The Best British IPAs: The Modern and the Traditional Ones

As IPA-style originated in England, it’s easy to agree that the most original IPAs still come from the UK. History of this citrusy bitter ale is nowadays well-known, thanks to its renaissance in the 21st century.

India Pale Ale is usually a well-hopped beer style. There are several different ways to ensure that hops are playing the central role in the ale’s flavour. An IPA may be dry-hopped, double dry-hopped or even triple dry-hopped. Besides there are single-hopped and fresh-hopped IPAs, and concerning alcohol volume, DIPAs and TIPAs.

English IPAs instead have their own main characteristics as they tend to be malty and bitter, and they’re more modest in notes than those multi-hopped American versions. 

English IPAs tend to be stronger than pale ales in general and have their own characteristic taste profiles due to the English hop varieties. English hop characters are usually earthy, spicy, peppery and floral in their aroma. East Kent Goldings, Fuggles, Challenger and Target are the most popular hops from England.

The difference between an English IPA and elsewhere brewed IPA can be traced to the ingredients. An English IPA is of course brewed with English ingredients. The English malts have a special biscuity flavour and yeasts produce more esters and flavours than their American cousins.

But when we’re talking about British IPAs, it’s difficult to point out the difference between an IPA and an English IPA. That’s why we’ve collected both statistics from Pint Please together. 

The Top 20 Best-Rated British IPAs

The best British India Pale Ale according to Pint Please stats is without a doubt Tiny Rebel Brewing Company’s CLWB Tropica with an average rating of 3.91. 

This tropical IPA is said to be a fruit salad in a glass. It isn’t a very traditional one, but gives a good example of the IPA-style’s renaissance. American hops bring peach, passionfruit, pineapple and mango to its refreshing taste.

In the second place there is Punk IPA, brewed by BrewDog in Scotland. Brewery’s flagship, Punk IPA (5.6%), is also the most popular British IPA. It’s a light and fruity classic with caramel notes, crisp bitterness and tropical fruit flavour that includes citrusy hints of grapefruit and orange. 

The third best British IPA on the list is Fantasma, brewed by Magic Rock Brewing. This dank and juicy American-style IPA is also gluten free. It’s flavoured with Magnum and Citra hops, making it fruity and refreshing.

	Brewery	Beer	%	Origin	AVG
1.	Tiny Rebel Brewing Co.	CLWB Tropica	5.5%	Wales	3.91
2.	BrewDog	Punk IPA	5.6%	Scotland	3.83
3.	Magic Rock Brewing	Fantasma	6.5%	England	3.82
4.	Buxton Brewery Company Ltd	Lupulus X. Citra IPA	5.4%	England	3.82
5.	Vocation Brewery	Life & Death	6.5%	England	3.81
6.	Tiny Rebel Brewing Co.	Pineapple Express IPA	6.2%	Wales	3.81
7.	Butcombe Brewery Ltd	Goram	5.0%	England	3.79
8.	Siren Craft Brew Ltd	Soundwave IPA	5.6%	England	3.77
9.	Northern Monk Brew Co.	Eternal Sunshine	5.5%	England	3.77
10.	North Brewing Co	Analogue Set	6.7%	England	3.76
11.	Beavertown Brewery	Lupuloid	6.7%	England	3.74
12.	Fourpure Brewing Co.	Fourpure Citrus IPA	5.9%	England	3.74
13.	BrewDog	Jack Hammer	7.2%	Scotland	3.73
14.	North Brewing Co	Lost Cosmonauts	6.0%	England	3.73
15.	BrewDog	Punk IPA Original 6.0 %	6.0%	Scotland	3.73
16.	Williams Bros. Brewing Co.	Rubus	5.5%	Scotland	3.73
17.	BrewDog	Elvis Juice 6.5%	6.5%	Scotland	3.72
18.	Tempest Brewing Co	Brave New World	7.0%	Scotland	3.71
19.	Magic Rock Brewing	Clairvoyance	7.2%	England	3.71
20.	Williams Bros. Brewing Co.	Otis Blood Orange IPA	5.9%	Scotland	3.71

The Top 20 Best-Rated British IPAs

The Top 20 Most Popular British IPAs

Though the list of the best-rated IPAs is more concentrated in the modern IPAs, the list of the most popular IPAs includes also traditional English IPAs. 

Still, the top three is quite unsurprising. BrewDog has made it to the top with its three classic beers Punk IPA, Elvis Juice 6.5% and Punk IPA 5.4%. All worth trying with their perfect drinkability.

	Brewery	Beer	%	Origin	AVG
1.	BrewDog	Punk IPA	5.6%	Scotland	3.83
2.	BrewDog	Elvis Juice 6.5%	6.5%	Scotland	3.72
3.	BrewDog	Punk IPA 5.4 %	5.4%	Scotland	3.61
4.	Thornbridge Brewery	Jaipur	5.9%	England	3.57
5.	St Austell Brewery	Proper Job IPA	5.5%	England	3.39
6.	Wychwood (Marston’s)	Hobgoblin IPA	5.3%	England	3.55
7.	BrewDog	Jack Hammer	7.2%	Scotland	3.73
8.	Thwaites	Crafty Dan 13 Guns	5.5%	England	3.53
9.	Greene King	Greene King IPA	3.6%	England	2.80
10.	Marston’s	Old Empire IPA	5.7%	England	3.24
11.	Shepherd Neame	Shepherd Neame India Pale Ale	6.1%	England	3.41
12.	Belhaven Brewery	Twisted Thistle IPA	5.6%	Scotland	3.34
13.	Fuller Smith & Turner	Fuller’s India Pale Ale	5.3%	England	3.29
14.	Innis & Gunn	Gunnpowder IPA	5.6%	Scotland	3.52
15.	BrewDog	Hoppy Christmas	7.2%	Scotland	3.66
16.	Beavertown Brewery	Bloody ‘Ell	5.5%	England	3.39
17.	Beavertown Brewery	Lupuloid	6.7%	England	3.74
18.	Ridgeway	Ridgeway IPA	5.5%	England	3.20
19.	Hatherwood Craft Beer Company	The Green Gecko	5.0%	England	3.22
20.	Fourpure Brewing Co.	Shapeshifter	5.9%	England	3.60

The Top 20 Most Popular British IPAs