The Top 15 Beers We Drank in August 2025

Busy-as-a-bee type of month here at Hop Culture. And not just because we spent an entire week talking about mead!

We recounted our nine-day adventures driving eight hundred miles around the entire country of Iceland, stopping at sixteen breweries along the way. Some of our favorites included KHB Brugghús, which had an incredible Czech lager, and Bruggsmiðjan Kaldi, which had…an incredible Czech lager. Go figure.

Back home, we celebrated some important anniversaries (including this publication’s parents’ fifty-ninth 😱). Dogfish Head hit the three-decade mark, Lawson’s Finest Liquids celebrated ten years of Sip of Sunshine, and one of our “Best New Breweries of 2024,” Elder Piper, celebrated its first year with an incredible anniversary beer.
What a joyous month to do some incredible drinking.

Hop Culture’s Top 15 Beers We Drank in August 2025

Kaldi Ljós – Bruggsmiðjan Kaldi

Árskógssandur, Iceland

Czech / Bohemian Pilsner – When we pull up to Bruggsmiðjan Kaldi, a short, stocky, red-haired man greets us boisterously. “Alright, guys, welcome to Kaldi. My name is Siggi,” he says energetically while introducing us to his sister, Esther, and mom, Agnes, whom he calls the “big boss.”

Started by Siggi’s parents almost two decades ago, Bruggsmiðjan Kaldi is a “family business,” as he tells us.

But Kaldi is more than just a collection of family members. In what seems like the middle of nowhere, in a place 250 miles (402 km) from Iceland’s capital, this building became the first-ever craft brewery in Iceland.

Before we meet more of Siggi’s family, he steers us to the bar. “Could I start you off with some beer?” he says proudly.

Swiftly grabbing a glass, he pours us each some clear, amber-gold liquid. Kaldi Ljós “is the first beer we brought to market,” explains Siggi, who learned the recipe from Kaldi’s first brewmaster, David Masa, when he turned sixteen.

As he sets down the branded tulip glass in front of us, he explains that the beer is called Ljos, which means “light” in Icelandic.

The Czech pilsner has a pleasant maltiness that borders on nuttiness, which Siggi attributes to the single decoction process (a method of drawing off a set volume of malt from the mash and boiling the cracked grains). “It brings out more Maillard reaction, the caramelization into the beer,” he tells us.

This is the beer Siggi trots out first, like his prized fighter. When a couple walks in randomly during our visit, they ask Siggi about his favorite. He responds without hesitation, “I always like to start people with our Czech Pilsner.”

We covered Kaldi’s full story in a piece we put out last month. This one is worth your time today.

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Borghildur – KHB Brugghús

Borgafjörður Eystri, Iceland

Czech / Bohemian Pilsner – Forty-three and a half miles from the nearest city, over a mountain pass, and out on the Northeastern Icelandic coast, a peeling white and pink building belies a modern brewery within.

Here, in the middle of nowhere, at the edge of the world, we found a brewery making one of, if not the best, Czech pilsners in all of Iceland.

KHB Brugghús opened in the coastal village of one hundred people called Borgarfjörður eystri.

In summer, people flock in the thousands (67k on average) to visit Puffin Island, a crag in the middle of the ocean that puffin colonies call home for the nesting season.

KHB Brugghús Co-Founder Helgi Sigurdsson, along with his partner Auður Vala Gunnarsdóttir, purchased the old grocery store in 2016.

Standing for Kaupfélag Héraðsbúa, a local cooperative that originally operated where the brewery now stands, KHB’s building dates back to 1897, making it one of the oldest in the village. But the grocery store and community co-op eventually went bankrupt.

When Helgi and Auður started KHB, they petitioned the town’s three-person council to use the original name and logo, hoping to preserve the co-op’s legacy.

“The building was so deeply rooted in local memory,” says Helgi. “We’ve been proud to carry the heritage forward.”

One beer in particular in this nautical-themed taproom stood out to us—the Borghildur Czech pilsner.

Curious how a top-notch Czech pilsner made its way to a remote village in Iceland?

So were we.

“We got in contact with a brewer in Czechia,” Helgi told us. “A former head brewer for Pilsner Urquell.”

Josef Krýsl landed in Borgarfjörður eystri per special entry and under strict regulations during the summer of 2021—what Helgi calls the “COVID summer.”

Stuck in the little Icelandic town, the former brewmaster who now travels the world building kits for breweries couldn’t leave for a few months.

“So he taught us how to brew,” laughs Helgi.

Can you imagine a better scenario for a new brewery than a former Pilsner Urquell brewmaster unable to leave your town for several months with nothing better to do than write recipes and show you the ropes?

KHB Head Brewer Þorsteinn Brandsson (aka Steini), who lives in a yellow house we passed on the way in, worked side by side with Krýsl, gaining invaluable knowledge and experience.

For Borghildur, which won a silver medal at the London Beer Competition in March 2024, Steini starts with a Pilsen malt from Sladovna Bruntál. He does a single decoction, “but with a recipe and guidance from my Czech brewmaster,” he wrote to Hop Culture after our visit. For hops, Steini notes that he adds Premiant for bittering and Saaz for aroma and flavor.

To this day, Steini still calls Krýsl with questions.

“It was truly fantastic to have Josef as our mentor,” says Helgi. “We were incredibly fortunate to have him join us.”

And we were fortunate to taste this beer.

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Eldfell Volcano Red Ale – The Brothers Brewery

Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland

American Amber Ale – Eldfell, a volcano on the island of Heimaey in Iceland, last erupted just over fifty years ago in 1973.

The red ale of the same name (Eldfell Volcano Red Ale), brewed by Brothers Brewery, is an homage to the island’s sometimes not-so-gentle giant.

Since Brothers Brewery Co-Founder Jóhann Ólafur Guðmundsson gets most of his ingredients from the mainland (including water), when he has an opportunity to feature something local, he takes it. In Eldfell, he adds a local seaweed (dulse). “We go out and pick it and, over summertime, we dry it and freeze it,” he says. “It gives this umami flavor.” He balances that with some chilis, which also represent the heat and redness from the volcano.

The result is very subtle, but you get a lot of different flavors when you drink this beer. Much like the volcano itself can show you its softer side or its more dangerous side.

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The Lobster – Horn Brugghús

Höfn í Hornafirði, Iceland

Stout – A surprise stop on our trip, Horn Brugghús references the Vestra-Horn Mountain (nicknamed the “Batman Mountain” because, from a certain angle, it looks like the superhero’s logo). This local landmark, co-founder Toggi feels, is an integral part of the town’s identity.

“One of our goals for the brewery is to become a part of what people first think of when they mention the town of Höfn,” says Toggi. “Connecting our name to something truly local and never changing sort of anchors us and helps in finding our way forward.”

Toggi has roots in the area, where he actually started a now-closed brewery called Jón Riki at his parents-in-law’s guesthouse in Hólmur (and coincidentally where we stayed this night—more on that below).

Toggi developed an appreciation for beer while attending the University of Ghent. Drinking cheap beers eventually morphed into guezes from Cantillon and Belgian strong ales from the local student hangout, Delirium Café.

When he started Jón Riki, Toggi thought, “How hard can it be?” When they bought a 350-litre brew kit, “We had no idea what we were doing,” he laughs. “It was always just a hobby and, of course, learning how to brew.”

Eventually, Toggi’s hobby outgrew the tiny corner of the dining room at his in-laws’ bed and breakfast. He upgraded to Horn, which he now owns with three other local families. He hopes the brewery will be a pit stop for folks like us, traveling from the glacial lagoon and onward around the Ring Road.

“We have no interest in selling beer anywhere except our local area,” he explains as he shows us around.

As the only craft brewery in the area, Horn already has a pretty solid customer base. Consistently good beer made by locals draws people in.

“We’re not going to hit a home run with each one,” says Toggi. “We want to learn, learn, learn to be consistently good … with not just beer nerds but everybody.”

For instance, The Lobster, one of the most unique beers Horn makes. The 6.5% ABV stout includes a lobster stock as a nod to the building’s roots as an old fishing facility and slaughterhouse. “It doesn’t add much, but it gives a little taste from the ocean,” says Toggi. “If you want, you can definitely taste the lobster.

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Djúpið – Dokkan Brugghús

Isafjörður, Iceland

Irish Red Ale – The most remote brewery in Iceland, Dokkan Brugghús, is located in Isafjörður. The first brewery in the West Fjords opened in October 2017 and believes the incredibly clear, low-mineral-content, high-alkaline water that trickles down from the mountains towering right outside its doors makes all the difference.

We really enjoyed the Djúpið, a red ale made with seaweed. We got a toasted rice exterior, similar to the slightly crunchy rice at the bottom of a Dolsot Bibimbap (known as nurungi in Korean) or a Spanish paella (called socarrat). We did get a slight salinity, probably from the addition of dulse, but mostly this pleasantly malty, caramely liquid just felt like a pint for the soul after a six-hour day of driving.

Pretty sure we ordered two of these.

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Blíða – Ægir Bryggeri

Reykjavík, Iceland

Irish Dry Stout – ​​You can’t leave Reykjavik without going to Ægir. While the brewery does have a taproom attached to its production facility on the outskirts of the city, it’s much easier to access the Ægir 101 Bar, right in the heart of Reykjavik.

You can’t miss the corner pub at the end of Reykjavik’s “rainbow street,” which is precisely what it sounds like—a pedestrian walkway with a giant red-orange-yellow-green-blue-purple mural running through the center.

Since it was just after noon, I opted for the Blíða, a 4.7% dry Irish stout. Ægir 101 has a back beer garden that overlooks the rainbow road, so we recommend taking your pint out there for a side of people watching.

You just never know who you might see or meet.

We struck up a conversation with a guy who sat down and started a watercolor painting in his sketchbook. He turned out to be a street artist named Kalli Youze, whose murals we had just admired while strolling through Reykjavik.

Now, if you can think of a more perfect way to end our nine-day trip in Iceland, we’re listening.

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Grateful Dead Juicy Pale Ale – Dogfish Head Craft Brewery

Milton, DE

American IPA – What is the beer you’re most proud of over Dogfish Head’s thirty-year history?

With 1,312 beers listed on Untappd and three decades’ worth of iconography, you’d think Dogfish Head Co-Founder Sam Calagione should have trouble answering this question.

But for Sam, “That’s actually an easy one,” he tells me. “They’re the two I drink the most.”

The recently released Grateful Dead Juicy Pale Ale has become Dogfish Head’s fastest-growing beer in the history of the company, even compared to 60-Minute IPA (more on that later).

Made with granola and Kernza, the juicy pale ale certainly passes Dogfish Head’s litmus test.

“It’s dry, refreshing, and super poundable,” says Sam. “It works really well for multi-pint nights.”

Considering we drank two of these beers while writing our entire piece covering Dogfish Head’s history, we’d say we have to agree!

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Sip of Sunshine – Lawson’s Finest Liquids

Waitsfield, VT

Double IPA – What do you get when you mix a college student reading The Complete Joy of Homebrewing, a Toyota Prius full of beer, and a wild dream that started in a 280-square-foot shed? You get Lawson’s Finest Liquids, whose iconic Sip of Sunshine became one of the juiciest, most dangerously drinkable IPAs.

When Lawson’s Finest Liquids launched in 2008, fans swarmed the Green Mountains of Vermont, eager to get a taste of founder and co-owner Sean Lawson’s coveted hoppy ales. The brewery became like a secret handshake. If you know, then you hop in a car and drive, sometimes hundreds of miles, to be at a general store at a particular time on a specific day, beating the delivery truck to ensure you can pick up a couple of bottles.

But there’s a lot more to this iconic sunny yellow can than meets the eye (spoiler: yes, there is a hidden sun on the label).

This year, Sip of Sunshine celebrates its tenth anniversary, so we sat down with Lawson’s Finest Liquids Co-Founder Sean Lawson to relive all the memories. From washing dishes in Colorado to brewing Sip of Sunshine in Connecticut, and the entire liquid legacy in between, here are the ten things you didn’t know about Sip of Sunshine.

That’s our teaser for you to go read our entire article on the iconic history of this iconic beer. It’s pretty tasty.

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Sandhill Crane – Elder Piper Beer & Cider

Petoskey, MI

Saison – Elder Piper Co-Founder Trace Redmond approaches brewing at Elder Piper with an endless thirst for discovering the world through drink and a respect for local ingredients.

A rich agricultural state, Michigan has a cornucopia of raw materials.

“It’s the second biggest producer of apples in the country and the fourth biggest producer of hops,” Trace enlightens me. Living right to the north of the Fruit Belt outside of Traverse City, Elder Piper has access to cherries, apples, and more.

“I’m trying to showcase that,” explains Trace, who uses a lot of local malt, hops, and fruit. “I try to find ways to show them off in the best way possible.”

For instance, Sandhill Crane, a petite saison released for Elder Piper’s second anniversary. The one hundred percent Michigan malt and hopped saison ferments with an expressive yeast grown in-house, along with different saison yeasts and Brettanomyces. Bottle-conditioned for several weeks, this beer is what Trace calls “a very nerdy version of a light summer beer.”

Trace and Co-Founder Eeva Redmond kindly sent us one of their precious bottles to try.

This beer drinks like walking through a field on a summer day. It’s everything you love about a wild ale—fermentation, funk, flowers blooming in a meadow—but it somehow magically doesn’t dry out your palate. Saisons have a history of quenching Belgian farmers’ thirst during their hard work in the field. We imagine this is the type of beer they were drinking.

Overall, Eeva is especially proud of the brewery’s saisons. “I love the way they constantly change and evolve,” says Eeva of the somewhat romantic style. “I’m really proud of the way [our saisons] have created an expression and captured that taste of up north that I’m always trying to chase.”

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Florida Lychee – Zymarium Meadery

Orlando, FL

Mead – At Zymarium Meadery (one of our “Top Hidden Gem Places to Drink in 2024”), mead is magic. Co-Founder and Meadmaker Joe Leigh is a wizard at finding new flavors, experimenting with old ones, and combining complementary notes to make something you’ve never tasted before, bringing new regions of the world to life.

For instance, Florida Lychee, a session mead at 6.5% ABV, debuted on the opening day menu, but was originally just a mead Leigh made for himself.

“Whenever I eat lychees, I can never eat enough to be satisfied,” says Leigh, who made a mead that would drink like a really amazing glass of fresh lychee juice with orange blossom honey.

The mead turned out sweet, juicy, refreshing, and tropical.

One small experimental batch blew up.

Videos of the mead on TikTok had influencers crowding into Zymarium for the lychee mead.

Folks lined up for hours at festivals just to try it.

“People would walk in, and if we didn’t have the lychee mead, they just said see you later,” recounts Leigh, who quickly realized they needed to make this mead a flagship.

Currently, the lychee mead easily outsells every other one at Zymarium by two to one.

“It has become our gateway mead,” says Leigh, who emphasizes that Zymarium intentionally has a mead for everyone.

If you’re ever in Orlando, you might want to skip Disney World and head over to this magic mead kingdom instead. Just sayin’.

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Sauna Snacks – Mount Holly Beer

Mount Holly, VT

Pilsner – Earlier this year, Dan Tilly, founder of Mount Holly Beer in Vermont, traveled all the way across the Atlantic Ocean to Ruukki, Finland, one hundred miles south of the Arctic Circle. Why? Because he was chasing a Nordic heirloom barley variety.

A purveyor of single-origin lager, Mount Holly Beer wanted to showcase Balder, a strain of barley responsible for most of the beer brewed throughout the ‘40s and ‘50s in Nordic countries.

Grown by Pehkolan Mallastamo (Pehkola’s Malthouse), Balder had adapted to thrive in a place where the sun hardly ever sets in the summer, the primary growing season.

Mount Holly Beer secured sacks of the grain and shipped them to Boston Harbor before they traveled even further north to Mount Holly, VT.

Once in Vermont, Mount Holly Beer brewed a pilsner with a lengthy step mash to help preserve flavor while producing a crisp, clean lager.

An addition of the experimental hop HBC 1134 gives this beer a sort of old-meets-new vibe.

It’s a unique grain, and Mount Holly Beer’s Sauna Snacks is an exceptional beer.

With parents of Finnish heritage, Tilly felt especially honored to illustrate flavors from a grain variety with heritage and heart.

We were lucky enough to receive a fresh four-pack from Mount Holly Beer once Tilly returned from his trip.

This is an extremely expressive pilsner with flavors we honestly have a hard time pinning down because it’s just not something we’ve found almost anywhere else. We’re getting a bread basket—you know, like the ones they serve at a fancy restaurant that has like five different varieties ranging from sticks to biscuits to crackers. The finish is somehow juicy-ish, bright, and refreshing with a zip that just keeps you wanting to come back for more.

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Betsy – Gweilo Beer

Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong

Pale Ale – What is the one place where it is socially acceptable to drink beer at any time of the day—morning or night?

An airport or an airplane, of course!

Brewed in collaboration with Cathay Pacific, Betsy from Gwelio Beer in Hong Kong takes that idea to a whole new altitude (get it?).

Named after Cathay Pacific’s very first aircraft, Betsy, this pale ale honors the 500,000 rivets, 700,000 parts, and 6,000 craftsmen that worked on that 1940s Douglas DC-3 twin prop plane.

“Betsy Beer captures the spirit, dedication, and innovation that’s always defined Cathay Pacific,” wrote the company in a press release.

Brewed specifically to drink well up in the air, Betsy has a robustly smooth malty, biscuity base with a great citrus lift from the locally sourced orange peel added during the boil and an aromatic dry hop.

Although “brewed to shine at altitude,” according to Cathay Pacific, Betsy drinks just as well with its wheels on the ground.

As we can attest.

However, we will say—the only thing that would have made this beer better?

Actually drinking it as intended at 35,000 feet while in a Cathay Pacific first class seat on our way to Hong Kong! Maybe someday.

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Howdy Beer – Howdy Beer

Lafayette, CO

Pilsner – Howdy Beer calls its eponymous pilsner “The Friendliest Beer in America.”

With a tagline like that, how could we not fall in love with Howdy Beer, an approachable Colorado lager that’s as crystal clear as the many streams and rivers running through The Rockies.

“There’s no gesture friendlier than greeting someone with a ‘howdy’ and a delicious All-American Pilsener,” writes the brewery in the beer’s Untappd description.

This is the kind of no-fuss, no-muss American-style lager that stays by your side like a loyal companion, whether you’re in a cabin by the lake, on a beach by the ocean, on a lounge chair by the pool…we could go on and on, but we think you get the picture.

Especially at only 4.5% ABV, this clean, crisp, medium-body pilsner is just the highly likable lager most likely to win Everyone’s Best Friend in the high school yearbook.

And, we’re not the only ones who think so. Howdy Beer has taken home gold from the 2016 U.S. Open Beer Championship in the American pilsner category, silver at the 2014 Great American Beer Festival (GABF) for “American/International-Style Pilsener,” and bronze at the 2015 Colorado State Fair and has high ratings from both BeerAdvocate (96) and Craft Beer and Brewing (97).

This beer is almost like a secret handshake. If you know, you know.

Well, now, you know.

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Side Pull – Fair State Brewing Cooperative x Bierstadt Lagerhaus

Minneapolis, MN x Denver, CO

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Czech Pale Lager – I first met Bay Area-based Paulista Co-Owner Jesse Madway at Wondrous—one of my favorite breweries in Northern California. A couple of years later, when Madway started a new event at his Brazilian craft-centric beer bar in the Glenview neighborhood of the East Bay, he hit me up.

Part industry event, part social meet-up, Beer Friends encourages those who work in beer and just love beer to come out to Paulista on the last Thursday of every month for an informal gathering. With the idea that beer has the power to socially lubricate, Beer Friends hopes to connect folks with a common passion.

When I walked into the most recent gathering, folks crowded by the bar. Many, if not all, cupping dimpled Czech mugs of a pale, clear liquid gold with a frothy head. I knew immediately they were drinking beer, probably a Czech pale lager, pulled from a side pull.

Little did I know, this Czech-style pale lager from Fair State in Minnesota had an apt name—Side Pull.

Crispy, crusty, and crushable, Side Pull was everything I wanted to pluck up my courage and start chatting with folks.

Those I struck up a conversation with mentioned how much they love Paulista for its cosy, neighborhood feel and thoughtfully curated beer. Events like Beer Friends help too.

If you’re in the Bay, we challenge you to get to Paulista the last Thursday of every month (or any time really), grab yourself a Side Pull, and strike up a conversation with someone you’ve never met before.

Trust us; it’s worth it.

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King Julius – Tree House Brewing Company

Charlton, MA

DIPA – Originally brewed for Tree House’s fourth-anniversary celebration, King JJJuliusss takes the brewery’s OG King Julius (which also warrants significant consideration) and does an extra kettle-hop and extra dry-hop.

“The result is an incredibly intense citrus hop blast unlike anything we’ve experienced here at Tree House,” the brewery writes. “This beer challenges the senses and rewards the palate as it warms in the glass. Complex, raw, and beautiful, the amplified King is a beer we are excited to share with you.”

Big notes of mango, orange, and grapefruit hold court in this royal beer, challenging any other beer in the kingdom to dethrone it as one of Tree House’s best beers they’ve ever made.

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