Best Caramel Beers: 10 Ranked From Bold to Easy-Drinking

We have covered coffee, peanut butter and vanilla beers on this site, and caramel is the flavor that shows up as a supporting player in most of them without ever getting its own list. That changes here.

Caramel in beer usually comes from two places: dark crystal malts that naturally taste toasty and sweet when kilned, and actual caramel or caramelized sugar added during or after brewing for a more direct hit. The biggest, boldest beers below combine both, adding real caramel or salted caramel flavoring on top of an already rich, barrel-aged malt base, which is why they also tend to run the highest in ABV and the most limited in availability. Below are 10 worth trying, ranked from the biggest and boldest down to the easiest to just grab and drink, with real ABV, brewery and rating data for each, plus a note on which ones you can get delivered through Saucey right now.

Short on time? Our top 5 caramel beers at a glance:

Bottle Logic Quarter Up! Bourbon Barrel-Aged Salted Caramel Stout

13.96% ABV, Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout

New Holland Dragon’s Milk Reserve Salted Caramel

11% ABV, Imperial Pastry Stout

Anderson Valley Salted Caramel Bourbon Barrel Aged Porter

9.5% ABV, Bourbon Barrel-Aged Porter

Firestone Walker Parabolita

9.2% ABV, Bourbon Barrel-Aged Salted Caramel Stout

Due South Caramel Cream Ale

5% ABV, Cream Ale

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1. Bottle Logic Quarter Up! Bourbon Barrel-Aged Salted Caramel Stout

A collaboration with the pinball wizards at Phase Three Brewing, Quarter Up! ages an imperial stout in bourbon barrels and finishes it with cacao nibs, caramel and Hawaiian black lava salt, a combination Bottle Logic calls a bourbon barrel-aged salted caramel chocolate stout. Bottle Logic has built a serious cult following in the barrel-aged scene, and this 2021 vintage shows up sporadically through specialty bottle shops and trading rather than any regular release schedule, so expect prices and availability to swing depending on how recently it dropped.

2. Prairie Caramel Puf’t

Part of Prairie’s playful Puf’t and Stuf’t series, Caramel Puf’t ages an imperial stout in bourbon barrels and adds caramel and toasted marshmallow, landing somewhere between a s’more and a caramel sundae. It holds a 4.17 average on Untappd across more than 1,700 ratings, and like most Prairie specialty releases it comes in 12oz cans through limited drops rather than a standing shelf presence, so following the brewery’s own release calendar is the more reliable way to track one down than checking a regular liquor store.

Not currently listed on Saucey; check Prairie Artisan Ales’s own site or your local bottle shop for availability.

3. Founders KBS Caramel

KBS Caramel takes Founders’ legendary Kentucky Breakfast Stout base, already loaded with coffee and chocolate from a year in bourbon barrels, and adds a caramel dimension that BeerAdvocate rated 92 out of 100, one of the strongest scores on this list. Despite the intensity, reviewers note the 12% ABV drinks smoother than the number suggests thanks to the full body carrying the alcohol well. It is a limited annual variant in the KBS lineup, released as a 4-pack alongside the standard KBS and other flavor variants each January.

Not currently listed on Saucey; check Founders Brewing Co.’s own site or your local bottle shop for availability.

4. New Holland Dragon’s Milk Reserve Salted Caramel

Built on the same Dragon’s Milk base that ages for three months in bourbon barrels, the Salted Caramel Reserve variant layers sweet and salty caramel flavor on top of the coffee and dark chocolate notes the series is known for. It carries a strong 93 score on BeerAdvocate and close to 16,000 Untappd ratings at a 4.22 average, genuinely well-reviewed numbers for a beer this widely distributed. It is part of New Holland’s rotating Reserve series, so it comes and goes seasonally rather than sitting on shelves year-round.

5. Southern Tier Salted Caramel

Part of Southern Tier’s long-running Blackwater dessert-stout series, Salted Caramel takes a base imperial milk stout brewed with lactose and adds Himalayan pink sea salt and caramelized sugar to mimic the actual candy. BeerAdvocate scored it 4.13 out of 5, with some individual reviews as high as 4.75, reflecting how well the sweet-and-salty balance lands for fans of the style. It rotates in and out of the Blackwater lineup seasonally alongside stablemates like Creme Brulee and Chocolate Oranj.

6. Anderson Valley Salted Caramel Bourbon Barrel Aged Porter

Anderson Valley ages this porter for six months in Wild Turkey bourbon barrels, then adds crystal malts and sea salt to build flavors of peanut brittle and caramel without tipping into cloying territory. Reviewers describe a medium-light body with woody, slightly sweet bourbon notes and just a hint of coconut and banana on the nose, unusual descriptors for a caramel beer but ones that make sense once you consider how long it sat in barrel. It shows up nationally in specialty grocery and bottle shops as part of Anderson Valley’s regular seasonal rotation.

7. Firestone Walker Parabolita

Parabolita is Firestone Walker’s canned, more approachable spin on their famous Parabola barrel-aged imperial stout, blending a year of bourbon barrel aging with their Velvet Merlin milk stout for a silkier mouthfeel at roughly a third less ABV than the original. Madagascar vanilla beans, cocoa nibs and sea salt round it into a full salted caramel profile, and it holds a 4.14 average on Untappd across more than 16,000 ratings. It was the brewery’s first-ever canned vintage release and has become an annual fixture since debuting in 2022.

8. Clown Shoes Burnt Caramel

Clown Shoes built this brown ale around 500 pounds of burnt caramel supplied by Toscanini’s Ice Cream in Cambridge, giving it a deeper, slightly bitter caramel character than the sweeter stouts higher on this list. It carries more than 5,600 ratings on Untappd at a 3.58 average, a solid number for a regional brown ale, and it is packaged in 22oz bottles as a limited seasonal release rather than a year-round item, so it tends to show up and sell out in waves at bottle shops around New England.

Not currently listed on Saucey; check Clown Shoes Beer’s own site or your local bottle shop for availability.

9. Lone Tree Vanilla Caramel Amber

This fall seasonal has become one of Lone Tree’s most talked-about releases, an English-influenced amber ale built with pure Madagascar vanilla beans and chosen malts for full caramel notes without any of the barrel-aged intensity found earlier on this list. With more than 7,200 Untappd ratings, it has real reach for a Colorado regional brewery, distributed across Colorado and Kansas each autumn when it returns to cans. If you want a caramel beer that drinks like a classic amber ale rather than a dessert, this is the pick.

Not currently listed on Saucey; check Lone Tree Brewing Company’s own site or your local bottle shop for availability.

10. Due South Caramel Cream Ale

Due South built this beer specifically to showcase caramel notes from dark crystal malts, finishing with a touch of vanilla for a smooth, dessert-like sip at a genuinely sessionable 5% ABV. It has been a flagship at the brewery’s taproom since it opened in 2012 and remains on tap there permanently, alongside can distribution across Florida. If everything else on this list feels too heavy or too limited to track down, this is the easiest-drinking, easiest-to-find caramel beer here.

Not currently listed on Saucey; check Due South Brewing Co.’s own site or your local bottle shop for availability.

FAQs

Does caramel beer actually taste like caramel candy?

It depends on the brewing method. Beers with real caramel or salted caramel added directly, like Southern Tier’s Salted Caramel or Firestone Walker’s Parabolita, taste close to the actual candy. Beers that rely only on dark crystal malts for a natural caramel character, like Lone Tree’s Vanilla Caramel Amber, give a subtler, toastier caramel note rather than a direct hit of sweetness.

Why do so many caramel beers also include salt?

Salt cuts through the sweetness of caramel and stops it from becoming cloying, the same reason salted caramel became so popular in desserts generally. Several beers on this list, including Southern Tier’s, Anderson Valley’s and Firestone Walker’s, specifically add sea salt or Himalayan pink salt alongside the caramel for that same balancing effect.

What is the difference between a caramel stout and a caramel amber ale?

A caramel stout, like Founders KBS Caramel or Prairie Caramel Puf’t, is built on a dark, roasted malt base and usually barrel-aged, running 10% ABV or higher with a thick, dessert-like body. A caramel amber ale, like Lone Tree’s, uses lighter caramel and crystal malts without barrel aging, stays around 5 to 6% ABV, and drinks more like a classic session beer than a nightcap.

Are caramel beers sweeter than regular stouts or ambers?

Generally yes, especially the barrel-aged pastry stouts on this list that are built specifically to taste like dessert. Lactose or caramelized sugar is often added alongside the caramel flavoring to boost both sweetness and body, which is part of why these are usually sipped slowly rather than drunk a full pint at a time.

Can I get caramel beer delivered?

Several of the beers on this list, including Bottle Logic’s Quarter Up!, New Holland’s Dragon’s Milk Reserve Salted Caramel, Southern Tier’s Salted Caramel, Anderson Valley’s Salted Caramel Porter and Firestone Walker’s Parabolita, are listed on Saucey for local delivery where available. Coverage depends on your delivery address and current stock, so check the specific listing linked above rather than assuming every beer here ships everywhere.

Half of these ten add salt alongside the caramel, which tells you how much of modern caramel beer is really salted caramel beer at this point. If you want a starting point, Due South’s Caramel Cream Ale is the easiest to find and the easiest to drink a full pint of, while Bottle Logic’s Quarter Up! is the one worth hunting down for a special occasion.