8 Legendary Vermont IPAs, Tasted and Ranked

Although the IPA’s roots in America trace back to the West Coast, Vermont has arguably become the IPA capital of the country — and possibly the world — since the craft beer boom of the late ‘90s and early aughts. It serves as the birthplace of the New England IPA substyle, and kickstarted the haze craze that still dominates the brewing industry today, for better or worse.

In 2024, Vermont ranked as the state with the highest number of breweries per capita, with a collective annual production rate of 21.8 gallons per state resident of legal drinking age. With so many breweries and iconic beers native to the Green Mountain State, seeking out the best of the best isn’t easy.

Luckily, many of these breweries now distribute their IPAs throughout the Northeast, and occasionally beyond, so drinkers don’t need to take a road trip to get a taste like they once did. Still, while most Vermont breweries set the bar high on quality, not all IPAs are built the same.

To find out which Vermont IPAs stand out from the pack, we gathered the most iconic expressions and put them all in the ring for a tasting showdown. Does Fiddlehead’s Second Fiddle really play second fiddle? Does Focal Banger still bang like it did in the 2010s? And is Foam’s Built to Spill indeed better off spilled? Dive in to find out as we rank the following Vermont IPAs from worst to best, or rather, least best to best.

8. Fiddlehead Second Fiddle DIPA
ABV: 8.2%

After cutting his teeth at Vermont’s Shed Restaurant & Brewery and Magic Hat Brewing Company, Matt Cohen a.k.a. “Matty O” opened Fiddlehead Brewing Company in Shelburne, Vt., on New Year’s Eve in 2011. Two years after the brewery’s founding, Cohen rolled out Second Fiddle, the cleverly named, more burly Double IPA counterpart to its flagship IPA. The brewery doesn’t disclose what hops are in the brew, but it does note that it’s “extensively dry-hopped” and “second in name only.” Is it as good, better, or not quite up to snuff with the standard Fiddlehead IPA?

On appearance alone, Second Fiddle presents as an old-school New England IPA with a moderately opaque copper hue. The nose offers a sticky bouquet of resin and bubblegum with a faint hint of tropical fruits in the background. Each sip is thick, chewy, and bitter to the bone, with all of the fruity aromas promised on the nose getting upstaged by boozy heat and what comes across as early boil bittering hops. Any evidence of the advertised “extensive dry-hopping” just isn’t there. It’s definitely a meal in a glass, but it’s not one that makes us want to rush back to the kitchen for seconds.

7. Zero Gravity Conehead IPA
ABV: 5.7%

Burlington’s Zero Gravity Craft Brewery was founded in 2004, and in May 2015, it debuted its now-flagship IPA Conehead. The beer is brewed with pilsner malt, American wheat, and hopped with Citra — the unofficial workhorse hop of the IPA biz. There are many ways to milk Citra, so let’s see how it stacks up.

Conehead pours a slightly translucent golden hue — a far cry from the orange juice-adjacent tone that’s come to be expected from modern IPAs. On the nose, the hallmark Citra qualities shine through with dank notes of citrus, tangerines, and cat pee (somehow, in a good way). The palate is more of the same with a malty sweetness swooping in to weave the whole package together, culminating in a resinous, sappy finish. For the style, Conehead checks all the boxes, but there’s nothing that makes it truly stand out from the pack. It’s simply a well-rounded IPA, but it’s a solid choice if you’re looking to have a decent IPA on hand for a party.

6. Foam Brewers Built to Spill DIPA
ABV: 8%

Founded in 2016 by a group of industry vets, Burlington’s Foam Brewers opened with eight different beers on tap in a variety of styles. Since then, all of the brewery’s original offerings have fallen out of rotation, except for Built to Spill Double IPA. Although the brewery doesn’t have an official flagship IPA, this beer is arguably Foam’s most ubiquitous brew, and enjoys steady distribution throughout the Northeast these days. The brewery doesn’t disclose Built to Spill’s hop bill on its website or the can label, but some retailers list a blend of Galaxy and Citra hops.

Whether or not those hops are present, the brew is redolent of overripe pineapple, mango, and myriad citrus fruits. Upon taking a sip of this opaque, marmalade-hued double IPA, we get more overripe — borderline gamey — tropical fruits and a hint of bubblegum. Unfortunately, the beer finishes rather sweet, making it a one-and-done type of IPA. But in small sips, it makes for a pleasant juice bomb with a lot of new-school hoppy characteristics to explore.

5. Frost Beer Works Lush DIPA
ABV: 8%

Frost Beer Works founder Garin Frost made the leap from homebrewer to business owner in 2014 when he opened his namesake brewery in Hinesburg, Vt. Three years later, he rolled out his first batch of Lush, a hazy double IPA that has since become Frost’s flagship brew. The brewery doesn’t list the specific hops used in the Lush, but it does claim that it contains “hops from both hemispheres,” suggesting a blend of varieties from Yakima Valley and New Zealand.

When we poured a sample, the beer’s color and captivating nose immediately caught our attention. It’s sunset orange and bursting with inviting notes of candied oranges, pine, and tree sap with a touch of malty sweetness coming through on the back end. The palate leads with an assertive hoppy bitterness, but those citrusy notes from the nose reappear on the mid- and back-palate. The mouthfeel is creamy, smooth, and — true to the beer’s name — quite lush. The beer ultimately hits like an old-school New England IPA with one foot in the modern landscape. It’s delightful, but the wallop of bitterness up front holds it back just a bit.

4. Fiddlehead IPA
ABV: 6.2%

According to Good Beer Hunting, before founding Fiddlehead Brewing Company, Matt Cohen felt that “there wasn’t a brand that had taken the IPA in Vermont and Greater New England and really launched a whole brewery around it.” So that’s exactly what he did. Fiddlehead may have other beers in its portfolio, but its flagship Fiddlehead IPA is the brand’s identity, and as recently as 2022, the beer reportedly accounted for 88 percent of the brewery’s sales. Cohen keeps the hop bill under wraps

Unlike Second Fiddle, Fiddlehead IPA pours a completely opaque creamsicle color with an unwavering pillowy head. The nose is an even-keeled bouquet of citrus, malt, and tropical fruits with a wisp of bubblegum. Even at 6.2 percent ABV, the beer somehow manages to be rich, chewy, and easy-drinking at the same time. With every sip, another layer of fruit reveals itself, always finishing with a snappy, bitter bite. It’s truly sessionable without skimping on flavor.

3. Lawson’s Finest Liquids Sip of Sunshine IPA
ABV: 8%

Sean Lawson acquired a license to launch his namesake brewery Lawson’s Finest Liquids in 2008 after building a one-barrel brewhouse next to his home in Warren, Vt. But it wasn’t until 2014 that he brewed the first batch of his most famous beer, Sip of Sunshine IPA. The Warren brewery wasn’t big enough to keep up with demand so he formed a partnership with Connecticut’s Two Roads Brewing Company to scale up production. Even though Lawson opened up a new Vermont brewery and taproom in 2018, every drop of Sip of Sunshine is still brewed in Connecticut, and now sees distribution in nine states. According to the brand, the beer contains Citra hops, but beyond that, its recipe remains a secret.

Regardless of the recipe, if we didn’t know that Sip of Sunshine was brewed in Vermont, we’d swear it was from the West Coast. It’s copper and completely clear (like a West Coast IPA), and dishes up a clean, crisp aroma with notes of flowers, pine, and citrus (also like a West Coast IPA). The palate is where some New England influence starts to shine through. Every sip starts bitter, giving way to clean notes of citrus, pineapple, and pine, before transitioning into a bone-dry finish. Everything is balanced, soft, and gentle with bitterness playing as part of the orchestra without stealing the spotlight.

2. The Alchemist Focal Banger IPA
ABV: 7%

Focal Banger is one of two year-round offerings from Stowe, Vt.’s iconic The Alchemist Brewery. Its journey began as a draft-only beer in 2007, before the brewery began canning it in 2013. For a long time, it was only available within Vermont’s borders, and even though its distribution has since expanded across the Northeast, the beer is still widely considered to be something of a unicorn worth seeking out. The IPA is brewed with a blend of Citra and Mosaic hops, and is often viewed as the more crushable, hop-forward sibling to The Alchemist’s most famous double IPA, Heady Topper.

The text around the upper rip of both Focal Banger and Heady Topper cans urges the drinker to “drink from the can,” so we sampled Focal from the can and in a glass — for continuity’s sake.

Compared to its counterpart, Focal Banger presents itself more like a modern IPA lover’s IPA. It’s a tad more opaque, and goes all in on juicy, tropical aromas over dank, resinous qualities. Because it sits at 7 percent ABV, Focal is crisp and crushable, but it still has enough weight to let the hops shine in full force. There’s also enough bitterness at play to keep it from being an all-out juice bomb. Is it as good as Heady? Some might say that’s like comparing apples and oranges, but that all depends on where your tastes lean.

1. The Alchemist Heady Topper DIPA
ABV: 8%

The can, the myth, the legend. Few IPAs carry the same cultural cachet as The Alchemist’s Heady Topper. What is widely considered to be the world’s first New England-style IPA, Heady first hit the draft lines at The Alchemist in 2004, and became an immediate hit — so much so that customers famously dumped their pints into empty bottles to bring the beer home with them. The Alchemist started canning Heady Topper in 2011, and although the hype surrounding the beer has subsided since, its legendary reputation lives on.

As is the case with many other beers in this showdown, Heady Topper’s hop bill remains a company secret. What we do know is that it contains a six-hop blend and is fermented with Conan yeast, a strain brought over from England by the late brewer Greg Noonan in 1988.

The real question is: Has Heady lost its zest amid the sea of new-school IPAs now flooding the market, or does it still hold up in 2025? As we did with Focal Banger, we tasted Heady straight out of the can and in a glass.

The beer pours an unassuming old-school semi-translucent gold, offering up a relatively reserved nose. In the mix, we get soft wisps of citrus, pineapple, and pine with a sweet, malty backbone. On the palate, though, is really when the floodgates open. It’s an endlessly enticing tug-of-war between sweet and bitter flavors, peppered with earthy herbaceousness and tropical fruit notes. The finish is dry — even more so right out the can — and reels us back in for subsequent sips.

Ultimately, the palate fatigue for Heady hasn’t set in yet, and it hopefully never will. It’s a timeless beer, and even though the “haze craze” might feel played out today, Heady reminds us of the excitement in the beer world when it all began.

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