The classic West Coast IPA highlights hops better than any beer on earth, without hitting you over the head with them. When done right, a craft West Coast IPA is complex and balanced while retaining the piney, resinous bite IPA drinkers expect. When done wrong, they’re overly bitter, one-dimensional, and almost undrinkable (we’ve all seen the bearded beer heads muscling down an overly hopped brew — it looks miserable).
Crafting a West Coast IPA is like walking a tightrope of bitterness. It’s a very fine line. We’ve all had our fair share of bitter bombs. We’ve all ordered a West Coast IPA at a small craft brewery with high hopes only to be let down. We’re not going to talk about these beer bungles today though. Instead, we want to highlight some of the best, most flavorful, complex, perfectly bitter, dank West Coast IPAs. The types of IPAs you’ll want to stock up on immediately and sip throughout the spring and summer months.
To find them, we went to a slew of experts for help. We asked some brewers, craft beer experts, and brewing professionals to tell us the absolute best West Coast IPAs to drink this spring. Keep scrolling to see them all.
Santa Fe Happy Camper
Jim Bruckner, head brewer at Bootstrap Brewing in Longmont, Colorado
ABV: 6.6%
Average Price: $8 for a six-pack
The Beer:
Happy Camper IPA by Santa Fe Brewing Co. I have to go with a nostalgic beer here. It’s old school, maybe a little more of a Rocky Mountain IPA than true West Coast due to the malt bill but I’m not splitting hairs on that.
Tasting Notes:
Has that great piney, resin, citrus combo of the OG Pacific Northwest hops with a super-friendly malt backbone. As with all IPA, fresh is the best, and drinking this beer sitting at the brewery in Santa Fe with my dogs will always add to my love of it. It’s in a sexy can, too. Might be the green Chile in my blood talking there.
Lagunitas IPA
Bijan Ghiai, beverage manager at Urban Hill in Salt Lake City
ABV: 6.2%
Average Price: $11 for a six-pack
The Beer:
I would say Lagunitas IPA, it’s a true classic. The beer is really balanced, it’s not too bitter, not too light, and it has a nice, grassy taste. That taste is what you’re looking for when you are looking for a solid IPA.
Tasting Notes:
It begins with malty sweetness and works its way into lemon zest, honeydew melons, and floral, piney hops. The finish is memorably bitter and resinous.
Fieldwork Pulp Free
Josh Bartlett, founder of Learning to Homebrew in Tuscaloosa, Alabama
ABV: 6.9%
Average Price: $20 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
The appeal of West Coast IPAs is so undeniable that the folks at Fieldwork Brewing Company in Berkeley, California decided to revamp one of their Northeast IPAs into a new ‘Pulp Free’ West Coast IPA version.
Tasting Notes:
An avalanche of Citra hops on the nose and tongue doesn’t disappoint with notes of bright citrus, sweet lemon candy, and light tropical undertones. At 6.9% ABV and a smooth, balanced finish, this West Coast IPA is dangerously crushable.
Noda Hop Drop N’ Roll
Lee Moore, bartender at The Ballantyne in Charlotte, North Carolina
ABV: 7.2%
Average Price: $13 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
Noda Hop Drop N’ Roll. It’s perfectly hoppy but not overpowering. It gets its flavor from the liberal use of Citra, Amarillo, Centennial, Warrior, and Chinook hops to go along with a sweet, caramel, malty backbone.
Tasting Notes:
It’s malty and sweet at first and then moves into bright citrus and tropical fruit flavors before finishing with a kick of piney, resinous bitter hops.
Modist Teal Label
Garth E. Beyer, certified Cicerone® and owner and founder of Garth’s Brew Bar in Madison, Wisconsin
ABV: 6.5%
Average Price: $13 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
It’s refreshing for a brewery to use Maris Otter malt. Even more so in a West Coast IPA because it lends it a little more sweetness than normal malt and a very subtle nutty flavor. Modist Brewing uses it in their West Coast-style IPA called Teal Label.
Tasting Notes:
The beer is soft, and the hop profile is a balanced combination of piney, citrus, and resiny hops without it being overly sticky or heavy on the palate. I consider it to be a newer age West Coast that you can have a few of without overwhelming your taste buds.
Ballast Point Grapefruit Sculpin
Alex Barbatsis, head bartender at The Whistler in Chicago
ABV: 7%
Average Price: $13 for a six-pack
The Beer:
Ballast Point Grapefruit Sculpin IPA. If you enjoy the original Ballast Point Sculpin but prefer more citrus flavor, you’ll love this version. The tart freshness from the grapefruit paired with the citrus hops create a memorable, hoppy beer.
Tasting Notes:
Grapefruit is big on the nose. There are also floral notes and some sweet malts. The palate continues this trend as grapefruit takes center stage followed by light malts and floral, dank, resinous, biting hops at the finish.
Russian River Pliny the Elder
Tom Muscolino, director of beverage innovation at Landmark Hospitality in Plainfield, New Jersey
ABV: 8%
Average Price: $8 for a 16.9-ounce bottle
The Beer:
I really enjoy Pliny the Elder from Russian River Brewing Company. It’s a double IPA made in very limited quantities and made to drank fresh. It’s quite difficult to get, but well worth it. It is a perfectly balanced beer, in my opinion, one that set the groundwork for the thousands of craft IPAs that came after.
Tasting Notes:
The use of Amarillo, Centennial, CTZ, and Simcoe hops gives this beer a ton of tangerine, grapefruit, and resinous, floral flavors.
Deschutes Fresh Squeezed
Drew Russ, lead bartender at Venteux in Chicago
ABV: 6%
Average Price: $11 for a six-pack
The Beer:
Deschutes Fresh Squeezed IPA is a rare balance that is a big mosaic and Citra hop bomb but is still refreshing and not heavy, with floral and lemon notes. This is an IPA that can be enjoyed on a humid day and not weigh you down.
Tasting Notes:
This memorable beer is hoppy, piney, and is loaded with passionfruit, grapefruit, and orange zest. It lives up to its fresh-squeezed name.
Lagunitas Sumpin’ Easy
Jared Bailey, bar manager at Soho Cigar Bar in New York City
ABV: 5.7%
Average Price: $15 for a twelve-pack
The Beer:
Lagunitas Sumpin’ Easy is the preferred west coast IPA for me. Its delicate flavors, lower abv, and drinkability make it an easy go-to in the spring and summer especially with all of the fruit-forward, but subtle flavors.
Tasting Notes:
With flavors like sweet wheat, tropical fruit, and bright, floral hops, this easy-drinking IPA is light but manages to still be full of complex flavors.
Sierra Nevada Torpedo
George Hummel, grain master of My Local Brew Works in Philadelphia
ABV: 7.2%
Average Price: $10 for a six-pack
The Beer:
Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale is the granddaddy of the style. It’s the beer I cut my teeth on as a young beer geek. It’s, in fact, the beer that first inspired me to Homebrew. Sadly, it’s only a seasonal beer. That’s why my pick is the equally great Sierra Nevada Torpedo. Made using the brewery’s proprietary dry-hopping device, this “extra IPA” is bursting with hop flavor and aroma.
Tasting Notes:
Citrusy and piney hop notes meld with caramel toasty malt character. It’s just a classic beer you’ll go back to again and again.
