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The Top 17 Beers We Drank in June 2025
Photography courtesy of Magic Muncie, Social Media Manager, Hop Culture (on the left) and Grace Lee-Weitz, Senior Content Editor, Hop Culture (on the right)
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We teased our travels with you last month. At the end of May and early June, Hop Culture Senior Content Editor Grace Lee-Weitz covered some serious ground, hopping a plane across the entire country, the Atlantic Ocean, and much of Europe to land in Stockholm. After a day in Sweden’s capital, she hopped a train to Oslo before getting back in the air for a short hop to Helsinki, Finland.
And that was just the start (stay tuned next month for her visits to Estonia, Latvia, and Iceland!).
She couldn’t pass up this opportunity to visit the electrifying Salama Brewing—one of our “17 Best Breweries to Watch in 2025.”
Of course, we had to put together a guide to all the top spots to drink in and around Helsinki.
Back at home, our social media manager made it to the Firestone Walker Invitational—one of our “17 Can’t-Miss Beer Festivals of 2025.”
And we dove deep with some of our ‘Juiciest’ winners, including Moniker, Marlowe, and Lua Brewing.
From Firestone Walker to Finland, here’s everything we drank during our world travels.
Hop Culture’s Top 17 Beers We Drank in June 2025
Photography courtesy of Magic Muncie, Social Media Manager, Hop Culture
Final Curtain – Root + Branch Brewing x Brujos Brewing x Troon Brewing
A Spell For the Death of Man III – Root + Branch x Brujos Brewing
Quad IPA + DNEIPA – When Root + Branch announces a Brujos tap takeover along with a double collaboration release, you definitely take notice. Luckily, our creative director Derek Campos lives nearby and generously sent us a can of each collaboration, and we’re super grateful he did.
Final Curtain, an 11% ABV Hazy IPA triple collaboration with Troon Brewing and Brujos Brewing, is one of the biggest hoppy beers we’ve had in a minute. This behemoth of a brew was brewed and dry-hopped with Citra, Krush, Motueka, Riwaka and Motueka Sub Zero Hop Kief and wondrously drinks like a DIPA. This hop monster delivered huge notes of sherbet, mandarin, papaya, and candied mango. We completely lost track of the high ABV because they did a crazy good job of masking that heat.
A Spell For The Death of Man III, the second collaboration from Root + Branch, this time exclusively with Brujos Brewing, is a multi-oat/wheat double IPA brewed and heavily dry hopped with Citra, Citra Cryo, Simcoe and Simcoe Cryo. This one is bursting with bold notes of orange peel, fresh melon, sweet, tangerine pulp, candied pineapple, with subtle hints of pine and a unique tea vibe to round it out. The grain bill ensured this one had that chewy oatmeal texture to it that we’ve come to love in modern hazy IPAs.
Both beers really showcase how far brewers have taken hazies, and we’re here for it. Five stars and would recommend.
Learn More About Final Curtain
Learn More About A Spell For the Death of Man
Maze Whole Cone Pale Ale – Omnipollo x Sierra Nevada Brewing Company
Stockholm, Sweden
Photography courtesy of Grace Lee-Weitz | Hop Culture
American Pale Ale – Not sure we could go to Stockholm without visiting the oracles of Omnipollo.
But weren’t we surprised to find a taste of home on the menu at the brewery’s Hatt location? A collab with Sierra Nevada, Maze Whole Cone Pale Ale seems to be a true amalgamation of two respective giants, a nod to Sierra Nevada Pale Ale with a sprinkle of some of Omnipollo’s magic dust.
Pouring a cloudy gold, the American pale ale offered lots of mango, guava, passionfruit, and grapefruit pith. To put it simply, it was damn delicious.
Wye North Is Down – Ölkemi Bryggeri
Stockholm, Sweden
Photography courtesy of Grace Lee-Weitz | Hop Culture
ESB – Stockholm’s sixth-highest-rated brewery on Untappd, Ölkemi Bryggeri is a tiny taproom in the Skanstull neighborhood known for its experimental small-batch releases and brewing bravado, often exploring less popular styles of beer.
Those like the extra special bitter or ESB, a traditional malt-forward, sessionable English ale that isn’t actually very bitter at all.
Wye North Is Down focuses on a single unknown-to-us hop called Northdown, developed by the University of Wye in the UK.
Pouring a reddish cedar, this ESB drank like a cinnamon raisin bagel in liquid form with warming spice in the front, fruitier pops in the middle, and maltiness at the back.
“ESB should be above 5% ABV (tick), crushable (tick), and have a balance,” wrote the brewery in the beer’s Untappd description, “English Hops (tick) and a medium to high hop bitterness (tick) and incredibly tasty (double tick).”
We’d have to agree.
Munkbron Kellerbier – Bryggeri Munkbron
Stockholm, Sweden
Photography courtesy of Grace Lee-Weitz | Hop Culture
Kellerbier / Zwickelbier – One of our first stops in Stockholm, Bryggeri Munkbron, offered us something we weren’t expecting to find in a Swedish brewery, a kellerbier.
An unpasteurized, unfiltered German lager, kellerbier, isn’t exactly a popular or commercial style. Although, we’re not sure why, because it’s incredibly tasty.
Munkbron Kellerbier poured a pale straw gold emitting aromas of cooked porridge with ripe fruit that carried through on the taste with notes of raw oats and Froot Loops.
Light, crisp, and refreshing, this kellerbier was a great first start to our time drinking in Sweden.
Black Crow Lager – Crow Bryggeri
Oslo, Norway
Photography courtesy of Grace Lee-Weitz | Hop Culture
Schwarzbier – Whoever said black crows are bad luck? Quite by accident, we visited Crow Bryggeri in Oslo during the last day of its Lager Week. Literally, the bartender, who introduced himself to us as Eddie, told us that normally the brewpub’s draft list only includes one or two lagers. When we went, bottom-fermenting beers had commandeered almost the entire twenty taps.
Those like the bar’s own Black Crow Lager, a smooth, dark, creamy schwarzbier with Saaz and New Zealand Pacific Gem hops.
Since it was a slightly slow day at Crow, Eddie brought this beer to us to try first. We liked it so much that we ordered a whole pint.
As we sipped and read, we struck up a conversation with the guy next to us, who just happened to have lived in California for fifteen years.
Eddie saw us deep in conversation and offered us a little shooter of Norway’s legendary Aquavit, a Scandinavian spirit made with botanicals like caraway, dill, fennel, citrus, and anise.
We suppose the incredible hospitality here could cloud our judgment (or maybe it was the Aquavit), but beer tastes better with great conversation and good friends, right? Even those you’ve just met.
Nitro Stout – Schouskjelleren Mikrobryggeri
Oslo, Norway
Photography courtesy of Grace Lee-Weitz | Hop Culture
Irish Dry Stout – We almost didn’t make it to Schouskjelleren Mikrobryggeri, bordering on the edge of absolute tiredness after a day galavanting to Oslo’s Opera House, famed dockside saunas, and trying something called eFoiling.
But we’re so glad we pushed through.
Located in the basement of the former Schous brewery, this tiny taproom is a bit hard to find. Walk down some creepy stairs and find yourself in a dungeon of drafts. The brick-walled cellar with its lights drawn very low creates a haunting atmosphere that’s equal parts moody and mysterious.
In other words, perfect for drinking something dark like a Nitro Stout. Like its creator, this beer showed levels, burrowing beneath the surface for a dark ale that gave us smoked, roasted almonds, cream, chocolate-covered bacon, and espresso beans.
The creaminess from its nitro presentation balanced perfectly with an extreme dryness, which abruptly cut off all the wonderful flavor at the end, giving you the immediate desire to take another sip.
Tropical Skull – Salama Brewing Company
Espoo, Finland
Photography courtesy of Grace Lee-Weitz | Hop Culture
Hazy – Straight off the plane in Helsinki, Salama Brewing Co-Founder Christian Holmlund whisked us away to the brewery’s new production facility in Kerava. Where, straight off the canning line, he cracked a fresh-as-fresh-can-be can of Tropical Skull.
It could have been circumstance, but this hazy hit our dopamine highs, lighting up all the pleasure centers of our cranium.
A whipping whirlwind of orange, clementine, papaya, pineapple, and mango, this high-pressure system rained down on us like a hazy hailstorm.
Our first beer in Finland impressed us so much that it stayed with us the entire trip; even back in the States a month later, it’s still one of our favorites.
Red Neck – Olarin Panimo x One Pint Pub
Helsinki, Finland
Photography courtesy of Grace Lee-Weitz | Hop Culture
American Red/Amber Ale – One of the best breweries in Helsinki, Olarin Panimo, teamed up with one of the best beer pubs in Finland’s capital to brew Red Neck.
This risque red ale recently nabbed gold at the Untappd Community Awards and prompted us to write in our notes, “best beer we’ve had since we’ve been in Finland.”
Sips with equal parts caramel malt and a firm handshake of hoppiness reminded us of sticky toffee pudding with just a whisper of herbaceous hops.
Bob’s Laundry – Kakola Brewing Company
Turku, Varsinais-Suomi, Finland
Photography courtesy of Grace Lee-Weitz | Hop Culture
Japanese Rice Lager – We’re saying it here first: Please bring the bar-with-a-laundromat trend to the States. To us, this is a brilliant concept. If you need to go to a laundromat, you’re guaranteed to be there for at least a couple of hours. And what do you do while you wait for your socks and shirts to wash and dry? Play a couple of Wordles? Read a few chapters? Catch up on YouTube? How much better would the wait to wash be if you could wash everything down with a beer?
In our travels, we’ve been to a few of these fluff, fold, and refresh places, including in Reykjavik, Copenhagen, and now Helsinki.
We visited Bob’s Laundry more out of necessity than anything, down to our last pair of clean tees during our latest European adventure.
Right now, we’re thanking our lucky socks for having to do laundry because we found a true hidden gem.
While you’ll find a series of sensational cocktails here (all printed on a linen menu that could be cut straight from a laundry bag), we enjoyed the eponymous beer—Bob’s Laundry.
Brewed by Kakola Brewing Company, this Japanese rice lager, as the bartender explained to us, is meant to be easy-drinking, crisp, and light enough to enjoy a few of while you fluff and fold.
Which is exactly what we did.
Salted Licorice Raspberry Sour – CoolHead Brew
Helsinki, Finland
Fruited Sour – All the cool kids on the block drink at CoolHead, located a little bit outside Helsinki’s city center. Situated in an old greenhouse, CoolHead’s glass triangle facade is almost as beautiful as its novelty fruited sours and IPAs…almost.
One of its staples, Salted Licorice Raspberry Sour, pays homage to Finnish people’s love of a salty, sweet treat called salmiakki. Since launching in 2018, CoolHead’s best-selling beer has racked up awards, including Finland’s best sour.
Expertly blending sweet, tart raspberries with tangy, dulcet salted licorice, this Nordic sour harmoniously represents CoolHead in all its effortless rizz (that’s charisma for anyone who isn’t a Gen Z).
Alchemy – Factory Brewing x Track Brewing Company
Kerava, Finland
Hazy – Known for its hedonistic hoppy ales, Factory Brewing in Finland can turn base malts, hops, water, and yeast into absolute gold.
Literally.
Earning a gold at the Untappd Community Awards in 2024, Alchemy hits an off-the-periodic-charts 4.12 rating on Untappd.
A collab with Track Brewing in Manchester, this hazy includes Citra and Motueka.
“The idea was to combine the most commonly used hops from both breweries. Track estimates that they use Citra the most. Statistically, it might be the most used by us as well, but if not the first, then certainly the second would be Motueka,” wrote Factory Head Brewer Jirka Ordén on Untappd. “So, in Manchester, we brewed a Citra and Motueka hazy IPA, just as we did here in our brewery at Klondyke. The hops are the same, but each brewery’s process makes these beers unique.”
The Cellar Tenth Anniversary Barleywine – Side Project Brewing
St. Louis, MO
Photography courtesy of Magic Muncie, Social Media Manager, Hop Culture
English Barleywine – For the second year in a row, Side Project had one of our favorite beers at the Firestone Walker Invitational. Is it any surprise that we named an English barleywine to our “9 Best Beers We Drank at the Firestone Walker Invitational 2024” and to this year’s best?
Nah, brah.
Because the folks at Side Project are abracadabra artists at blending these high-octane, malty monsters.
For The Cellar Tenth Anniversary Barleywine, Side Project blended its insanely high-rated M.J.K. with a few other experimental barleywines for a beer that’s magical all on its own.
Double Vanilla Macaroons Before Dying (2025) – North Park Beer Company
San Diego, CA
Photography courtesy of Magic Muncie, Social Media Manager, Hop Culture
Imperial Stout – If you’re looking for a first-class archetype of pastry stouts, turn to North Park; they’re making some of the best in the country.
The San Diego brewery’s entire Macaroons Before Dying series is like a Masterclass in pastry stout making. Its precision execution builds layers of decadent flavors, barrel expressions, and pure ecstasy in a sweet tooth’s glass.
The latest—Double Vanilla Macaroons Before Dying (2025)—blended Old Forester barrel-aged and Blanton’s bourbon barrel-aged stouts before conditioning on toasted coconut chips, shredded raw coconut, espresso beans, and vanilla beans from Comoros, Congo, and Papua New Guinea.
Rich, decadent, and stunningly good, this imperial stout felt like sipping on a box of beer-ified Girl Scout cookies.
Book Club Black Beer – Gold Dot Beer
McMinnville, OR
Photography courtesy of Magic Muncie, Social Media Manager, Hop Culture
Czech Dark Lager – In the land of lush emerald trees and bold hoppy beers, aka the Pacific Northwest, the free-flowing lager lovers at Gold Dot stand out. Much like their Czech dark lager, Book Club Black Beer, at the Firestone Walker Invitational.
Brewed in the classic Bohemian style, Book Club Black Beer uses floor-malted dark malts, undergoes decoction, couples Czech Sládek and Saaz hops, and endures extensive lagering.
We applaud Gold Dot’s meticulous approach to this delicious, understated beer style.
Tipopils – Birrificio Italiano
Limido Comasco, Italy
Photography courtesy of Foodbeast
Italian Pilsner – Another one of our top-rated beers from the Firestone Walker Invitational, Tipopils from Birrificio Italiano is pretty much the original Italian pilsner.
The story started in 1996 when founder Agostino Arioli set out to make a Northern German pilsner.
Fond of the style at the time, Arioli strove to brew something similar to a Jever Pils from Saxony’s Friesisches Brauhaus zu Jever. However, the final result created something new.
Failing to brew what he considered a “real” pils, Arioli veered in a different direction. Naming the beer Tipopils, or “kind of pils” in Italian, Arioli used a technique from his brewing brethren to the north: England. By putting Tipopils through an English cask dry-hopping process, Arioil added small amounts of hop pellets to the beer, imparting Old World hop flavor into an unfiltered pilsner.
Unfortunately, it’s hard to find this beer in America. While the base beer for Tipopils used to be imported by B. United and then dry-hopped in tanks in Connecticut, in 2020, new Italian laws put the kibosh on this. Until those laws change, we might just have to travel to Italy to try this innovative beer or wait until the Firestone Walker Invitational comes around every June!
Helles – FrauGruber Brewing
Gundelfingen, Germany
Photography courtesy of Magic Muncie, Social Media Manager, Hop Culture
Helles – A staple at the Firestone Walker Invitational, FrauGruber brought its highly rated Helles. Starting with pilsner malt, FrauGruber adds Mittelfrüh, Hersbrucker, Opal, and Select hops to its version of this iconic German lager for a beer that understates in its humbleness and over-delivers on its flavorfulness.
