You crack open a can. The liquid inside is hazy gold, cloudy like a glass of fresh-squeezed juice. You take a sip expecting something hoppy — maybe a little bitter — and instead you get what can only be described as a bag of tropical gummy bears in liquid form.
Mango. Passion fruit. Citrus. Something almost sweet, but not quite. Pillowy soft on the tongue.
What just happened?
A gummy beer is a style of hazy IPA brewed to produce intensely fruity, candy-like flavors — think tropical gummy bears — without the bitterness traditionally associated with IPAs.
The “gummy” flavor comes entirely from the hops and the brewing process, not from adding candy to the tank.
Through careful hop selection, a soft grain bill, and precise dry-hopping technique, brewers coax flavors out of hops that taste more like tropical fruit candy than anything you’d expect from a beer.
Noon Whistle Brewing is one of the earliest pioneers of the gummy beer. We’ve brewed dozens of gummy beers across rotating seasons, limited sports tributes, and year-round favorites. We know this style better than anyone. So let’s break it all the way down.
What Makes a Beer Taste Like Gummies?
The first question everyone asks when they hear “gummy beer” is some version of: wait, is there actually candy in it?
The answer is no. Not a single gummy bear goes into the tank. What creates that unmistakable tropical candy character is a combination of three things working together: the right hops, the right grain bill, and the right brewing technique.
The Hops
Hops aren’t just for bitterness. Modern brewing science has revealed that certain hop varieties — particularly those bred in the last two decades — produce a remarkable range of fruity, tropical compounds when handled correctly.
Citra hops deliver notes of lime, lychee, and tropical fruit.
Galaxy hops bring passion fruit and peach. Mosaic layers in blueberry, mango, and citrus. Simcoe adds grapefruit and stone fruit.
When these hops are combined and added at the right stage of brewing, the result smells and tastes remarkably like a bag of tropical candy.
No additives. No flavorings. Just hops doing something extraordinary.
The Grain Bill
A heavy base of oats and wheat is essential to the gummy beer style. These grains don’t contribute much flavor on their own — their job is structural.
They create that thick, pillowy, almost creamy mouthfeel that defines the style. That soft texture is a big part of why your brain reads the flavors as “sweet” even when there’s no residual sugar in the finished beer.
The Dry-Hopping Process
The most critical technique in brewing a gummy beer is dry hopping — adding hops after fermentation rather than during the boil. When hops are boiled, most of their aromatic compounds evaporate off with the steam.
By adding hops to cold, finished beer, brewers preserve all those volatile fruity esters that would otherwise be lost.
The result is an explosion of hop aromatics that hits your nose before the beer even reaches your lips. That wave of tropical fruit aroma? That’s the dry hops doing their job.
Put it all together — tropical hops, a soft oat-and-wheat base, and aggressive dry hopping — and you get a beer that smells like a candy store and drinks like liquid fruit.
That’s a gummy beer.
Gummy Beer vs. Hazy IPA: Are They the Same Thing?
Here’s where things get a little technical — but only for a second.
All gummy beers are hazy IPAs. But not all hazy IPAs are gummy beers.
The hazy IPA (also called a New England IPA, or NEIPA) is a broad style category that emerged in the mid-2010s. It’s defined by a hazy, unfiltered appearance, low bitterness, and fruity hop character.
More on that later.
Within that broad category, there’s a wide range — from herbal and piney hazies to tropical juice bombs to the ultra-candy-forward gummy style.
Think of it this way: hazy IPA is the genre. Gummy beer is the subgenre.
A standard hazy IPA might still carry some resinous or herbal hop notes alongside the fruit. A gummy beer pushes everything in one direction — maximum tropical intensity, minimum bitterness, and a mouthfeel so soft it borders on sweet.
The easiest way to tell the difference: after you swallow, what lingers?
In a standard hazy IPA, there’s often a hop bite or dryness at the finish.
In a gummy beer, what you taste is fruit — and only fruit. Every single brewing decision is made in service of that finish.
| Hazy IPA | Gummy Beer | |
| Bitterness | Low | Very low to none |
| Flavor Profile | Fruity, sometimes herbal or piney | Intensely tropical and candy-like |
| Mouthfeel | Soft | Soft and pillowy |
| ABV Range | 5–9% | 6–8% typical |
| Best For | Hop heads branching out | IPA skeptics; fruit beer lovers |
Where Did the Gummy Beer Style Come From?
As we talked about in the previous section, the story of gummy beer starts with the New England IPA revolution of the early-to-mid 2010s.
Breweries in the Northeast began making hazy, unfiltered IPAs with massive tropical fruit character and almost no bitterness.
Beer drinkers who had once written off IPAs as too bitter suddenly found themselves craving them. The hazy IPA movement changed everything.
As that style spread across the country, some brewers began pushing the fruit-forward direction even further — dialing bitterness down to nearly zero and pushing tropical intensity as high as it would go.
The result tasted less like a traditional IPA and more like… well, a candy shop.
Thus, the gummy beer was born.
Noon Whistle Brewing launched its Gummy series in 2017 with the premiere of Let’s Gummy!, making us one of the earliest Midwest craft breweries to name and build this out as a dedicated series.
Where most breweries were experimenting with hazies, we committed to the gummy style as a core part of our identity — building a full lineup of rotating and seasonal releases that continues to grow today.
Noon Whistle Gummy Series
We don’t just brew one gummy beer. Following the success of the original prodigal son, Let’s Gummy!, we built an entire universe around the style — year-round quarterly rotators, seasonal releases, and limited Chicago sports tributes that have developed their own followings.
Here’s a look at our current lineup!
Quarterly Gummies
Four times a year, we rotate a new wave of Gummy series beers through our taps and 4-pack cans. These are the year-round workhorses of the lineup — each built on the same gummy philosophy but with its own hop personality.
Gummy Vortex — Hazy IPA, 7.5% ABV
The flagship. Brewed with Simcoe and Citra hops, Gummy Vortex delivers a bold wave of grapefruit, passion fruit, and a touch of pine with a soft, pillowy mouthfeel throughout.
If you’re trying the Gummy series for the first time, start here.
Squishy Gummy — Hazy IPA, 7.1% ABV
Citra, Mosaic, and Simcoe come together in a beer that layers juicy citrus and tropical fruit with subtle piney undertones.
Smooth, bold, and balanced — this one earns repeat pours.
Gummysaurus — Hazy IPA, 7.4% ABV
The wildcard of the bunch. Mosaic, Ekuanot, Strata, and Vic Secret hops create layers of tropical fruit, citrus, and a touch of dankness that makes each sip feel like its own discovery.
Prehistoric-sized flavor in every can.
Gummypalooza — Hazy IPA, 6.7% ABV
The most approachable of the quarterly quartet. Citra, Cashmere, Idaho 7, and Sabro hops deliver tropical fruit, bright citrus, and a subtle coconut note that makes this one dangerously easy to drink.
Chicago Sports Tributes
Some of our most beloved Gummy releases are built around Chicago’s sports teams — seasonal drops that combine the gummy style with a little good ol’ fashioned local pride.
Cubbie Gummy — Hazy IPA, 6.1% ABV
A love letter to Cubs fans and Wrigley Field summers. Tropical mango, ripe peach, and zesty grapefruit in a lighter, smooth package that drinks as good as a Cubs win feels.
The most sessionable of the sports tributes.
Gummiskey — Hazy IPA, 6.8% ABV
The South Side answer. Ripe pineapple, mango, and freshly zested citrus lead the way, with a pillowy mouthfeel and a delicate resinous finish that glides across the palate like a perfectly-turned double play.
White Sox fans, this one’s for you.
Daaa Gummy — Hazy IPA, 6.6% ABV
Da Bears get “daaa gummy” treatment. Cashmere, Strata, Chinook, and Mosaic hops deliver juicy tropical notes, dank pine undertones, and a hint of citrus zest — a brew as bold and spirited as the team itself.
Cheers to the perfect harmony of hops and gridiron glory!
How to Get the Most Out of a Gummy Beer
Gummy beers are low-maintenance to enjoy, but a few things will make a noticeable difference in what ends up in your glass.
1) Serve it at the right temperature.
Too cold and you’ll mute the hop aromatics that make this style special. Aim for around 45–50°F — slightly warmer than you’d serve a lager. If your fridge runs very cold, let the can sit out for five minutes before opening. You’ll notice the difference.
2) Drink it fresh.
This is the most important rule of gummy beer. The fruity, candy-like character comes from volatile hop compounds that degrade quickly over time. Check the can date and drink it within 60–90 days of canning. A stale gummy beer loses its magic fast — the tropical fruit fades and what’s left is a flat, muted IPA. Fresh is everything.
3) Use the right glass.
A tulip glass concentrates the aromas and amplifies the gummy experience from the first sniff. A standard shaker pint works fine too. Either way, pour gently and leave a finger of head — it releases the aromatics and kicks off the gummy experience before you even take a sip.
4) Pair it with food.
The fruit-forward, low-bitterness profile makes gummy beers surprisingly food-friendly. They work beautifully with spicy Thai or Mexican dishes (the tropical fruit softens the heat), fresh pizza — our Lombard Brewpub’s pizza menu was practically made for this pairing — and anything with mango, pineapple, or citrus in it.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. The gummy flavor comes entirely from specific hop varieties and the brewing process — not from adding candy. Hops like Citra, Galaxy, Mosaic, and Simcoe naturally produce tropical, candy-like aromatic compounds when dry-hopped at the right temperature and timing. Not a single piece of candy goes into the tank at Noon Whistle. What you taste is pure hops doing something remarkable.
Noon Whistle’s Gummy series ranges from 6.1% ABV (Cubbie Gummy) to 7.5% ABV (Gummy Vortex) depending on the beer. They tend to drink lighter than the ABV suggests — the soft mouthfeel and lack of bitterness make them very easy to drink. Always check the can.
Gummy Beer is fruit-forward and juicy, but not sweet the way a soda is. There’s no residual sugar — the sweetness you perceive is a combination of soft mouthfeel, tropical hop aromatics, and very low bitterness. When bitterness is removed from the equation, your palate reads the fruit flavors as sweeter than they technically are. Most people describe gummy beer as “juicy” more than “sweet.”
Yes — and gummy beer is one of the most consistent IPA converters we’ve seen. If the bitterness of traditional IPAs has always been a turnoff, a gummy beer removes that barrier entirely. Bitterness is essentially gone; what you get instead is tropical fruit and a soft, pillowy texture.
Both styles are low-bitterness and fruit-forward, but they get there differently. Milkshake IPAs use lactose (milk sugar) to add sweetness and body, giving them a creamy, dessert-like quality. Gummy beers achieve their character through hop selection and dry-hopping alone — no lactose, no adjuncts. The result is fruit-forward without being sweet or heavy, which makes gummy beers more refreshing and more versatile with food.
If you’re in the Chicago area, Noon Whistle Brewing has two taprooms: our Lombard Brewpub at 800 E. Roosevelt Rd. and our Naperville Tasting Room at 1748 W. Jefferson Ave. At least one — usually several — Gummy series beers are always on tap at both locations. Cans are also distributed throughout the greater Chicago area.
Come Taste It for Yourself
Reading about gummy beer is one thing. Tasting it is another.
Both Noon Whistle Lombard and Noon Whistle Naperville always have Gummy series beers on tap — rotating through the quarterly lineup alongside our sports tributes and limited seasonal drops.
Come in, start with a Gummy Vortex, and find out what all the buzz is about!