Highest-Ranked North Carolina IPAs, according to Untappd

By Dathan Kazsuk
Twitter: TriangleAT | Facebook: Triangle Around Town | Instagram: trianglearoundtown

Untappd. You either love it or hate it.

I personally don’t care. Sure, I log my beers in the app, but for the most part, I do it to keep track on if I’ve had that beer before. Oh, and I like collecting the badges.

I’ve never used the app to view what other people are rating a beer. Everyone’s tastes are different. You have the ones that everything their tongue touches is nectar of the Gods –  rating anywhere from 4.25 to 5 on the rating scale. Or you have others who don’t like IPAs and drink it anyway, rating that new beer by Trillium as a 2.5 on their rating scale.

I just don’t buy into the hype of “so good” and a 5 bottle cap rating as something I have to hunt down – why, just because Johnny said so, it must be good.

But I decided to have a little fun on this ‘snow day’ to put together a look at what Untappd deems its top rated beers that just so happen to hail from North Carolina. Today I selected its various IPA categories, which it uses a weighted average formula, that rates all beers against each other. Each of its top 50 beers in each category must have 150 ratings or more to qualify.

So where did our NC beers wind up on the top 50 lists? Let’s find out!

IPA-American:
Citraquench’l (ranked 33rd)
Heist Brewery, Charlotte
7.1% ABV  |  70 IBU  |  4.31 rating  |  2,849 ratings

IPA-Belgian:
Cotton Pickin’ Farmhouse IPA (10th)
Haw River Farmhouse Ales, Saxapahaw
8.5% ABV  |  85 IBU  |  3.89 rating  |  1,698 ratings

IPA-Black/Cascadian Dark Ales:
Iron Lady Black IPA (10th)
Wicked Weed, Asheville
9.5% ABV  |  80 IBU  |  3.95 rating  |  6,145 ratings

IPA-English:
Iron Rail IPA (6th)
Wedge Brewing Company, Asheville
6.9% ABV  |  3.77 rating  |  5,934 ratings

IPA-International:
Mosaic IPA (26th)
Lost Province Brewing, Boone
6.5% ABV  |  3.78 rating  |  607 ratings

IPA-Red:
Tyranny Red IPA (11th)
Wicked Weed, Asheville
7% ABV  |  55 IBU  |  3.82 rating  |  7,685 ratings

IPA -Session/India Session Ale:
Ceremonial Session IPA (45th)
Burial Beer Co., Asheville
4% ABV  |  35 IBU  |  3.87 rating  |  9,212 ratings

IPA-White:
Hop Circus Vol. 3 (Passion Fruit White IPA) (13th)
Hi-Wire Brewing, Asheville
9.75% ABV  |  60 IBU  |  3.82 rating  |  491 ratings

No North Carolina IPAs were ranked in the top 50 in the following categories. IPA-Triple; IPA-New England; IPA-Imperial/Double Black; or IPA-Imperial/Double.