Best APA

I dig APA and IPA both, but APA as a style is more complex for certain. I really enjoy breakwater pale ale from Dry Dock here in CO.

 

Well I obviously gotta say zombie dust it's just too good and classified as an apa. If you told me I couldn't drink any other beer ever again I'd be ok

 

Cellarmaker in SF makes some freaking amazing pale ales. I wish this style was done more often than say DOUBLE ipas. love me some APA's.

Chef Myke

 

Pseudo Sue is one of my favorites.

 

I have to say I a partial to Drumroll from Odell. There is a local bar that has mainly macro beer on tap, but they do have Drumroll and I do my job to make sure it stays fresh. Funny as much as I have drank it, I have never given it a proper rating

 

My favorite Pale is probably Fort Point. Others I like in no particular order; Maine MO, Stoneface APA, Pseudo Sue, Fortunate Islands, Common Roots Time, Proclamation Derivative: Citra, and Born Yesterday. Also had my first Zombie Dust a couple of weeks ago in Chicago. That def makes the list.

 

Zombie Dust for the win.

 

The 1st one is still the best one Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

 

I completely agree.

 

My vote goes to Tired Hands HopHands. I wish I could drink that beer forever.

 

Since brewers are taking their pale ales that were inspired by SNPA and redoing their recipe to be more up-to-date with today’s market trends... all I gotta say is “long live SNPA.”

 

I frequently drink Daisy cutter, and I will always order Alpha king when I see it on tap. So those two for me.

 

Since so many beers are just riffing on Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, and since so many breweries want to be Sierra Nevada when they grow up, I'll give full credit to the OG. SNPA for the win.

 

This. Hands down.

 

I don't see a difference in styles from IPAs to be honest. ZD is a Citra bomb that I love, but the only difference I see in the India part is left out. Pseudo Sue is about as dry and bitter as any IPA I've ever had, also a favorite.

 

I've had this one on tap, IMO this beer is very similar to Pseudo Sue, it's a dry bitter bomb.

 

I've been thinking about this quite a bit, how the APA style has grown. It's interesting that we actually have the original, SNPA, to look at, and I've often thought about how newer versions compare to it, and how some have eclipsed it by becoming bigger and more hoppy, but perhaps losing some of it's elegant balance in doing so.

Some of my favorite APAs are the fairly new style of wet-hop/harvest versions. Deschutes' Hop Trip Harvest is excellent, as is Lagunitas' Born Yesterday.

Another interesting APA from Lagunitas is their CitruSinensis.

Finally, I love Anderson Valley's Poleeko Pale for its malt component.

 

Used to be Daisy Cutter/ZD for me. Now... more recently, I've been turned on to Odell's Drumroll (as mentioned above). It's better than you would think... also like Rupture, but that's almost it's own beast of a category, falls between apa and ipa in terms of impact/impression and process.
Reminds me, however, that I need to try more in the category. I did like Ursula's Via Chicago pale, although 6.1% a little heavy for an apa (for my taste/abvexpectations).

 

If I was replying to the thread 15+ years ago I would have stated SNPA.

An APA which was recently introduced is Always Ready by Cape May brewing. That beer is excellent and it gets by vote for best APA.

Cheers!

@brianhink @JValm @Kadonny

P.S. I bought a 6-pack of Always Ready last week and it did not last long. My wife and I were fighting over the last can. I suppose I should have bought two 6-packs!