America’s 40 Most Delicious Beers

A very attractive German-style lager, bright and clear; lightly hopped, with a touch of sweetness.

Clean, crisp, bright, and well-balanced between hop and malt flavors; the can describes this as a session ale, meaning that its comparatively modest kick (4.70% ABV) makes it easily drinkable in some quantity — all day, as it were.

Plenty of hops in the nose, and good hop and malt character in the mouth; medium-bodied, low-key, and very drinkable.

Heavily hopped (six different varietals are used), but softened with a touch of honey; intensely fragrant and reasonably potent (10% ABV).

A bright golden summertime pilsner, grassy, citrusy, crisp, and nicely bitter, with a rich aroma and a clean, dry finish.

Formerly called Pioneer Yellow Rose. Full-bodied and malty, with an abundance of fruity hops; the nose is particularly attractive.

A smooth, almost elegant American-style IPA, as forthrightly hoppy as its name would suggest, with a rich mouth-feel and a nice bitter finish.

Ranked “world class” by Beer Advocate; tropical fruit in the nose, rich and citrusy on the palate; tastes deceptively soft for its 8.50% ABV. (Resident Culture is known for its imaginative beer names — Whatever You Feel Just Dance It, The Inevitability of Change, Inked in the Womb, Quantum Wobble, etc.)

A classic New England-style IPA, with assorted citrus and tropical fruits in the nose, with more fruit and some spice in the yeasty flavor.

A Belgian-influenced saison (farmhouse ale), earthy and fruity, with a crisp, dry finish.

A double dry-hopped IPA, unfiltered and cloudy orange in color; plenty of fruit in both the aroma and flavor; smooth and luscious.

A rich golden-hued IPA, citrusy and hop-forward. A suggestion of pine resin flavor, with a long, dry, almost silky finish.

Classic IPA, generously hopped but with plenty of malt coming through; floral, with a resiny character and notes of citrus and tropical fruit.

Crisp and lemony, but with a malty sweetness offset by bitter notes; comparatively light, but full of flavor.

A “cross-continental” IPA (according to the brewery), flavored with Australian and American hops and lots of them; tropical fruit in the aroma and flavor, pronounced bitterness, and excellent balance.

Formerly marketed as Centopath. Strongly hopped; very resinous in the nose, less so on the palate; fruity and yeasty.

Malt and citrusy hops come through vividly in both aroma and flavor, with an attractive bitterness and some yeasty character.

Quintessential double IPA, luminous orange in color, bitter, citrusy, herbaceous, and full of intense tropical fruit aromas and flavors.

Fifth Hammer describes this IPA as “a tropical Orange Julius,” and orange predominates in the nose and on the palate; very fruity overall, smooth, and hoppy but not particularly bitter.

Tart and sourish, with some grass and green apple in the nose; refreshing and clean on the palate, with medium body and a sweetish finish.

Caramel, citrus, and stone fruits in the nose; round and smooth, with some earthy, grassy notes.

Tart, slightly funky aroma; grainy and citrusy in the mouth, with medium body, mild acidity, and medium hop character.

Hazy yellow, with orange and lemon in the nose; cantaloupe, pineapple, and resin on the palate.

Thick and smooth, with citrus and tropical fruit in the nose and mouth; well-balanced, with mild carbonation and some sweetness in the finish.

Plenty of hops and some grass in the aroma; big and medium-dry on the palate, with citrus and some spice.

A very hop-forward IPA with a punch deriving from its respectable alcoholic content (7% ABV) but also from its sweet fruit, rich maltiness, and overall complexity.

A classic IPA, full of sweet, caramelized malt flavor balanced by pronounced citrusy hops; smooth and rich, with an alcohol load of 9% ABV.

A rich, thick, black stout, brewed with cacao nibs, cinnamon, vanilla beans, and two kinds of chiles; sweet and complex — dessert in a glass.

A sturdy barleywine (a high-alcohol top-fermented ale — this one’s 11% ABV) with suggestions of brown sugar and dried figs and light floral hop notes.

Named for myrcene oil, one of the essential oils found in the hops cone, which imparts a citrusy, earthy, sometimes metallic flavor. Strongly hopped with hop varieties containing the highest levels of the oil, and intensely aromatic and fruity, with a 9.3% ABV alcoholic punch.

A Belgian-style farmhouse ale, or saison, earthy and potent (8.5% ABV), with flavors of orange and grapefruit and a suggestion of wet hay. Quite complex.

A clean, refreshing, eminently drinkable New England-style IPA, showing pineapple and grapefruit in the aroma, followed by juicy mixed tropical fruit in the mouth.

A bourbon-barrel-aged imperial stout, strong (11% ABV) and rich, almost chewy; plenty of oak and a toasty malt flavor.

Makes you want to cross our northern border for a morning meal — dark, smooth, sweet, and oaky (it was aged in old bourbon barrels more recently used for maple syrup); brewed with coffee and chocolate.

An attractive grassy, fruity aroma leading to a sweetish, tropical-fruit character on the palate, accented with hop-induced bitterness.

Hailed for the Best Beer Label by 10Best. One of the original cult beers (before it became more widely available, there was an independent website devoted to hunting for it, and people sold it — illegally — on eBay); well-balanced and full of floral, citrusy, and piney flavors.

Named for the Two Hearted River in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. A malt-centered beauty with intense citrus and resin aromas and full-bodied hop-heavy flavor.

Sweet and strong (15% ABV); brewed with coffee, Mexican vanilla, and Indian sugar, and emitting an aroma that’s part vintage Port, part molasses; sold only at the brewery on one day in April each year.

Described by its brewers as “not quite a West Coast (i.e., heavily hopped) IPA;” intensely flavorful and if not exactly hop-heavy, certainly full of fruity hops flavor.

Floral and piney — it has three times the usual portion of hops, making it a triple IPA — with an alcoholic kick (it’s 10.25% ABV) and a smoothing touch of sweetness.