Spring is in full swing, and so is our beer fridge. Whether we\u2019re hunting down a grail release, craving something crisp and seasonal, or just looking for a reliable go-to that never disappoints, May delivers on all fronts. The taps are flowing, the ratings are climbing, and the Hop Culture Shop is stocked with some genuinely exciting stuff right now.<\/p>\n
Every month, our team digs through the noise to find the beers and boxes actually worth your time and money\u2014not the dusty shelf-sitters, not the hype-bait, but the releases that earn their reputation one sip at a time. We\u2019re talking highly rated, community-vetted, seasonally perfect picks that reflect what\u2019s truly exciting in craft beer right now.<\/p>\n
This month\u2019s list runs the full spectrum: a top-rated box packed with grail-worthy names, a stunning Italian pilsner built for warm afternoons, a bold red IPA that just snagged gold at the Untappd Community Awards<\/a>, and a classic hazy IPA that\u2019s been earning its place for over two decades. Oh, and a glass worth raising.<\/p>\n These are the three best beers\u2014and one standout glass\u2014in the shop right now.<\/p>\n The cr\u00e8me de la cr\u00e8me just leveled up.<\/p>\n The Untappd Top-Rated Box<\/a> is back\u2014and this time, it\u2019s higher rated, higher ABV, and higher intensity than ever.<\/p>\n We\u2019re not just talking about hype. We\u2019re talking about the beers your Untappd friends won\u2019t shut up about. The ones that disappear in seconds. The ones you trade for, chase down, and screenshot.<\/p>\n Inside this next-level drop, you\u2019ll find:<\/p>\n \ud83c\udf7bAnchorage From ultra-luxe barrel-aged stouts to absurdly decadent smoothie sours and dialed-in hazies\u2014this is a lineup built differently.<\/p>\n Straight heaters.<\/p>\n Every beer in this box earns its spot the only way that matters: through ratings from the Untappd community. That means you\u2019re getting the best of what everyone\u2019s talking about right now.<\/p>\n And like any true grail release\u2026it won\u2019t last.<\/p>\n We kept quantities tight to keep quality high.<\/p>\n Once they\u2019re gone, they\u2019re gone.<\/p>\n So if you\u2019ve ever wanted to drink at the very top of the mountain\u2014this is your moment.<\/p>\n Buy the Box<\/a><\/p>\n Italian Pilsner<\/strong> \u2013 One of our \u201cBest New Breweries of 2024,\u201d <\/a> Marlowe Artisanal Ales<\/a> focuses on pub beers, highly drinkable ales, and lagers. And actually, we think that makes this spot pretty underrated. In our humble opinion, we see no reason why Marlowe couldn\u2019t crack New York\u2019s top fifteen or even the top ten top-rated breweries (they currently sit at twenty-eight). <\/p>\n Half Time Beverage COO Jason Daniels actually turned us onto Marlowe Brewer and Owner Zac Ross in 2023, telling us that he is \u201cmaking some of the best beer I have had in a while, if not ever.\u201d<\/p>\n We\u2019ve enjoyed many Marlowe beers over the years, including The Broken & The Dead<\/a>, an incredibly highly rated 4.16\ud83c\udf1f American brown ale brewed with Cascade, Centennial, and a touch of Columbus hops, and Marlito<\/a>, a 4.06\ud83c\udf1f Mexican lager with heirloom corn.<\/p>\n This year, Marlowe hit us over the head with brilliance again with Smells Like Spring<\/a>, an Italian pilsner collab with mixed-fermentation masters, The Seed, in New Jersey. Marlowe delicately hops this 5.3% lager with Hallertau Mittelfr\u00fch and Amira hops from the HVG co-op in Germany, adding a light dry-hop of Amira at the end of fermentation. This 4.21\ud83c\udf1f Italian lager, with its clean, crisp, lightly lemony bite, is an absolutely perfect homage to a season of blooming and renaissance. <\/p>\n Buy the Beer<\/a><\/p>\n Graphic courtesy of Untappd<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Red IPA<\/strong> \u2013 WeldWerks is no stranger to awards. In its over-a-decade-long history, the Greeley, CO-based brewery has racked up tons of recognition at both the Great American Beer Festival and World Beer Cup and was named best new brewery by USA Today\u2019s 10Best Reader\u2019s Choice Awards in 2016. <\/p>\n A gold winner during the Untappd 2026 Community Awards in the Red IPA category, Rojo Rising<\/a> continues WeldWerk\u2019s string of excellent creations. <\/p>\n Achieving a somewhat mischievously hard garnet color, this red IPA presents a plethora of produce-aisle citrus before backing into a bready finish with just a hint of pine. Medium-bodied, but robust enough to stand on its own in a forest of hoppy offerings, Rojo Rising certainly rises above the rest. <\/p>\n Buy the Beer<\/a><\/p>\n Photography courtesy of Hop Culture<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Hazy<\/strong> \u2013 When Noah and Peter Bissell started Bissell Brothers in Portland, ME, in 2013, they brewed only one beer for the first nine months\u2014The Substance<\/a>. Yes, that\u2019s right\u2014before Swish, before Reciprocal, and before LUX and Nothing Gold, there was this dialed-in hazy.<\/p>\n The brewery\u2019s flagship has endured over the last twenty-three years, earning a formula-breaking 4.12\ud83c\udf1f on Untappd in an incredibly crowded category. Brewed with one-hundred percent Maine-grown grain and \u201ca plethora of Pacific Northwest [hop] varieties both new and time-tested,\u201d Bissel Brothers describes this beer in its Untappd description as \u201cDank, citrus-forward, and herbaceous.\u201d <\/p>\n Buy the Beer<\/a><\/p>\n Photography courtesy of BeerAdvocate<\/p>\n<\/div>\n BeerAdvocate and its long-standing collective of beer geeks have been tasting and debating beers since pretty much the dawn of the internet.<\/p>\n Toast to the good times past and the better ones to come with BeerAdvocate Big Beers Barrel Glass<\/a>. <\/p>\n Engineered for those bottle shares you still have with friends and big, boozy barrel-aged stouts you want to share, this new epic drinking barrel reminds us why we got into drinking in the first place\u2014for the love of beer. <\/p>\nHop Culture\u2019s 3 Best Beers in the Shop This Month<\/h2>\n
Top-Rated Box<\/h3>\n
\ud83c\udf7bMortalis
\ud83c\udf7bRAR Brewing
\ud83c\udf7bSide Project Brewing
\ud83c\udf7bCLAG Brewing
\ud83c\udf7bBrujos Brewing<\/p>\nMarlowe Artisanal Ales \u2013 Smells Like Spring<\/h3>\n
\n<\/blockquote>\n
WeldWerks Brewing Co. \u2013 Rojo Rising <\/h3>\n
![\"weldwerks](\"https:\/\/www.hopculture.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/weldwerks-brewing-co-rojo-rising-untappd-community-awards-credit-untappd-1080x1440-1.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nBissell Brothers \u2013 The Substance<\/h3>\n
![\"bissell](\"https:\/\/www.hopculture.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/substance-pouring.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n\ud83d\udea8JUST ADDED \ud83d\udea8BeerAdvocate Big Beers Barrel Glass<\/h3>\n
![\"beeradvocate](\"https:\/\/www.hopculture.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/beeradvocate-barrel-glass-1000x1000-1.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n