Spring is a time of rejuvenation. It’s a time of rebirth. It’s a time when the rains wipe away the darkness of winter, making way for the sunny days to come. It’s also a great time to drink beer. Cooler weather is on its way out and warm weather is on its way in. Meaning you can still get away with drinking darker, maltier brews while slowly adding lighter, hoppier beers into the mix.
Today, we’re talking about underrated IPAs, ESBs, bocks, pilsners, kellerbiers, and even black lagers that are perfect for spring sipping. To find them, we once again turned to the professionals for help. We asked a handful of well-known brewers, beer experts, and beer experts to tell us the most underrated beers to drink this spring — keep reading to see them all.
Tröegs Troegenator
Phil Markowski, brew master at Two Roads Brewing in Stratford, Connecticut
ABV: 8.2%
Average Price: $12 for a six-pack
The Beer:
When asked about the most underrated beer my mind immediately jumps to the most underrated brewery. For me, that would have to be Tröegs. It’s not that their beers aren’t given any acclaim, it’s just that there’s so much innovation happening in the space right now that’s grabbing folks’ attention, but Tröegs continues to produce a slew of excellent and diverse products. My personal favorites include Nugget Nectar, Perpetual IPA, and the now classic, Troegenator Doppelbock, one of the most authentic American-made bock beers out there. It’s balanced, and approachable yet only as assertive as it needs to be to excite and satisfy. Many breweries come and go while Tröegs has been doing their thing and doing it outstandingly for twenty-five years and counting.
Tasting Notes:
Notes of caramel malts, dried fruits, brown sugar, and light spices make this a flavorful, warming beer for spring.
Hogshead Chin Wag ESB
Jim Bruckner, head brewer at Bootstrap Brewing in Longmont, Colorado
ABV: 5.8%
Average Price: Limited Availability
The Beer:
Chin Wag ESB by Hogshead Brewery. Saying underrated is maybe inaccurate because I know people love this beer, but it’s from a small brewery that doesn’t package and one that I always seem to have to tell people they need to go to. So maybe untried is a better description. Cask conditioned and beautiful, crazy drinkable, and served in imperial pints.
Tasting Notes:
It has great balance across the board; within the malt (equal parts roasty and caramel without being heavy on either), between the malt and hops (exactly what an ESB should be, earthy, spicy hops with a great backbone), and overall (yeast esters aren’t overshadowed by the aforementioned). And let me reiterate, cask-conditioned. Served as it was meant to be.
Anchor Steam Beer
George Hummel, grain master of My Local Brew Works in Philadelphia
ABV: 4.9%
Average Price: $11 for a six-pack
The Beer:
Anchor Steam Beer just doesn’t get the credit it deserves from modern beer lovers. But this distinctive holdout to a nearly vanished regional style has stood the test of time and should get much more acclaim.
Tasting Notes:
Notes of caramel, slight wafts of Sulphur, and butterscotch. Earthy and citrusy hop notes. It’s a brand and a style.
Fremont Lush IPA
Bryan Donaldson, brewing innovation manager at Lagunitas Brewing Company in Petaluma, California
ABV: 7%
Average Price: $13 for a six-pack
The Beer:
Lush from Fremont Brewing Company. Whenever I find myself in Washington State, this is the beer that ends up in my fridge. It has a clean base of 2-row malt that allows the hop character to shine.
Tasting Notes:
The palate is filled with notes of tropical fruits (passionfruit and guava) and melon. A smooth, assertive bitterness rounds out the flavor profile, asking you to take another sip (and another one).
Monkeynaut Straight To Ale IPA
Josh Bartlett, founder of Learning to Homebrew in Tuscaloosa, Alabama
ABV: 7.25%
Average Price: $11 for a six-pack
The Beer:
One of my favorite beers of all time is the Monkeynaut India Pale Ale by Straight To Ale out of Huntsville, Alabama. I consider it an underrated IPA because it bucks the current trends going on in the space. While many IPAs are trying to push the boundaries of bitterness, haziness, or just plain hoppiness, Monkeynaut has mastered something that most IPAs can’t: balance.
Tasting Notes:
Monkeynaut provides a slightly malt-forward flavor and aroma carefully balanced by a firm but restrained bitterness. As for the flavors, you’ll find bready orange marmalade, citrus zest, spice, and a pleasant lingering caramel sweetness. Deceptively smooth at 7.25% ABV.
BlackStack Fugazi Pilsner
Garth E. Beyer, certified Cicerone® and owner and founder of Garth’s Brew Bar in Madison, Wisconsin
ABV: 4.8%
Average Price: $12 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
Ah, Fugazi is an Italian pilsner by BlackStack and it’s so damn refreshing. It’s underrated because of its simplicity and most beer drinkers I share it with don’t realize the uniqueness of a spicy hop until they try this beer.
Tasting Notes:
It has a slight lemon zest and sweet fruit flavor to it that but the hops they use still let it carry that classic noble spice characteristic.
Tree House Old Man ESB
Kyle Warren, lead brewer at Exhibit ‘A’ Brewing Company in Framingham. Massachusetts
ABV: 5.4%
Average Price: Limited Availability
The Beer:
Old Man from Treehouse Brewing Company. When I head over to one of the East Coast’s most popular breweries, known for doing their part in the haze craze that we all now exist in, I tend not to order an IPA, or DIPA, or something with the theoretical equivalent of twenty pounds of hops per barrel. Instead, I always start with a pour of their ESB, Old Man.
Tasting Notes:
On the nose, aromatic English hops are backed by a toasty, bready, rich malt-forward bouquet. It tastes of well-toasted bread, brown sugar, caramel, and subtle holiday spice with light hop bitterness. Medium-bodied, but lighter and crisp on the finish, it is a great beer that harkens back to a day before we cared about how many pounds of southern hemispheric hops were in your glass.
Mahrs Bräu aU Kellerbier
Joe Mashburn, head brewer of Night Shift Brewing in Boston
ABV: 5.2%
Average Price: $13 for a four-pack
The Beer:
Mahrs Bräu aU (or just Mahrs U). This is a seriously appreciated beer for those who know it, but it tends to fly under the radar for most; look for it. The ‘U’ is a reference to the word “Ungespundet”. For those who don’t speak German, it translates to “un-bunged”. It’s a reference to the cask remaining unsealed in the secondary fermentation process.
Tasting Notes:
Excellent bready, full character. Excellently lightly carbonated, round, and warming. Great beer regardless of weather.
Sierra Nevada Torpedo IPA
Daniel Gadala-Maria, head brewer at Finback Brewery in Glendale, New York
ABV: 7.2%
Average Price: $11 for a six-pack
The Beer:
Sierra Nevada Torpedo. It’s ubiquitous. You probably passed over it and all the other ‘first wave’ craft beers the last time you went shopping. But that was the generation that defined what a West Coast IPA was.
Tasting Notes:
Torpedo has sharp bitterness, bright citrus, and resinous pine; it offers consistent quality and is affordable, too. Don’t overlook this classic.
Moonlight Death & Taxes Black Lager
Jeremy Marshall, brew master at Lagunitas Brewing Company in Petaluma, California
ABV: 5.3%
Average Price: $16 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
Death & Taxes from Moonlight Brewing Company. I’m not sure it is actually underrated but definitely underappreciated. People don’t often think of dark lager beers, and they are really missing out.
Tasting Notes:
Rich with smooth chocolate and coffee notes and just a hint of lager yeast character, this beer is just as refreshing on a hot summer day as it is comforting on a cool spring night.
