Often, when we think about IPAs, the dominating flavor that often comes to mind is the sometimes harsh bitterness associated with this highly hopped beer style. And while there are countless West Coast (and other) IPAs that rely on an aggressively bitter, floral hop finish, many don’t. While hop bitterness still exists, this latter segment of the IPA world relies more on citrus and tropical fruit flavors.
Many hazy, New England-style IPAs fit this criterion. That’s kind of the point, right? They’re supposed to be hazy, tropical juice bombs. But other non-hazies fit the tropical bill as well. Regardless of the style, we’re totally on board with this tropical island getaway in a pint glass. All without having to spend years chatting with a blood-stained volleyball.
This is why, in these early still chilly and damp days of spring, we’ve decided to find eight of the best IPAs for fans of mango, guava, tangerine, pineapple, passionfruit, and other juicy, sweet, memorable tropical fruit flavors. Keep scrolling to see them all and read our tasting notes.
8) Sierra Nevada Tropical Torpedo
ABV: 6.7%
Average Price: $10 for a six-pack
The Beer:
Sierra Nevada Torpedo is already a ridiculously hoppy, flavorful double IPA. Clearly, it’s only made better by using the same “Hop Torpedo” to craft a passionfruit, mango, and papaya-filled beer thanks to the use of Amarillo, Citra, Comet, El Dorado, and Mosaic hops.
Tasting Notes:
The nose is caramel malts, floral, snappy, earthy hops, and light tropical fruit aromas. It’s a little weaker than expected. There’s more of the same on the palate with pineapple, guava, and mango making an appearance with some lightly bitter, piney hops at the finish. Overall, a bit watery but okay.
Bottom Line:
If you enjoy Sierra Nevada Torpedo and you want it to have slightly less overall flavor but some tropical fruit notes, this is the beer for you. Otherwise, stick with the original.
7) Ninkasi Prismatic
ABV: 5.9%
Average Price: $10 for a six-pack
The Beer:
Referred to as a “Juicy IPA”, this mix of tropical fruits, citrus fruits, and dank, resinous, floral flavors has a base of 2-Row and Vienna malt as well as flaked barley and white wheat. Its over-the-top hop flavor and aroma come from Crystal, El Dorado, Centennial, Simcoe, Citra, Mosaic CRYO HOPS®, and Simcoe CRYO HOPS®
Tasting Notes:
The nose has light pineapple and tangerine with some mild floral, herbal hops, and not much else. Drinking it reveals notes of mango, pineapple, and grassy, herbal, floral hops. For a tropical IPA, it’s a little on the lighter side. For all the hops included, this is surprisingly muted.
Bottom Line:
Prismatic is a decent tropical IPA. It’s not overly flavorful or hoppy and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It simply doesn’t seem to be sure what type of IPA it wants to be.
6) Medusa Light Runner
ABV: 6.5%
Average Price: $14 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
While many breweries tout the hops involved in crafting a tropical fruit-filled IPA, Medusa Light Runner uses a proprietary house strain of New England-style yeast along with select hops to create a juicy, creamy beer with notes of mango, guava, papaya, and tangerine.
Tasting Notes:
A nose of ripe peach, tangerine peels, mango, and passionfruit greets you before your first drink. The palate is filled with more citrus peels, guava, mango, and other tropical fruit flavors. There are slight floral hop flavors at the finish, but little to no bitterness to temper the overly sweet flavors.
Bottom Line:
If you want a beer that tastes like a glass of the fruitiest tropical fruit puree you’ve ever had, this is your beer. If you’re looking for hops, move along.
5) Weldwerks Juicy Bits
ABV: 6.7%
Average Price: $18 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
Weldwerks flagship IPA is its wildly popular Juicy Bits. Brewed with Mosaic, El Dorado, and Citra hops, it’s known for its almost pulpy, juicy, citrus-centric, tropical fruit flavor profile. It’s as close to a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice in beer form as there is.
Tasting Notes:
A complex nose of passionfruit, peach, mango, and tangerine meets you before your first sip. The taste is all mango and bright, tart orange. There’s a little malt and yeast, but not enough. There’s also a little bit of hop bitterness at the finish.
Bottom Line:
This beer is exactly what it touts itself to be. It’s a pulpy, tropical fruity-filled IPA. It’s just… a little one-dimensional in that aspect.
4) Collective Arts Life in the Clouds
ABV: 6.1%
Average Price: $16 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
Referred to on the brewery’s website as “tropical bliss”, this unfiltered, hazy IPA is brewed with Mosaic and Simcoe hops. The result is a juicy, sweet, creamy beer with notes of citrus fruits, melon, and stone fruits.
Tasting Notes:
The nose is a symphony of mango, guava, papaya, honeydew melon, peach, and lightly floral hops. More of the same (in the best possible way) on the palate with caramelized pineapple, coconut, passionfruit, tangerine, grapefruit, and mango all making appearances alongside a dry, slightly bitter, hoppy finish.
Bottom Line:
This beer manages to bridge the gap between tropical fruit bomb and hoppy IPA. And it does it quite well.
3) Sloop Juice Bomb
ABV: 6.5%
Average Price: $12 for a six-pack
The Beer:
Reading the name of this IPA, you likely have a pretty good idea of what you’re about to get into. This beer is a literal juice bomb. This year-round brew is known for its low bitterness, but heavy hop aroma and flavor as well as over-the-top, juicy, tropical fruit flavors.
Tasting Notes:
A lot is going on with this beer’s nose. There are aromas of guava, mango, peach, tangerine, lemon peel, grapefruit, and herbal, earthy hops. Drinking it brings forth ripe pineapple, more grapefruit, mango, and citrus as well as a nice kick of spicy, grassy hops. Even with the hop presence, the bitterness is very low.
Bottom Line:
This memorable IPA manages to be both tropical fruit-forward and hoppy. All without having much bitterness at all.
2) No-Li Big Juicy
ABV: 6.1%
Average Price: $11 for a six-pack
The Beer:
Another aptly named beer bursting with tropical fruit flavor is No-Li Big Juicy. This 6.1% ABV IPA from the folks at Spokane, Washington’s No-Li gets its juicy, fruity flavor from the liberal use of Azacca, Belma, Citra, and El Dorado hops.
Tasting Notes:
Aromas of grapefruit, tangerine, mango, guava, and fresh, earthy, grassy hops greet you before your first sip. The palate consists of caramelized pineapple, cracker-like malts, mango, tangerine, and piney, dank hops at the very end. The finish is more bitter than most of the beer’s on this list and that’s not such a bad thing.
Bottom Line:
This is a well-balanced IPA with cracker malts, tropical fruit flavors, citrus, and bitter hops all working together in perfect unison.
1) New England Fuzzy Baby Ducks
ABV: 6.2%
Average Price: $13 for a six-pack
The Beer:
Who wouldn’t want to drink a beer called Fuzzy Baby Ducks, right? This single-hopped IPA gets all of its papaya, mango, guava, tangerine, and other tropical fruit aroma and flavor from the addition of Citra hops. Simple, flavorful, and not just a gimmicky name.
Tasting Notes:
On the nose, you’ll find complex aromas of ripe grapefruit, tangerine, mango, peaches, and dank, resinous pine. Drinking it reveals even more tropical fruit flavors. What begins with caramel malts, delves into mangos, papaya, passionfruit, and bright, citrus notes and a final flourish of lightly bitter, dank hops.
Bottom Line:
You’ll have a difficult time finding a better version of a juicy, tropical IPA than Fuzzy Ducks. If you can find it, buy it immediately.
