: Special Release at the Brewery
The Beer:
Who doesn’t love a good sticky bun, right? What about a beer that tastes just like a sticky bun? The limited-release Harpoon Sticky Bun Stout is made in collaboration with local Flour Baker + Café and is brewed with toasted pecans, caramel, cinnamon, and brown sugar.
Tasting Notes:
This beer literally smells like a freshly baked sticky bun. There’s caramel, cinnamon, and candied nuts on the nose. It definitely makes you want to take a sip. The palate features buttery caramel, cinnamon sugar, candied pecans, roasted malts, chocolate, and brown sugar.
Bottom Line:
Some brewers make beers intended for dessert. Well, Harpoon Sticky Bun Stout is the equivalent of a dessert in beer form. Indulgent, sweet, and warming on a cool spring night.
Stone Patio Magic Double IPA
ABV: 8.8%
Average Price: $10 for a 22-ounce bottle
The Beer:
Stone Patio Magic is the kind of beer we want to sip on an early spring night on a patio, deck, or outside seating area. This 8.8% ABV double IPA was brewed with New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc grape skins and orange peels. It gets its hops presence from the use of Mosaic, Centennial, Southern Aroma, and Stone’s experimental 843 hops.
Tasting Notes:
The nose is a mix of resinous, dank, floral pine and fruity guava, mango, pineapple, and candied orange peels. The palate continues this trend with more candied orange peels, bright tropical fruits, and dank, floral, earthy hops. It’s fruity and dank and leaves you wanting more.
Bottom Line:
This fruity, citrus-filled IPA was crafted to be enjoyed on an unseasonably warm evening. Sip it at dusk and enjoy its hoppy goodness.
Breckenridge Nitro Irish Stout
ABV: 4.8%
Average Price: $10 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
Clearly, you’ll probably be indulging in at least a few Guinness Stout pints this month. But if you want a change of pace while remaining in the dry stout realm, we suggest Breckenridge Nitro Irish Stout. This 4.8% ABV dry stout was brewed with roasted malts and was crafted to taste like the iconic stouts of Ireland.
Tasting Notes:
The nose is a classic dry stout with notes of roasted malts, chocolate, and caramel. Sipping it brings forth traditional stout flavors of cocoa powder, roasted malts, bitter chocolate, vanilla, freshly brewed coffee. The finish is sweet, dry, and highly memorable.
Bottom Line:
Already a well-made, flavorful stout loaded with chocolate, coffee, and roasted malts. Nitro adds a creamy element that makes this a must-try March beer.
Dogfish Head Nordic Spring IPA
ABV: 6.5%
Average Price: $13 for a six-pack
The Beer:
The first release of the 2023 Off-Centered Art Series, Dogfish Head Nordic Spring IPA was brewed with Norwegian Kveik yeast, wild juniper berries, orange peel, and Danko rye malt. It’s fruity, spicy, piney, and delicious on a cool spring night.
Tasting Notes:
This beer starts with an explosion of tangerine, lime zest, juniper, yeasty bread, and floral pine. The palate is filled with a forest of pine needles, wildflowers, bright juniper berries, and candied orange peels. The finish is sweet, dry, hoppy, and lightly bitter.
Bottom Line:
If you’re a gin fan, you’ll love the juniper in this beer. Add the citrus and pine, you’re looking at the ultimate gin lover’s IPA.
Great Lakes Conway’s Irish Ale
ABV: 6.3%
Average Price: $10 for a six-pack
The Beer:
We love a good dry Irish stout around St. Patrick’s Day, but we also enjoy imbibing a few Irish-style ales that aren’t stouts as well. A wonderful example is Great Lakes Conway’s Irish Ale. Named for one of the co-founder’s Irish grandfathers who also happened to be a police officer, this Irish red ale is known for its balance of sweet malts and floral hops.
Tasting Notes:
Complex aromas of yeasty bread, caramel, roasted malts, and floral, lightly piney hops greet you before your first sip. Sipping it reveals notes of roasted malts, freshly baked bread, toffee, and grassy, herbal hops. The finish is dry and pleasantly bitter.
Bottom Line:
This well-balanced Irish-style red ale is so well-balanced and flavorful, you’ll forget all about that Guinness Stout sixer hiding in the back on the fridge on March 17th.
