3 Minnesota breweries package new variations of popular IPA brands

Three of Minnesota’s most popular breweries have new variations of their flagship IPA brands hitting the shelves in variety packs this summer.

New recipes of Summit’s Sága, Fulton’s Hop Kingdom and Surly’s Mosh Pit series will tap into the popularity of those brands but also try to generate new excitement by adding a twist of flavor.

On Wednesday at Summit’s Ratskeller, the St. Paul brewery formally released the first keg of its new Sága Juicy, a tangerine- and tropical-flavored spin on the original Sága IPA, which has been a staple at the brewery since 2012. The tangy “juiciness” comes from a grab bag of hops, including American Citra, Amarillo, Australian Galaxy and New Zealand Nectaron hops.

Sága Juicy will be available at other taprooms as well as packaged in the second installment of the Sága Goddess Series variety pack with three other flavors already available: the original Sága IPA, the Sága Hazy IPA and the ultra-hoppy Sága Imperial IPA.

At Fulton in Minneapolis, the brewery is now widely selling its Hop Kingdom series’ new American IPA. The beer originally debuted in a promotion tied to Gov. Tim Walz’s Minnesota fishing opener event in May. That timing makes sense when you see that a walleye adorns the label of the can, drawn by the brewery’s usual go-to artist Brent Schoonover in keeping the Hop Kingdom’s animal-kingdom-themed label motif.

The American isn’t exactly all American, as it boasts Motueka hops (from New Zealand) along with Citra and Galaxy. It’s part of a variety pack that includes the Hop Kingdom 300 IPA, Imperial IPA and Hazy IPA.

Surly has been brewing its Mosh Pit brand going back to 2019, when it debuted the hazy IPA originally named One Man Mosh Pit. This year it is selling that one as Mosh Pit Hazy alongside the tangier Mosh Pit Juicy and the hardy and high-octane Mosh Pit Imperial. The promo language for the Imperial brand describes it as a “full-on face melter,” also loaded with a variety of hops including Idaho 7, Sabro, Amarillo and more.

All three Mosh Pit beers have been widely on tap at the Minneapolis brewery since the weather turned warm, including at last week’s first installment of the Surly Brewing Festival Field concert series with the Pixies and Modest Mouse. They’re now being sold as an all-in-one Mosh Pit variety pack, too.

Here are the beer-geek stats on each of these new brews:

ABV (alcohol by volume): 5.2%

IBUs (International Bitterness Units): 55

ABV: 5.8%

IBUs: 35

ABV: 5.5% (Juicy), 7.2% (Hazy), 9% (Imperial)

IBUs: “low” (Hazy), “moderate” (Juicy and Imperial)