We know that in order to brew a beer, you need a grain (usually barley), yeast, water, and (in our opinion most importantly) hops. The simplest way for brewers to harness aroma, flavor, and hop bitterness is for hops to be added during the kettle boil. And while that is all well and good and can lead to a perfectly hoppy beer, some brewers opt for a second hopping, called dry hopping.
For the uninitiated, dry hopping is when a brewer adds more hops to the beer to steep after the initial primary fermentation. Just imagine it like you’re making tea. If you let your tea bag sit in your cup for just a little longer, the flavor will be even more immersive and complex. This is the same way dry-hopping works. It adds extra piney, hoppy, resinous, and dank aromas, and flavors without adding any extra bitterness to the beer. It’s the way brewers create massive hop bombs that still don’t make you uncomfortable with abrasive bitterness.
This method is especially popular when it comes to brewing IPAs and there are myriad dry-hopped IPAs available at your local beer store, grocery store, or corner market (although some might take some searching). In this vein, we picked eight and ranked them based on overall hoppy flavor and balance. Keep scrolling to see them all.
8) Founders Unraveled
ABV: 6.6%
Average Price: $10 for a six-pack
The Beer:
This 6.6% juicy IPA gets its massively hoppy flavor and aroma from being dry-hopped with traditional hop pellets as well as Cryo hops (a type of hop extract that separates the lupulin from the flower). It gets its smooth, creamy mouthfeel from the addition of wheat and oats.
Tasting Notes:
Aromas of lemon zest, orange peel, and floral, herbal hops greet you before your first sip. The palate is centered on cracker-like malts as well as sweet wheat, citrus zest, and lightly bitter pine. It’s creamy and juicy, but overall, fairly unexciting.
Bottom Line:
There’s nothing wrong with Founders Unraveled. It has everything IPA drinkers could want. It’s just a little muted and boring.
7)Firestone Walker Mind Haze
ABV: 6.2%
Average Price: $11 for a six-pack
The Beer:
This complex, hazy, juicy IPA is brewed with a complex array of two-row malts, Munich malts, wheat, torrified wheat, Blonde RoastOat, and oats. It gets its fruity, citrus flavor from the addition of Mandarina and Cascade hops in the kettle. It’s dry-hopped with Azacca, El Dorado, Mosaic, Chinook, Cashmere, Callista, and Idaho 7 hops.
Tasting Notes:
This beer is a citrus bomb on the nose. There’s a ton of tangerine, grapefruit, lemon zest, wet grass, and herbal pine. Sadly, the palate doesn’t live up to the hype that the nose created. There’s a little more grapefruit and orange peel as well as some tropical fruits, but it’s all a bit muted. The finish is piney and lightly bitter.
Bottom Line:
For a hazy IPA, this is a bit of a letdown. It’s hoppy and has some citrus action, but overall it’s not as fruity and juicy as New England-IPA fans expect.
6) Sierra Nevada Torpedo
ABV: 7.2%
Average Price: $11 for a six-pack
The Beer:
This popular IPA starts with a base of caramelized malts and two-row pale malts. Citra, Crystal, and Magnum hops give it its floral, herbal, and citrus flavor. It gets its over-the-top resinous, dank, tropical fruit explosion from the use of its proprietary dry-hopping device referred to as the Hop Torpedo.
Tasting Notes:
For a heavily-hopped IPA, this beer starts off with a ton of caramel malt character. What follows is a parade of tangerine, grapefruit, tropical fruits, and bright, floral pine. The palate continues this trend except it’s the orange peel, lemongrass, and grapefruit up front, bready malts in the middle, and bitter, dank pine at the finish.
Bottom Line:
This is a great dry-hopped IPA. That is if you prefer more malt character upfront. If not, stick to some of the more hop-centric IPAs on the market.
5) Dogfish Head 90 Minute
ABV: 9%
Average Price: $13 for a six-pack
The Beer:
One of the most famous dry-hopped beers of all time, Dogfish Head 90-Minute IPA is brewed using continuous hopping. Dogfish Head even invented a machine called “Sir Hops-A-Lot” to continuously add hops throughout the boil. 90 Minute IPA is also dry-hopped using a device called “Me So Hoppy”.
Tasting Notes:
Bold aromas of candied orange peels, tropical fruits, grapefruit, pineapple, and a wallop of fresh pine make a statement before your first sip. Drinking it reveals hints of dried fruits, ripe berries, caramel malts, fresh citrus, and a ton of dank pine. The finish is a mix of sweet malts and bitter hops.
Bottom Line:
This is a popular IPA for a reason. Its unique, hoppy flavor is helped by a nice hint of malt. It’s definitely a beer to seek out if you haven’t tried it before.
4) Fiddlehead Second Fiddle
ABV: 8.2%
Average Price: $16 for a four-pack
The Beer:
Nobody wants to play second fiddle, but we’ll make an exception for this epic Vermont-made IPA. Referred to as “extensively” dry-hopped, this double IPA is known for its bold, juicy, fruity, tropical, citrus, and piney flavor profile.
Tasting Notes:
A lot is going on with this beer’s nose. There are notes of ripe pineapple, tangerine, mango, guava, grapefruit, and floral, herbal hops. The palate doesn’t disappoint either with flavors like caramel malts, wet grass, mango, peach, tangerine, and dank, resinous, slightly bitter hops.
Bottom Line:
If you’re looking for a dry-hopped double IPA, you can do much worse than Fiddlehead Second Fiddle. It’s a highly flavorful beer.
3) Maine Beer Dinner
ABV: 8.2%
Average Price: $7.99 for a 500ml bottle
The Beer:
While we wouldn’t tell anyone to drink a beer exclusively as their dinner. We might pair ours with Maine Beer Dinner. This iconic brew gets its memorable citrus and tropical fruit flavor from being dry-hopped with more than six pounds of Citra, Falconers Flight, Mosaic, and Simcoe hops per barrel.
Tasting Notes:
Peach, mango, guava, ripe pineapple, caramel malts, and a ton of dank, herbal, floral pine aromas make this an epic start. The palate is more of the same, but with more malt character adding to the overall fruity, citrus, and dank pine flavors. It’s the kind of beer that you’ll need multiple sampling to fully appreciate.
Bottom Line:
While most of these beers are fairly easy to find at your local beer store, Maine Lunch is a little harder to come by. If you find yourself with the ability to get a bottle, buy it and don’t think twice.
2) Bell’s Hopslam
ABV: 10%
Average Price: $18 for a six-pack
The Beer:
Bell’s Hopslam is one of the most eagerly awaited winter beers and for good reason. This complex IPA begins with six different hops in the kettle before dry-hopping with a “massive” amount of Simcoe hops.
Tasting Notes:
This a one for the hop fans, It’s loaded with aromas of pine needles, floral hops, crisp apples, ripe honeydew melon, and bright citrus. The palate only adds to this with more melon, tangerine, pineapple, grapefruit, and a ton of dank pine. The finish is a mixture of caramel sweetness and floral, lightly bitter hops.
Bottom Line:
This is a well-balanced, hoppy IPA that you should definitely seek out this winter and every winter from now on. You’ll be glad you did.
1) Alpine Nelson
ABV: 7%
Average Price: $13 for a six-pack
The Beer:
Sadly, this beer has nothing to do with everyone’s favorite, laughing bully from ‘The Simpsons’. It actually gets its name because this 7% ABV IPA is kettle brewed and dry-hopped with the popular New Zealand hop variety Nelson Sauvin.
Tasting Notes:
Complex aromas of caramelized pineapple, honeydew melon, caramel malts, tangerine, grapefruit, and floral pine greet your nose before your first sip. The palate definitely doesn’t disappoint. Caramel malts, orange peels, lemon zest, ripe berries, pineapple, grapefruit, and a forest of pine needles make this an exceptional IPA. The finish is dry, bitter, and leaves you craving more.
Bottom Line:
When it comes to dry-hopped IPAs, you’d have a hard time finding one that’s as balanced and complex than Alpine Nelson. Go get some and drink it right now!