The Best Beers of 2019 by Style Category
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Editorial Dept.
Craft beer in 2019 was defined by extraordinary variety on shelves, in taprooms and in refrigerators across the nation. Our judges in the Official Review sampled a wide swath of them, and each year, we acknowledge the highest-rated beers of the year in some of the most well-represented style categories.
In this list, you’ll find a treasure trove of scintillating beer styles, including some of the finest American IPAs, double IPAs, wild specialty beers, fruit lambics, saisons and American wild ales that our judges imbibed over the course of 2019.
Belgian beers made a resurgence among our judges and were some of the highest-scoring beers in 2019. Specialty wood-aged beers, which are aged in bourbon, rum, whiskey or other barrels, also featured heavily. Further well represented are fruit beers and spice, herb or vegetable beers, which feature all manner of those delicious adjuncts that make the craft beer industry the enjoyable, ever-evolving environment that keeps fans engaged and interested year-round.
Mixed-style beers, which blend two or more styles of beer in a single concoction, and strong Belgian ales, such as dubbels, tripels, golden strong ales and dark strong ales, were also quite popular with our judges in 2019 and are well represented on this list.
Our breweries of the year make multiple appearances on this list, as it makes sense for our best breweries to also produce some of the best beers in various distinct style categories in 2019.
We hope this list piques your interest with its varied styles featured, and each of these beers deserves a special place in your beer fridge due to being some of the best examples of their respective styles.
Top 10 IPAs of 2019 (All Styles)
Top 5 Double IPAs of 2019
Top 5 Hazy IPAs
Top 3 Specialty IPAs
Top 5 Fruit Lambics
Top 3 European Sour Ales
Top 3 Fruit Beers
Top 5 Wild Specialty Beers
Top 5 American Wild Ales
Top 3 Saisons
Top 5 Spice, Herb or Vegetable Beers
Top 4 Mixed-Style Beers
Top 5 Strong Belgian Ales
Top 5 Specialty Wood-Aged Beers
Top 10 IPAs of 2019 (All Styles)
1. Juicy Harvest
Upland Brewing Co.
Score: 96
2. Sticky Icky Icky
Short’s Brewing Co.
Score: 95
3. Juice Above the Clouds
Altamont Beer Works
Score: 95
4. Mirror Universe
Fair State Brewing Cooperative
Score: 95
5. Life Hopquatic
Melvin Brewing
Score: 94
6. Lundi
Monday Night Brewing
Score: 94
7. Space Needle IPA
Pike Brewing Co.
Score: 94
8. Truck Chaser Creamsicle Double IPA
Wild Leap Brew Co.
Score: 93
9. Double Dust
Pure Project Brewing
Score: 93
10. Good Behavior
Odell Brewing Co.
Score: 93
Top 5 Double IPAs of 2019
1. Juice Above the Clouds
Altamont Beer Works
Score: 95
2. Double Dust
Pure Project Brewing
Score: 93
3. Truck Chaser Creamsicle Double IPA
Wild Leap Brew Co.
Score: 93
4. Mosaic Double IPA
Belching Beaver Brewery
Score: 93
5. Alpha Abstraction Vol. 8
Wild Leap Brew Co.
Score: 92
Top 5 Hazy IPAs of 2019
1. Juicy Harvest
Upland Brewing Co.
Score: 96
2. Life Hopquatic
Melvin Brewing
Score: 94
3. Medlock IPA
Six Bridges Brewing
Score: 93
4. Hazy IPA
pFriem Family Brewers
Score: 92
5. Two Juicy
Two Roads Brewing Co.
Score: 92
Top 3 Specialty IPAs of 2019
1. Red IPA
East Brother Beer Co.
Score: 93
2. Good Behavior
Odell Brewing Co.
Score: 93
3. Hazy IPA
pFriem Family Brewers
Score: 92
Top 5 Fruit Lambics of 2019
1. Oude Kriek
pFriem Family Brewers
Score: 96
2. Brouwer’s 14th Anniversary
pFriem Family Brewers
Score: 96
3. Peche
pFriem Family Brewers
Score: 93
4. THK – Tripel Honey Kriek
De Proef Brouwerij
Score: 92
5. Hexotic
Area Two Experimental Brewing
Score: 91
Top 3 European Sour Ales of 2019
1. Oak Barrel Aged Flanders Red Ale
Moody Tongue Brewing Co.
Score: 96
2. Notorious P.O.G. Berliner Weisse
Stone Brewing Co.
Score: 92
3. Red Flag
Heavy Seas Beer
Score: 92
Top 3 Fruit Beers of 2019
1. Ephemere Pomme
Unibroue
Score: 93
2. Fruit Cup Vol. 1
Pontoon Brewing
Score: 93
3. Tangerine Deuce Coupe DIPA
Garage Brewing Co.
Score: 92
Top 5 Wild Specialty Beers of 2019
1. Sonoma Tart
Bear Republic Brewing Co.
Score: 96
2. Currant Events
Monday Night Brewing
Score: 94
3. Entwined
Upland Brewing Co.
Score: 94
4. Sangiovese Barrel Aged Alani
Reformation Brewery
Score: 93
5. Barrel Aged Helios
Pontoon Brewing
Score: 93
Top 5 American Wild Ales of 2019
1. Found
Upland Brewing Co.
Score: 94
2. Table Terroir
Area Two Experimental Brewing
Score: 93
3. Pervasive Species
Monday Night Brewing
Score: 93
4. Cloaks & Mirrors
Monday Night Brewing
Score: 93
5. Brett Saison
pFriem Family Brewers
Score: 93
Top 3 Saisons of 2019
1. Timely Surrender
Archetype Brewing Co.
Score: 94
2. Pockets of Sunlight
Jackie O’s Brewery
Score: 94
3. A Tout le Monde
Unibroue
Score: 92
Top 5 Spice, Herb or Vegetable Beers of 2019
1. Piston Pump-Kin Porter
Garage Brewing Co.
Score: 94
2. Two Stall
Ahnapee Brewery
Score: 94
3. Fistful of Cake
Monday Night Brewing
Score: 93
4. Buenaveza Salt & Lime Lager
Stone Brewing Co.
Score: 93
5. I Need S’More Brownie Batter Batch #1
Pontoon Brewing
Score: 93
Top 4 Mixed-Style Beers of 2019
1. Twain
Upland Brewing Co.
Score: 94
2. Double Barreled Maple Stout
Avery Brewing Co.
Score: 93
3. Tie 8 On
Monday Night Brewing
Score: 91
4. Old Fashioned Extraction
Sun King Brewing
Score: 91
Top 5 Strong Belgian Ales of 2019
1. Terrible
Unibroue
Score: 96
2. The Sage
Archetype Brewing Co.
Score: 96
3. Chimay Grand Reserve
Abbaye de Scourmont
Score: 94
4. Belgian-Style Tripel
East Brother Beer Co.
Score: 93
5. Don de Dieu
Unibroue
Score: 92
Top 5 Specialty Wood-Aged Beers of 2019
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