8 Best Beers To Drink This Spring

Spring will be here before we know it (we hope). The perfect way to toast to longer days and alfresco dining options is with beer. Spring beers bridge the flavors of winter with those of spring. Sure, they don't get the same kind of attention that crisp summer brews or earthy brown autumn ones do, but there are some great springtime drinking options out there for beer lovers. Their versatility comes from the fact that there are no official "spring-style" beers, aside from German Bock beers, which are traditionally brewed in May. Since there are no real guidelines, breweries and brewmasters can get creative in what they make and how they do it.

8 Best Beers to Drink This Spring (Slideshow)

Take Phantom Ship by Heavy Seas Brewery. The limited spring release is a Belgian-style tripel that is aged in bourbon barrels. Part of the brand's Unchartered Waters Series, it follows a chocolate stout release and will in turn be followed by a coffee-bourbon porter in summer, so that fans can engage in a full and unique range of barrel-aged brews.

Dogfish Head is releasing one of the season's fruit-forward beers. Their spring IPA, Aprihop, is brewed with real apricots. The brewers are careful not to let the fruit overtake the beer, so you'll get that full apricot aroma along with a full hops flavor.

Left Hand Brewery calls the day they juice the ginger (about 44 pounds of it for 60 43-gallon barrels of beer) for their spring Good Juju the "greatest smelling day in the brewhouse." Fresh-pressed juice and ginger pulp wrapped in muslin cloth bags help create an amazing light and refreshing ale that is fragrant with fresh ginger and herbal hops.

No matter which direction you take with your spring selection, the beauty of the spring beer is that you have loads of options. Here are 8 of the best spring beers to be sipping this season.

Aprihop

Dogfish Head's spring release is a fruit-forward beer for hop-lovers. This American IPA is brewed with pilsner and crystal malts with supporting flavor coming from sweet and lush apricot juice. It's one of Dogfish's most popular seasonal beers and the thirst-quenching fruit and cedar notes are the reason why.

Beer Camp Hoppy Lager

 

Sierra Nevada invites beer fans to the brewery every week to create a collaborative beer. Beer Camp Hoppy Lager is the result of the past year's brew fan visits. This brew highlights one of the small-batch standouts, a hop-happy lager that reimagines Sierra Nevada's collaboration with Ballast Point.