You might see the term “cold IPA” and assume that this is simply a beer style created to be imbibed during the colder months. And while many brewers release their cold IPAs during the winter months and into the spring, some release them in the height of the summer. The name is simply a reference to the fermentation process. Cold IPAs are fermented at a lower temperature with lager yeast than other PAs.
The result is a malty, refreshing, crisp, crushable, very hoppy IPA. And this hybrid of a crisp pilsner and a West Coast IPA is perfect for any time of year. Especially spring.
The style was invented by Wayfinder Beer in Portland, Oregon in the fall of 2018. It was originally called Wayfinder Relapse IPA and it was created to pay tribute to Relapse Records. The goal was to create a ramped-up version of the classic West Coast IPA with classic bitter, piney hops but drier, crisper, and with a clean, memorable finish like a lager. That’s exactly what they did and it became so popular that other brewers tried their hand at making it.
Keep scrolling to see eight of our favorite cold IPAs to try this spring. We ranked them based on overall hoppiness and crisp, drinkable flavor.
8.) Karl Strauss Brisky Business
ABV: 6.5%
Average Price: $14 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
This collaboration with Harland Brewing is made with HBC 586, HBC-638, Strata, and Chinook hops. It gets added flavor from the addition of 2-row malt, puffed jasmine rice, white wheat, and toasted rice. The result is a memorable, flavorful IPA with a ton of citrus, tropical fruit, and pine notes.
Tasting Notes:
The nose is a mixture of tangerine, lime peel, grapefruit, peach, pineapple, and floral, piney hopes. There’s more of the same on the palate and we couldn’t be happier. There’s a lot of peaches, pineapple, sweet wheat, orange zest, lemon, and dank, resinous pine. It’s surprisingly smooth, creamy, and sweet with more pine than actual bitterness.
Bottom Line:
This is a very well-rounded, sweet, easy-drinking, crisp, complex IPA you’ll go back to again and again.
7.) Ellicottville Chilly Willy
ABV: 5.8%
Average Price: $12 for a six-pack from Totalwine
The Beer:
This popular winter IPA is fermented at a lower temperature to add to the hop character. It’s brewed with Mosaic and El Dorado hops. The result is an amber-hued, light, refreshing, crisp IPA with notable citrus, fruit, and dank pine flavors. It might be light and thirst-quenching, but it’s flavorful enough to be sipped any time of year.
Tasting Notes:
This beer smells like a tropical oasis. There’s a ton of ripe pineapple, peach, passionfruit, tangerine, grapefruit, and lemon. There are also grassy, floral, and piney hops to hold it all together. Drinking it reveals more tropical fruits like mango, pineapple, orange peel, peach, and grapefruit, but also some sweet malt flavor, and a dank, resinous pine finish.
Bottom Line:
Every sip of Ellicottville Chilly Willy is like taking a vacation to a tropical island where there’s also somehow an abundance of pine trees.
6.) Sierra Nevada Cold Torpedo
ABV: 7%
Average Price: Available in mixed packs
The Beer:
Sierra Torpedo is already an outstanding imperial IPA. So, it shouldn’t surprise you that its cold IPA version Cold Torpedo is pretty great as well. Brewed with 2-row pale, Carapils, and Vienna malts, it gets its hop presence from the addition of Chinook, CTZ, El Dorado, and Motueka hops.
Tasting Notes:
On the nose, you’ll find aromas of cracked black pepper, grapefruit, orange peel, lemon, and floral, earthy piney hops. On the palate, you’ll be treated to flavors of candied orange peels, freshly baked bread, toffee sweetness, grapefruit, pineapple, and dank, floral, pine needles.
Bottom Line:
If you prefer your dank, piney cold IPAs to have a nice sweet malt backbone, this is the beer for you.
5.) Big Top R-22 Cold IPA
ABV: 5.4%
Average Price: $14 for a six-pack
The Beer:
Big Top’s R-22 Cold IPA wasn’t crafted to be your classic bitter, piney IPA. It was brewed to have the crisp, easy-drinking, refreshing nature of a classic, light lager and the piney, hoppy, lightly bitter flavors of an IPA. Add in all the tropical fruit flavors and you have an exceptional, unique beer.
Tasting Notes:
On the nose, you’ll find a symphony of tropical fruit aromas including guava, mango, passionfruit, papaya, and pineapple. There’s also a nice caramel malt presence and memorable pine needle scents. The palate follows suit with juicy peach, mango, guava, pineapple, tangerine, grapefruit, and dank, pine. But unlike most IPAs, the finish is clean, and crisp, and has much less bitterness than you’d expect from the heavy pine aroma and flavor.
Bottom Line:
If you’re a fan of bold, tropical, dank aromas and flavors, but you prefer less bitterness at the finish, this is your jam.
4.) August Schell Fresh Prints
ABV: 6.5%
Average Price: $10 for a six-pack
The Beer:
The folks at August Schell took the blueprint for its West Coast IPA and turned it on its head. Like other cold IPAs, it was cold-fermented to give it a crisp, clean flavor. It’s known for its fresh, thirst-quenching flavor and bright citrus and tropical fruit aromas and flavors.
Tasting Notes:
The nose is centered on freshly baked bread, lemongrass, mango, guava, ripe pineapple, and dank pine. Sipping it brings forth notes of honeydew melons, tangerine, lemon, yeasty bread, mango, lime zest, and floral, earthy, spicy piney hops. The finish is lightly bitter and leaves you craving more.
Bottom Line:
This is a beer for fans of dank pine and citrus zest. It has both in absolute abundance.
3.) Wayfinder Original Cold IPA
ABV: 7%
Average Price: $8 for a 16-ounce can
The Beer:
Wayfinder calls this beer Original Cold IPA for a reason. This is the OG cold IPA. Wayfinder invented the style back in October of 2018. It’s brewed with an adjunct lager malt bill (that includes rice or corn and 2-row pilsner malt) and lager yeast. It’s dry-hopped and loaded with tropical fruit, citrus, sweet malt, and pine notes.
Tasting Notes:
Breathing in the nose, you’ll be met with ripe berries, peaches, tangerines, lemon, pineapples, sweet malts, and floral, piney hops. The complexity remains on the palate as you’re met with flavors like raspberry, ripe peach, tangerine, mango, pineapples, sweet, bready malts, and spicy, floral, piney, bitter hops. The finish is crisp and almost lager-like.
Bottom Line:
Wayfinder manages to bridge the gap between IPA and lager perfectly this beer has all the aroma and flavor characteristics of a classic IPA, but finishes like a sweet, refreshing, crisp pilsner.
2.) Highland Wishing Star
ABV: 6.8%
Average Price: $3 for a 19-ounce can
The Beer:
This year-round cold IPA is brewed with Apollo, Centennial, Strata, and Mosaic hops. It gets its sweet malt backbone from the liberal use of pilsner malt and flaked rice. This results in a fruity, piney, malty, sweet, well-balanced, crushable cold IPA.
Tasting Notes:
Aromas of bright berries, honey, tangerine, grapefruit, lemon, grass, crack-like malts, and bright pine start everything off on the right foot. The palate is filled with yeasty, bready, cracker malts, candied orange peels, caramel, grapefruit, lemon, tangerine, and resinous pine. The finish is crisp, lightly bitter, and highly memorable.
Bottom Line:
This is another beer that feels like someone created a beer that was half crisp, refreshing pilsner, and half citrus and pine bomb IPA.
1.) Fremont Legend
ABV: 7%
Average Price: $12 for a six-pack
The Beer:
This year-round triumph of a cold IPA is brewed with a base of 2-row pale malt and also has pilsner malts and flaked corn. It’s hopped Citra, Centennial, Citra Cryo, and Strata hops. All of this combines to make an award-winning cold IPA loaded with cereal, berries, stone fruit, and pine aromas and flavors.
Tasting Notes:
A lot is going on with this beer’s nose. There are bold, memorable scents of ripe raspberries, strawberries, apricots, cereal grains, grapefruit, lemongrass, and resinous pine. On the palate, you’ll find notes of honeydew melon, grapefruit zest, mandarin orange, strawberry, caramel malts, and gently bitter floral, piney hops. The pine tree bitterness lingers in a very pleasant way.
Bottom Line:
If you only drink one cold IPA on this list, make it Fremont Legend. The best part? It’s available all year long so you can easily add this banger to your rotation.
