Best APA

Yep. Big big flavor for a smallish beer.

 

Pseudo Sue, Daisy Cutter, Blvd Single Wide are some of my go-tos

 

Every bar in America should keep on tap the king of Pale Ales..Sierra Nevada.

 

Some of it might relate to me not being able to buy it, but I still really like Alpha King. It's obviously heading into IPA territory, but I like it whatever it is.
On the milder end of things, I think Boulder Hazed & Infused is wonderful.

 

I should add another Pisgah Pale Ale, I can get it only in North Carolina. It is delicious.

 

I stopped at Three Floyds 10 days ago to have lunch and get some Zombie Dust before heading back to Michigan from a trip. I looked at the Three Floyds beers page here on BA and clicked on the header for the ratings column, and guess what, Alpha King is the second highest rated Three Floyds beer (behind Zombie Dust). So I had to buy some of that beer too. I'm certain I've had it many years ago before I became a hop head and I didn't appreciate it back then. It is a pale ale that is well deserving of its praise/ranking.

 

My memory isn't the best, but I believe Alpha King used to be a long-time BA top 25 beer. I think it might have even been top 10 back in the Celebrator, Westy 12, Hop Devil days.
I still like that caramel malt + piney hop character. It feels like a lot of beers that followed that path have either been discontinued or reformulated, so Alpha King is probably as unique as it has ever been right now.

 

This one El Dorado Falcon is so crushable and tasty that you would slap your grandmother for a second can.

 

Alpha King and for me there's nothing close.My love for this beer is borderline pathological. I love it the same as I did back in the late 90's when The Hopleaf bar started serving it. Since then I've referred to Sundays as Alpha King day.

 

I grabbed some singles to tick a few days ago, and grabbed a couple Boulder beers. Having forgot the reason I stopped trying them years ago. They've all got this odd funkiness. Everyone I've had has had it. Maybe it's the house yeast? Maybe it's water? But, no more, never again for Boulder for me.

 

Three more IL APAs that I enjoy (in addition to Daisy Cutter, Lizard King, etc.) are Brickstone APA, Revolution Fist City, and Two Brothers Sidekick.

Let me not forget Founders Mosaic Promise. One of my favorite beers, period.

 

Best I ever had.

 

Their Shake Chocolate Porter is the only one that I can stomach anymore.

 

I bought I six of that yesterday (cans for $7.99 to boot, store probably broke up 15 packs) and thought of this thread. But after thinking about it, a single hop beer like this with a very simple malt profile is more of a specialty beer than a Pale Ale. Just because a beer is 5.5% and hoppy does not alone make it a pale ale. great beer though.

 

Daisy Cutter and Sumpin' Easy are both very good.

 

There are plenty of great APAs. Just to name a few:
Kane Sneakbox
Carton HopPun
SNPA of course
Great Lakes Burning River
Maine Beer MO
Half Acre Daisy Cutter

 

Love (and miss) that beer. But (personal subjective opinion) I did feel it closer to an amber than an APA... though definitely somewhere in the middle.

My favorite us whatever is available and freshest from the lengthy list that follows:

SNPA
Mirror Pond
Row 2 Hill 56
Zombie Dust
Pseudo Sue
Fort Point PA
.394
Grunion
Moonraker Crush Series
Manny's
Daisy Cutter
Nearly all APAs from Cellarmaker and Faction
Hubert
Born Yesterday
X
pFriem Mosaic Pale
Russell Kelly

 

Easily my all time favorite.
I’ll also add Rupture, Drumroll, and Mirror Pond.


Nothing beats Hubert though imo

 

Yes it does as long as there is a standard pale-colored malt base. It's just a different twist on any more-normal APA recipe.

 

Any APA from Hill Farmstead. I think they are the benchmark for how to pack so much flavor in a beer under 6% with nice body to it as well.

Store bought, I'm a fan of quite a few, but SNPA hasn't been doing much for me lately. I know I'll get hate mail for stating that but it just has felt like a very bland APA lately to my tastes. I'll go for some English pales (or IPAs) to mix it up now and then, and they are very satisfying change of pace after a constance bombardment of American Hop Juice.

 

PA is a style I have barely explored for some reason but every time I have one I think why don't I drink these more? Some really hit that perfect balance between malt and hops for me, Daisy Cutter comes to mind. Victory Headwaters is decent and of course SNPA, which I found to be quite hoppy when I first got into craft but now, even fresh, it's pretty balanced to me. Mirror Pond is great too.

This discussion has inspired me to explore this style a little more.

 

No, the fact that it is a Pale Ale makes it a Pale Ale.

 

I concede... call it a pale ale if you wish, or if the guidelines says it's true, but I still don't look at it as a pale ale. Although it is pale, and it is an ale....

 

Parish Brewing Envie. I love the DDH version but the regular is almost as good and much less expensive. If I find on tap it is the beer I will drink.