Voodoo Ranger Juice Force IPA is a real problem (in a good way!)
Welcome back to FTW’s Beverage of the Week series. Here, we mostly chronicle and review beers, but happily expand that scope to any beverage that pairs well with sports. Yes, even cookie dough whiskey.
New Belgium makes America's top-selling craft beer for a few reasons. The most important one is that the Voodoo Ranger series of pale ales is pretty good. Maybe not better than you'll find at your local brewery, but consistent "B" material that's easy to default to.
That would be enough to earn fans, but VR earns a growing chunk of a shrinking beer market for two other key reasons. You can find it anywhere, and with a robust offering of imperial extensions, it provides a big boozy chunk of easy drinking, high-alcohol-by-volume beer at a reasonable price.
Juice Force IPA fits that bill. It's a hazy pale ale that promises bright fruit flavor and, importantly, 9.5 percent alcohol by volume. On top of that, it's available in my personal can of choice, the 19.2 ounce stovepipe. This particular can came as part of a summer 2024 promotion; the Bad Date Kit.
That meant I also got socks and a candle (which smells like "hoppy IPA" and is genuinely pretty great) and a box that said "tall boys only" to reassure me, a 5-foot-10 dad, that it's rough out there. It also meant that, for a time, you could text a special number and get a ready-to-use excuse to leave a date. Seems mean, but sure!
Solid marketing aside, let's see if Juice Force can live up to Voodoo Ranger's standard of "pretty good-ness."
Juice Force IPA: B
It pours a little lighter than expected for a hazy imperial IPA. It also pours with a lot of head; about two full inches on an eight-ounce pour. It slowly dies down to a quarter-inch of lace. It smells fruity with just a hint of astringent owing to the 9.5 percent ABV within.
The first sip is a blast of sweet orange juice. There's a little bit of IPA bitterness toward the finish, but the citrus is the alpha and omega of each sip. It's more like a beer-mosa than a pale ale.
There's value to this. It's very smooth, almost to the point of dangerousness considering it's 19 proof. There's a little thickness that keeps it from being chuggable, but it's not difficult at all to finish off a 19.2 ounce can in 20 minutes. In that regard, this is playing to New Belgium's biggest strength; high ABV, delivered uniquely in a beer that doesn't taste like it.
It's much sweeter than your typical hazy, however -- even your fruitiest coastal arrivals. I'd like a little more bitterness to snap off each sip, even if that dents the drinkability slightly. Still, it's tough to complain about a big, boozy brew that tastes like a beer cocktail and comes in a 19 ounce can.
Would I drink it instead of a Hamm's?
This is a pass/fail mechanism where I compare whatever I’m drinking to my baseline cheap beer. That’s the standby from the land of sky-blue waters, Hamm’s. So the question to answer is: on a typical day, would I drink Voodoo Ranger Juice Force IPA over a cold can of Hamm’s?
It depends on the situation. If I needed an extra boozy kick without tasting like one, I'd bite. A morning tailgate? That sounds perfect, actually. But in a typical day or night, Hamm's is still my huckleberry.
More beverage of the week!
Suja Organic's cold pressed juices are so dang expensive (but, sigh, worth it)
Boxed Water is a great idea that rises above or below its premise depending on the flavor
Lake Hour's canned cocktails are totally fine, which probably isn't enough in a crowded market
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Voodoo Ranger Juice Force IPA is a real problem (in a good way!)
