BrewDog Punk IPAvsSierra Nevada Pale Ale

The beer that started the British craft revolution and still delivers on what it promised. Pours golden amber with good foam. The aroma is tropical and citrusy — grapefruit, mango, a pineapple note, all from the hop variety selection. The first sip is brighter and cleaner than American Pale Ales, with a dry-hopped tropical character that feels modern. The bitterness arrives cleanly in the finish without lingering harshly. Still one of the best value-for-money IPAs anywhere.

The original American Pale Ale. Deeper amber colour from the Crystal malt. The nose is everything that Cascade hops do — pine resin, grapefruit peel, a slightly earthy, almost woody note that no other variety replicates. The malt is more prominent than Punk IPA, a slight caramel sweetness that holds the hops up. The bitterness is earthy and resinous rather than tropical-clean. This is what everyone was trying to copy in 2007. Some still are.