In the 15 years since its launch, Maine Beer Company’s Lunch IPA has built a cult following in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Maine. Just one sip of this citrusy, aromatic, and slightly bitter beer, and it’s easy to understand why it’s so beloved in New England. But as Food & Wine reports, now you might even find some on your next grocery run.
When it’s not on tap at a bar, Lunch IPA comes in a 500-milliliter bottle — perfect for taking to a picnic or sipping outside this spring — with a distinctive, minimalist white label featuring its name in small letters. That signature, stark-white design makes it easy to spot this shopper-favorite hidden gem on the shelves at Trader Joe’s.
“Lunch is a hoppy IPA with aromas of orange, caramel, grapefruit, and papaya with underlying floral notes and hints of onion and garlic,” Colleen Croteau, Maine Beer Company’s chief of operations, tells Food & Wine.
Because it’s an IPA, you can expect Lunch to have a slightly more bitter profile than, say, a lager, thanks to the higher volume of hops used in the brewing process. (IPAs tend to fall between 50 and 70 International Bitterness Units, or IBUs. In contrast, a light American lager like Bud Light falls between five and 10 IBUs.) Like other IPAs, it has a slightly higher alcohol by volume (ABV), ringing in at 7% ABV.
Lunch is made with three types of hops: Amarillo, Centennial, and Simcoe. “Our brewers hand-select the hops we use each fall in Yakima, Washington,” says Croteau. The brewery also sources most of its malt locally, acquiring the grain from Blue Ox Malthouse in Lisbon, Maine, about 25 minutes from Maine Beer Company’s home base. Lunch features a variety of barley and wheat malts, including American 2-Row, Caramel 40L, Red Wheat, Munich 10L, and Carapils.
Each batch of Lunch is tested in the brewery’s lab to ensure it meets quality and consistency standards. The IPA is one of Maine Beer Company’s earliest recipes; founder Dan Kleban developed the ale around 2011, just two years after founding the brewery in 2009.
Since then, it’s become a flagship offering and a customer favorite, gradually gaining acclaim outside of Maine — Lunch IPA was even added to the beer menu at Citi Field this spring, confirming that demand has expanded beyond its point of origin. As evidenced by its debut at Citi Field, this beer now reaches far beyond its Maine roots, and it’s even sold at Trader Joe’s. The beer is a sought-after find for TJ’s shoppers, but part of its allure is the treasure-hunt-like thrill of spotting it.
As one consumer describes on Reddit, you “can never go wrong with Maine Beer Company’s Lunch IPA. This is really a ‘must try’ if you see it at your local store. I have never met anyone who doesn’t like this beer! Unusually clean and crisp flavor for a traditional IPA.”
The beer’s catchy name isn’t actually inspired by a midday meal; Lunch is named after a fin whale, first identified by Allied Whale, the whale research arm of the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, in 1982. “She has what looks like a bite taken out of her dorsal fin, hence the name, ‘Lunch,’” says Croteau. Consequently, Maine Beer Company donates 1% of its gross annual sales to environmental nonprofits, with Allied Whale as its first recipient.
Because Maine Beer Company is a craft brewery, Lunch IPA has a more limited distribution than larger beer brands. It may not always be available at Trader Joe’s, and not every location carries it, but stores across the country have been confirmed to keep it in stock intermittently. Keep an eye out for it while shopping, and give your local TJ’s a call to confirm whether the beer is on shelves before heading over.
You can also find the Lunch IPA at select Whole Foods, Shaw’s, Hannaford, Total Wines, and Wegmans locations, in addition to independent wine and beer shops. Just make sure to stock up when you see it, because this cult-favorite find tends to sell out fast.
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