Sun King Fistful of Hops

Sun King Fistful of Hops is a 6.5% ABV American IPA from Indianapolis-based Sun King Brewing, released as a quarterly rotating hop series. What sets it apart from conventional IPAs is its unique concept: every quarter, the brewers build on the same malt backbone but swap in an entirely different hop bill, making each release a distinct exploration of hop character while maintaining a familiar foundation.

Quick Facts: ABV: 6.5%  |  IBU: 77  |  Origin: Indianapolis, Indiana  |  Style: American IPA  |  Brewery: Sun King Brewing Company

Production & Heritage

Sun King Brewing Company was founded in 2009 in Indianapolis, Indiana, by Clay Robinson and Dave Colt, quickly becoming one of Indiana's largest and most decorated craft breweries. The brewery earned eight medals, including four golds, at the 2011 Great American Beer Festival. Fistful of Hops is structured as a four-part quarterly series: each version shares a consistent malt base built around caramel and toasted malts, but the hop selection changes entirely with each release, yielding different aromatic and flavor profiles throughout the year. This rotating approach puts individual hop varieties — or curated blends — front and center against a dependable backdrop of bready sweetness.

Tasting Notes

Aroma: Grapefruit peel and fresh orange dominate the initial impression, followed by resinous pine and grassy, herbal undertones. A subtle toffee sweetness from the malt base holds everything together.

Taste: The entry brings a gentle wave of caramel malt and crusty, bready sweetness before a rush of citrus — grapefruit and orange — sweeps across the mid-palate. Pine resin, tropical fruit, and grassy bitterness build toward a firm, assertive peak that the 77 IBU would suggest without ever becoming harsh.

Finish: Medium-long, with lingering grapefruit pith and a dry, piney bitterness that slowly fades. The toasty malt provides just enough residual sweetness to keep the finish balanced rather than austere.

How to Drink Fistful of Hops

Pour into a tulip glass or IPA glass around 45–50°F to let the hop aromatics fully develop while keeping the malt complexity intact. Fistful of Hops works well in hop-forward cocktail applications: try it in a Beer Margarita, where the citrus hops amplify the lime; a Michelada, where its pine-resin backbone stands up to hot sauce and tomato; or a Shandy with fresh lemonade, where the grapefruit notes create a seamless citrus bridge.

Best For

• IPA enthusiasts who enjoy comparing hop-forward expressions side by side across releases
• Hosting a backyard barbecue where bold, citrus-driven beer cuts through smoky, charred flavors
• Gifting a craft beer fan who appreciates Indiana's brewing scene
• Building a quarterly tasting flight to explore how different hop varieties transform the same malt base

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Fistful of Hops taste like? Fistful of Hops leads with bright grapefruit and orange citrus over a toasty, caramel malt base, finishing with assertive pine resin and grassy bitterness at 77 IBU.

How does Fistful of Hops compare to Bell's Two Hearted Ale? Bell's Two Hearted Ale uses exclusively Centennial hops in every batch and sits at 7% ABV, delivering a consistent flavor profile each time. Fistful of Hops rotates its hop bill quarterly on a fixed malt base, so the flavor experience changes with each release, making it more of a series to follow than a single benchmark recipe.

Is Fistful of Hops good for IPA beginners? Its caramel and toffee malt backbone provides more sweetness than many West Coast-style IPAs, making it approachable, though 77 IBU delivers noticeable bitterness that might challenge true hop novices.

Where is Fistful of Hops made? Fistful of Hops is brewed at Sun King Brewing Company in Indianapolis, Indiana, one of the state's largest independently owned craft breweries, founded in 2009.

What foods pair well with Fistful of Hops? Spicy tacos al pastor, where citrus hops mirror the pineapple garnish; sharp cheddar cheese, which balances the hop bitterness with fat and salt; grilled burgers with caramelized onions, whose sweetness complements the malt base; fish and chips, where the beer's carbonation and bitterness cut through fried batter; and tangy buffalo wings, where pine-resin bitterness resets the palate between bites.

What sizes does Fistful of Hops come in? Fistful of Hops is primarily available in cans and on draft at Sun King's taproom and throughout its Indiana distribution footprint; availability varies by quarterly release.

Is Fistful of Hops worth the price? Fistful of Hops positions as a craft-priced American IPA from a highly decorated regional brewery, offering strong value given its rotating seasonal concept and Sun King's consistent quality reputation.

Why Fistful of Hops?

The quarterly rotation concept gives Fistful of Hops something most IPAs lack: a reason to come back each season with fresh expectations. While many American IPAs lock into a single hop bill and stay there, this series treats hops as the variable in a controlled experiment, letting drinkers compare how different varieties interact with an identical malt canvas. Coming from a brewery that took home four gold medals at a single Great American Beer Festival, the execution behind each release carries real credibility. For anyone who wants to deepen their understanding of how hop selection shapes an IPA, Fistful of Hops is one of the more thoughtfully designed ways to do it.