The Best Beers of 2023 by Style Category

The year’s best beer categorized by the most populated beer styles in the 2023 Official Review. A one-stop shopping list of the best brews on shelves today.

The Best Beers of 2023 by Style Category

The beer world continued to turn in 2023, and an astonishing number of high-quality brews were produced by thousands upon thousands of breweries this past year.

Each year, we like to produce a list of some of the most interesting and populous style categories that our judges reviewed. Much like last year, IPAs were massive in 2023 – with hazy IPAs fully taking over our Official Review for the first time. Beyond that, barrel-aged beers were still popular, monastic ales such as Belgian dubbels and tripels were hot and various lager styles continued to gain traction.

Read on to discover some of the most flavorful and interesting beer styles from the year that was.

Top 25 IPAs of 2023 (All Styles)
Top 10 Hazy IPAs
Top 10 Double IPAs
Top 4 American IPAs
Top 5 Fruit Beers
Top 10 Specialty Wood-Aged and Wood-Aged Beers
Top 3 Spice, Herb or Vegetable Beers
Top 3 Pale Bitter European Beers
Top 3 International Pale Lagers
Top 5 Monastic Ales

 

Top 25 IPAs of 2023 (All Styles)


1. Classic Hazy Double IPA
Garage Brewing Co.
Rated 99

2. Hopcelot
Lawson’s Finest Liquids
Rated 97

3. Tank Dog West Coast Imperial IPA
New Realm Brewing
Rated 97

4. Side Bae Double IPA: Idaho 7
Wild Leap Brew Co.
Rated 97

5. Alpha Abstraction Vol. 22
Wild Leap Brew Co.
Rated 97

6. When Pigs Fly
Clocktown Brewing Co.
Rated 96

7. Side Bae Double IPA: HBC 472 Cryo Hops
Wild Leap Brew Co.
Rated 95

8. SouthDown Double IPA
Wild Leap Brew Co.
Rated 95

9. Juiced Lychee IPA
Moody Tongue Brewing Co.
Rated 94

10. Vibacious Double IPA
Great Lakes Brewing Co.
Rated 94

11. Attention Ritual
Ghost Hawk Brewing Co.
Rated 93

12. Off the Line Hazy IPA
Garage Brewing Co.
Rated 93

13. Double Sunshine
Lawson’s Finest Liquids
Rated 93

14. The 87
Night Shift Brewing
Rated 92

15. Double Trouble
Low Road Brewing
Rated 92

16. Alpha Abstraction Vol. 23
Wild Leap Brew Co.
Rated 92

17. pFriem West Coast IPA
pFriem Family Brewers
Rated 92

18. Alpha Abstraction Vol. 24
Wild Leap Brew Co.
Rated 92

19. Apex Predator
Ghost Hawk Brewing Co.
Rated 92

20. Tank Dog Tangerine Mango Imperial IPA
New Realm Brewing
Rated 92

21. Tangerine Space Machine
New Holland Brewing Co.
Rated 91

22. Hazy Rays
Lawson’s Finest Liquids
Rated 91

23. Hold On Juicy
New Realm Brewing
Rated 91

24. After Burn Hazy IPA
Garage Brewing Co.
Rated 91

25. Stone Delicious Double IPA
Stone Brewing
Rated 91

 

Top 10 Hazy IPAs


1. Classic Hazy Double IPA
Garage Brewing Co.
Rated 99

2. Side Bae Double IPA: Idaho 7
Wild Leap Brew Co.
Rated 97

3. Alpha Abstraction Vol. 22
Wild Leap Brew Co.
Rated 97

4. When Pigs Fly
Clocktown Brewing Co.
Rated 96

5. Attention Ritual
Ghost Hawk Brewing Co.
Rated 93

6. Off the Line Hazy IPA
Garage Brewing Co.
Rated 93

7. Apex Predator
Ghost Hawk Brewing Co.
Rated 92

8. Tangerine Space Machine
New Holland Brewing Co.
Rated 91

9. Hazy Rays
Lawson’s Finest Liquids
Rated 91

10. After Burn Hazy IPA
Garage Brewing Co.
Rated 91

 

Top 10 Double IPAs


1. Tank Dog West Coast Imperial IPA
New Realm Brewing
Rated 97

2. Side Bae Double IPA: HBC 472 Cryo Hops
Wild Leap Brew Co.
Rated 95

3. SouthDown Double IPA
Wild Leap Brew Co.
Rated 95

4. Vibacious Double IPA
Great Lakes Brewing Co.
Rated 94

5. Double Sunshine
Lawson’s Finest Liquids
Rated 93

6. The 87
Night Shift Brewing
Rated 92

7. Double Trouble
Low Road Brewing
Rated 92

8. Alpha Abstraction Vol. 23
Wild Leap Brew Co.
Rated 92

9. Alpha Abstraction Vol. 24
Wild Leap Brew Co.
Rated 92

10. Tank Dog Tangerine Mango Imperial IPA
New Realm Brewing
Rated 92

 

Top 4 American IPAs


1. Hopcelot
Lawson’s Finest Liquids
Rated 97

2. Juiced Lychee IPA
Moody Tongue Brewing Co.
Rated 94

3. pFriem West Coast IPA
pFriem Family Brewers
Rated 92

4. Wishing Star
Highland Brewing Co.
Rated 88

 

Top 5 Fruit Beers


1. Prickly Pear Hef
Garage Brewing Co.
Rated 94

2. Lookin’ Sharp Berliner Weisse
Gnarly Barley Brewing Co.
Rated 93

3. Super Lemonova
Lawson’s Finest Liquids
Rated 93

4. In Between Times – Raspberry
Social Fox Brewing
Rated 92

5. Vacanza Peach Pie Imperial Gose
Wild Leap Brew Co.
Rated 92

 

Top 10 Specialty Wood-Aged and Wood-Aged Beers


1. Lone Buffalo: Cinnamon Maple Vanilla Barrel Aged Stout
Wild Leap Brew Co.
Rated 97

2. Dragon’s Milk Triple Mash
New Holland Brewing Co.
Rated 96

3. Tequila-Barrel Aged Mole Stout
pFriem Family Brewers
Rated 95

4. Cognac Barrel-Aged Double Mash Imperial Stout
pFriem Family Brewers
Rated 95

5. Amaro Barrel-Aged Barleywine
pFriem Family Brewers
Rated 95

6. Dragon’s Milk Crimson Keep
New Holland Brewing Co.
Rated 93

7. Dragon’s Milk Tales of Gold
New Holland Brewing Co.
Rated 92

8. Hallerbos Belgian Strong Ale Aged with Amburana Chips
Ghost Hawk Brewing Co.
Rated 92

9. Barrel Aged Saison V
pFriem Family Brewers
Rated 91

10. Forbidden Fields
Grain Theory
Rated 88

 

Top 3 Spice, Herb or Vegetable Beers


1. Chocolate Factory
Clocktown Brewing Co.
Rated 96

2. French Toast Hef
Garage Brewing Co.
Rated 93

3. Hot Cocoa Stout
Low Road Brewing
Rated 88


Top 3 Pale Bitter European Beers


1. Full Circle
New Holland Brewing Co.
Rated 95

2. Loon Call
Batson River Brewing & Distilling
Rated 91

3. State of Flow
Moniker Brewery
Rated 90


Top 3 International Pale Lagers


1. New Zealand Pale
pFriem Family Brewers
Rated 94

2. Pickerel
Moniker Brewery
Rated 92

3. El Rhodeo
Moniker Brewery
Rated 92

 

Top 5 Monastic Ales


1. Tynt Meadow
Mount Saint Bernard Abbey
Rated 96

2. Westmalle Tripel
Brouwerij Westmalle
Rated 95

3. Orval
Brasserie d’Orval
Rated 94

4. Westmalle Extra
Brouwerij Westmalle
Rated 93

5. Tripped Up
Low Road Brewing
Rated 92