Cloud Candy is Mighty Squirrel Brewing Co.’s flagship New England IPA, and the name is not doing any subtle marketing work: this beer is built around a wall of papaya, mango, and star fruit that reads more like dessert than beer at first sniff. I rate it 3.95 out of 5, with roughly 52,287 community ratings behind that score. The listed strength is 6.5% ABV, and the IBU most commonly cited for it is around 60, though Mighty Squirrel does not publish an official IBU figure for Cloud Candy on its current beer page, so I am treating that number as a widely repeated estimate rather than a confirmed spec.
Cloud Candy at a glance
| Beer | Cloud Candy |
| Brewery | Mighty Squirrel Brewing Co. |
| Style | New England / hazy IPA |
| ABV | 6.5% |
| IBU | Commonly cited as 60, not published officially |
| Calories | No official figure; third-party estimates put it around 220 per 12 oz |
| Hops | Double dry-hopped, widely reported to include Amarillo, Mosaic, and Citra |
| Rating | 3.95 out of 5 from roughly 52,287 community ratings |
What is Cloud Candy, and who brews it?
Mighty Squirrel Brewing Co. is a Massachusetts brewery that got its start in Boston in 2015 before building out its main brewery and taproom in Waltham, which opened in December 2018 at 411 Waverley Oaks Road. The founders set out to build a New England IPA that leaned all the way into tropical fruit character, and Cloud Candy became the beer that did it: papaya, mango, and star fruit dominate the aroma before you even get the glass to your mouth. If you want a quick primer on what makes this style different from a typical West Coast IPA, my guide to what makes a hazy IPA different covers the soft body, low perceived bitterness, and deliberately cloudy appearance that define the category.
I have gone through more than a few cans of this one over the years, usually pulled from a cooler at a summer cookout or a friend’s back porch, and it has stayed consistent: soft, sweet, and built for drinking more than one. That is very much the intent behind the New England IPA style as a whole, and Mighty Squirrel leans into it harder than most.
Cloud Candy ABV, IBU, and ingredients
Cloud Candy sits at 6.5% ABV, a standard strength for the New England IPA category: enough alcohol to carry the hop oils and body without tipping into double IPA territory. The IBU figure most often quoted for this beer is 60, but Mighty Squirrel’s own beer page does not list an official number, so I am flagging that as an estimate rather than a lab-verified fact. The same goes for calories: a commonly cited third-party figure puts Cloud Candy around 220 calories per 12 oz serving, but that has not been confirmed against an official nutrition label, so treat it as a ballpark rather than gospel.
What is confirmed is the brewing approach: Cloud Candy is double dry-hopped, a technique that adds hops after primary fermentation and again later in the process to maximize aroma without adding much additional bitterness. That is exactly why a 60 IBU beer can taste as soft and juice-forward as this one does; a West Coast IPA at the same IBU would taste considerably sharper. For more on how that number works generally, my guide to what IBU actually means explains why two beers with an identical IBU rating can taste completely different depending on when and how the hops were added.
Tasting notes
Cloud Candy pours a hazy, glowing gold with a thick white head that holds up well, exactly what you would expect from a heavily dry-hopped New England IPA. The nose is where the beer earns its name: ripe papaya and mango up front, with a lighter star fruit note underneath that keeps it from feeling one-dimensional. There is a candy-like sweetness to the aroma that some drinkers find irresistible and others find a little much, and I think that split is fair; this is a beer built around maximalist fruit character, not restraint.
On the palate, the sweetness continues but the finish is drier than the nose suggests it will be, a common trait in well-made hazy IPAs where the perceived sweetness comes almost entirely from hop-driven esters rather than residual sugar. The body is soft and a little creamy, likely helped along by oats or wheat in the grain bill, though Mighty Squirrel has not published a full malt bill for this beer, so I will not guess at exact proportions. Bitterness stays in the background throughout; if you are coming from a piney West Coast IPA, Cloud Candy will feel like a different beverage category entirely.
Food pairings
Cloud Candy’s tropical fruit intensity makes it a strong match for anything with a little heat or char. I like it alongside grilled fish tacos with a mango or pineapple salsa, where the beer’s own fruit character amplifies what is already on the plate rather than competing with it; my guide to the best beers to pair with tacos goes into more detail on why fruit-forward hazy IPAs work so well here. It also holds its own next to spicier dishes, like jerk chicken or a Thai curry, where the beer’s sweetness takes some of the edge off the heat without needing to be a dedicated sour or fruited beer.
For a backyard cookout setting, Cloud Candy pairs naturally with barbecue that leans sweet or smoky rather than vinegar-forward; think a sweet-glazed rib rather than a Carolina vinegar sauce. My beer and BBQ pairing guide has more on matching hop character to different barbecue styles if you are planning a spread around this can.
How Cloud Candy compares to other hazy IPAs
Cloud Candy sits toward the sweeter, more tropical end of the New England IPA spectrum. If you have had Tarantula Hill’s Liquid Candy, the name similarity is a coincidence, but the two beers do share a similar maximalist, dessert-adjacent approach to hop character. Compared to something sharper and more resinous, like Tired Hands’ Alien Church, Cloud Candy is softer and less complex, trading nuance for pure fruit-forward drinkability. And against a collaboration beer like Rippp from Outer Range and Commonwealth, which brings more of a citrus-pine edge, Cloud Candy again lands on the sweeter, simpler side of the style.
None of that is a knock. Cloud Candy knows exactly what it is trying to do, and it does it consistently, which is part of why it has stayed a mainstay in Mighty Squirrel’s lineup for years.
Where to find similar beers
I could not verify Cloud Candy itself as currently available through Saucey, so here are five similar hazy IPAs that are stocked there if you want something in the same style while you track down a can of Cloud Candy locally.
Should you try Cloud Candy?
If you like your hazy IPAs sweet, tropical, and unapologetic about it, Cloud Candy delivers exactly what its name promises. It is not a beer for anyone chasing bitterness or a piney, resinous hop profile; check my broader IPA primer if you are still figuring out which sub-style suits you. For everyone else who wants a can that feels like a mango smoothie with real backbone, this is a strong pick, especially for warm-weather drinking or a backyard cookout where a heavy beer would slow the whole afternoon down. Pace yourself with the alcohol, though; at 6.5% it is easy to underestimate how much you have had thanks to how smooth it drinks. My ABV explainer has more on why that matters more than people think.
FAQs
What does Cloud Candy IPA taste like?
Cloud Candy tastes like ripe papaya, mango, and star fruit up front, with a soft, slightly sweet finish and very little perceived bitterness, typical of the New England IPA style.
What is the ABV of Cloud Candy?
Cloud Candy is 6.5% ABV, a standard strength for a modern New England IPA.
What is the IBU of Cloud Candy?
Mighty Squirrel does not publish an official IBU figure. A commonly cited estimate is 60, but that number is not confirmed by the brewery.
Where is Cloud Candy brewed?
Cloud Candy is brewed by Mighty Squirrel Brewing Co., based in the Boston area with its main brewery and taproom in Waltham, Massachusetts.
What food pairs well with Cloud Candy?
Its tropical fruit character pairs well with grilled fish tacos, spicy dishes like jerk chicken or Thai curry, and sweeter, smokier barbecue.
Is Cloud Candy a good beginner hazy IPA?
Yes. Its low perceived bitterness and candy-sweet fruit character make it an approachable entry point for drinkers new to the hazy IPA style.
