Photo: franckreporter (Getty Images)
We know all about emotional support animals. At one point, they mostly consisted of dogs with the occasional cat. In recent years, we’ve seen the addition of tiny horses, pigs, and even peacocks. How much support most of these animals actually give, we don’t know. While we’re all for having dogs (and to some extent cats) around, we look for our emotional support elsewhere…like emotional support beers.
To poke fun at how over-the-top some of the emotional support animals were becoming, Brooklyn’s Floyd Hayes registered his favorite IPA as an emotional support animal back in January of 2020. Due to the obvious strangeness of this action, he made headlines around the world.
Recently, he teamed up with New York’s Woodstock Brewing to launch a beer aptly called “Emotional Support Beer.” This has us wondering which beers we’d select as our own emotional support beers. Check out our 10 selections below. As a bonus, we ranked them.
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Ranked! Emotional Support Beers
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10) Genesee Spring Bock (Bock)
Spring Bock is the Genesee Brewery’s take on the classic spring staple. It’s rich with a caramel sweetness that’s perfectly tempered with floral hops.
Photo: Genesee
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9) Schlafly Kolsch (Kolsch)
St. Louis’ Schlafly has a terrific take on the Kolsch style. This golden-hued ale is even brewed with a yeast strain from Germany. It’s crisp, dry, and malty.
Photo: Schlafly
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8) Creature Comforts Tritonia (Gose)
Creature Comforts’ take on the German gose is brewed with lime, cucumber, coriander, lactobacillus, and a healthy dose of sea salt. It’s sour, salty, and sweet. Everything you could want in a spring beer.
Photo: Creature Comforts
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7) Founders All Day IPA (Session)
Everything you need to know about Founders All Day IPA is right in the name. It’s 4.7% ABV and a perfect mix of hops, malts, and grains.
Photo: Founders
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6) Half Acre Daisy Cutty (Pale Ale)
This 5.2% well-balanced pale is ripe with mango, pineapple, grapefruit, and a nice backbone of bready biscuit and subtle resinous pine. It’s a classic, crushable beer that’s always there for you.
Photo: Half Acre
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5) Narragansett Lager (Lager)
If this crisp, refreshing, classic lager was good enough to be crushed by Quint in Jaws, it’s good enough for us to drink this spring (and well into the summer).
Photo: Narragansett
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4) Sloop Juice Bomb (Hazy IPA)
With a name like Juice Bomb, you know exactly what you’re getting: a warm hug in the form of a hazy, supremely juicy beer that’s bursting with flavors of mango, guava, pineapple, and fresh tangerine.
Photo: Sloop
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3) Troegs Dream Weaver (Wheat Beer)
If you wanted a slightly hazy, wheat beer that could rock you to sleep and send you happily into dreamland, this is it. This sessionable 4.8% brew is bursting with hints of clove and subtle black pepper.
Photo: Troegs
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2) Firestone Walker Pivo (Pilsner)
No spring beer list is complete without a solid pilsner. Pivo, with its dry, crisp, refreshing dry-hopped flavor might be the best option for spring sipping.
Photo: Firestone Walker
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1) Cigar City Jai Alai (IPA)
When it comes to classic, fresh, citrus-driven IPAs, you can’t really beat Cigar City Jai Alai. Even on the darkest, rainiest spring day, Jai Alai is a ray of tangerine, clementine, and lime sunshine.
Photo: Cigar City