O’Hara’s Tropical IPA is the beer I reach for when I want something that tastes like summer no matter what the Irish weather is doing outside. Made by Carlow Brewing Company, it’s a hazy, juicy IPA loaded with tangerine, papaya and mango character, and it’s honestly one of my favorite beers going. Here’s what’s actually in the bottle, how it drinks, and why it’s worth having in the fridge.
At a Glance
| Brewery | Carlow Brewing Company (O’Hara’s), Bagenalstown, Co. Carlow, Ireland |
| Style | Hazy IPA / New England IPA |
| ABV | 7.2% |
| Format | 500ml bottle |
| My rating | 3.61 / 5 |
Who Makes It
Carlow Brewing Company was founded in 1996 by the O’Hara family in Bagenalstown, in Ireland’s historic malt-growing Barrow Valley region, and the O’Hara’s name has been on the label ever since. It was one of the first Irish microbreweries to get going, at a time when the Irish beer market was almost entirely macro lagers and stout, so the brewery leaned export-heavy in its early years before Irish drinkers caught up with their own craft beer scene. Tropical IPA sits in O’Hara’s core range alongside their Irish Stout, Irish Red and Double IPA, and it’s become one of the brewery’s most popular year-round releases.
What’s in the Glass
Tropical IPA pours a hazy, golden yellow with a soft, creamy head. The haze comes from a malt bill built on oats, wheat and barley, which gives it that fuller, rounder mouthfeel you want from a New England-style IPA instead of the drier crispness of a West Coast IPA. On the hop side, Carlow uses Mosaic, Azacca and El Dorado in the brew itself, then dry hops with Citra and Mosaic on top, which is where most of that tropical fruit punch comes from.
The nose leads with citrus, grapefruit and orange peel, backing up the tropical fruit theme without smelling like a fruit beer. On the palate it’s juicy and malt-sweet up front, and the tropical fruit carries through into the aftertaste as pineapple and mango combined with orange and citrus. At 7.2% ABV it’s stronger than a typical session IPA, and you can feel a bit of warmth on the finish, but it doesn’t drink boozy.
“An IPA bursting with flavours of tangerine, papaya, citrus and mango with a creamy mouthfeel.”, Carlow Brewing Company, official tasting notes
How It Rates
I’d put Tropical IPA at 3.61 out of 5, which is a solid, consistent score for a widely available hazy IPA rather than a limited small-batch release. It fits the New England / Hazy IPA style, which lines up with what’s actually in the glass: soft bitterness, big fruit-forward hop character, and a fuller body from the oats and wheat than you’d get from a clear, filtered IPA.
Serving It Right
Carlow recommends serving Tropical IPA at 6-8°C, cold but not fridge-freezing, so the tropical hop aroma actually opens up instead of getting locked down by the chill. A tulip or conical IPA glass helps concentrate that citrus and mango nose. On the food side, the brewery’s own pairing suggestion is a tomato and sourdough salad with blue cheese, and the acidity of the tomato plus the funk of the blue cheese both play well against the beer’s juicy sweetness. It also works well with spicier food, like a jerk chicken or a mild curry, since the fruit character can stand up to some heat.
- Big, genuine tropical fruit character from real dry hopping, not artificial flavoring
- Full, creamy mouthfeel from the oats and wheat, more satisfying than a lot of hazy IPAs
- Easy to find in Ireland and stocked at a fair number of specialist off-licences internationally
- 7.2% ABV means it’s not really a session beer, easy to underestimate how strong it drinks
- Outside Ireland it can take a bit of hunting down, since it’s not as widely exported as O’Hara’s Irish Stout
- If you’re after a bone-dry, bitter West Coast IPA, the malt sweetness here isn’t what you’re looking for
My Verdict
I keep coming back to Tropical IPA because it does the hazy, juicy IPA thing without tipping into being cloying or one-note. The dry hopping with Citra and Mosaic actually delivers on the tangerine and mango promise on the label, the body holds up from can to last sip, and 7.2% gives it enough backbone that it doesn’t taste like a watered-down summer shandy. If you’ve enjoyed other Irish IPAs like the Five Lamps IPA, or you want to see where it stacks up against Ireland’s other big names, our best Irish beers roundup is a good next stop.
O’Hara’s Tropical IPA is not sold through US delivery apps. Sierra Nevada Hazy Little Thing IPA is a comparable tropical, hazy US-available IPA, below.
FAQs
What does O’Hara’s Tropical IPA taste like?
It’s a hazy IPA with a big tropical fruit character, tangerine, papaya, mango and citrus up front from Citra and Mosaic dry hopping, with a creamy, malt-sweet body from oats and wheat.
What is the ABV of O’Hara’s Tropical IPA?
7.2% ABV, which is on the stronger side for a hazy IPA and higher than most session-style beers.
Who makes O’Hara’s Tropical IPA?
Carlow Brewing Company, an independent Irish family-owned brewery founded in 1996 and based in Bagenalstown, Co. Carlow.
How should I serve O’Hara’s Tropical IPA?
Carlow recommends 6-8°C in a tulip or conical IPA glass, which lets the tropical hop aroma open up without the beer being ice cold.
