Bear Knuckle IPA is a 7.7% American IPA brewed by Boxing Bear Brewing Co. in Albuquerque, and it is one of the most decorated beers in the history of the New Mexico IPA Challenge. In a state where IPA is close to a civic sport, that is a serious résumé. Untappd users rate Bear Knuckle IPA 3.99 out of 5 across more than 850 ratings, which puts it among the highest-rated beers in Boxing Bear’s lineup.
- Style: American IPA (West Coast-style)
- ABV: 7.7%
- IBU: 80
- Brewery: Boxing Bear Brewing Co.
- Where to find it: Albuquerque
What is Bear Knuckle IPA?
Untappd lists Bear Knuckle IPA as a 7.7% American IPA at 80 IBU, and it has been listed there since February 2016. IBU stands for International Bitterness Units, a lab measure of how much hop bitterness ends up in the beer; most American IPAs land somewhere between 40 and 70, so 80 sits toward the firm end of the range.
Boxing Bear describes it as a heavy hitter built on more than nine pounds of hops per barrel, and calls it aromatic, bright and bitter. For scale, a barrel of beer is 31 gallons. The brewery’s own write-up leans into the boxing theme, and the description ends by calling the beer a champion. That is not just marketing, as the next section shows.
When the New Mexico beer blog Dark Side Brew Crew covered the 2021 IPA Challenge, it described Bear Knuckle as a clear, West Coast-style IPA. That detail matters, because it tells you which branch of the IPA family tree this beer belongs to.
West Coast IPA, explained
An IPA (India pale ale) is a pale ale brewed with a larger dose of hops, which add bitterness, aroma and flavor. Over the past decade the style has split into two main camps.
- West Coast IPA is clear, dry and assertively bitter. Brewers keep the malt in the background so the hops carry the beer, and the flavors people usually associate with the style are pine, resin, citrus peel and grapefruit.
- Hazy or New England IPA is cloudy, softer and lower in perceived bitterness, with a fuller body and juicy tropical-fruit flavors from hops added late in the process.
That is general style knowledge, not a tasting note for this particular beer. But it is a useful frame for Bear Knuckle: a clear IPA at 80 IBU with a hop bill measured in pounds per barrel is squarely in the West Coast tradition, the style New Mexico brewers built much of their reputation on.
Bear Knuckle and the New Mexico IPA Challenge
The New Mexico IPA Challenge is an annual competition run by the New Mexico Brewers Guild. Breweries from around the state enter their IPAs, and attendees vote for their favorite across several rounds, including stops outside Albuquerque, before a final round in the Albuquerque area. Because the voters are drinkers rather than a judging panel, a win says something about what New Mexicans actually want in their glass.
Boxing Bear has done remarkably well at it. According to Dark Side Brew Crew’s coverage of the event, the brewery won the challenge in 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2025, five titles in ten years. Bear Knuckle is the beer behind at least two of them:
- 2019: Bear Knuckle took the final with 102 votes, ahead of Bosque and Ex Novo.
- 2021: Bear Knuckle won again, a clear West Coast IPA finishing first in a field of 16 finalists where 11 were hazy.
Boxing Bear’s own Untappd listing for the beer also credits it with the 2016 and 2017 titles. The brewery’s 2025 win came with a different beer, Juice Boxer IPA, which edged out Downshift Brewing by a single vote, 53 to 52.
The 2021 result is worth a second look. By then hazy IPAs dominated taplists across the country, and New Mexico was no exception. A clear, bitter West Coast IPA winning a people’s-choice vote that year says a lot about how loyal the state’s drinkers are to the style.
About Boxing Bear Brewing Co.
Boxing Bear Brewing Co. is an Albuquerque brewery whose slogan, on its Untappd profile, is “Beer With A Punch.” The boxing theme runs through the whole lineup: Uppercut IPA, Headlock Hazy IPA, Sucker Punch Double IPA, The Red Glove, Standing 8 Stout.
The brewery’s biggest national moment came at the 2016 Great American Beer Festival in Denver, where the Brewers Association named Boxing Bear Mid-Size Brewpub of the Year, with Justin Hamilton and Dylan Davis honored as the brewers. Southwest Brewing News reported that Chocolate Milk Stout and The Red Glove each took a gold medal at that same festival. The brewery’s website lists further medals for Chocolate Milk Stout, including a 2016 World Beer Cup gold and a 2024 GABF silver, and a 2015 NABA bronze for Uppercut IPA.
Across all its beers, Boxing Bear has logged more than 56,000 check-ins on Untappd, with a brewery-wide rating of 3.85 from more than 42,000 ratings. Head brewer Eddie Dominguez led the 2025 IPA Challenge win.
Where to find Bear Knuckle IPA
Boxing Bear’s website lists two Albuquerque taprooms:
- Firestone Taproom & Brewery, 8420 Firestone Lane NE, the brewery’s newest location and home of its brewing operations.
- Bridges on Tramway Taproom, 12501 Candelaria Road NE, on the city’s east side.
Untappd lists Bear Knuckle IPA as in production, though it is not among the core beers featured on the brewery’s homepage. Check the taproom tap list or boxingbearbrewing.com before you go. If it is not pouring, Uppercut IPA is the brewery’s flagship West Coast-style IPA and has the most ratings of any Boxing Bear IPA on Untappd.
Is Bear Knuckle IPA a hazy IPA?
No. Untappd classifies Bear Knuckle IPA as an American IPA, and local coverage of its 2021 IPA Challenge win describes it as a clear, West Coast-style IPA. Boxing Bear’s hazy option is a separate beer, Headlock Hazy IPA, which Untappd lists as a 6.7% New England-style IPA.
Who runs the New Mexico IPA Challenge?
The New Mexico Brewers Guild organizes the challenge each summer. It is a people’s-choice event: attendees sample the entries and vote, round by round, until a winner is crowned. Boxing Bear’s five titles since 2016 are more than any other brewery has won in that span.
Plan your pint
If you like your IPAs clear, bitter and built on a big hop bill, Bear Knuckle is a good place to start exploring what Albuquerque does best. Find both Boxing Bear taprooms, along with dozens of other New Mexico breweries, on the New Mexico Breweries map, and bring a designated driver or grab a rideshare if you are making a day of it.
Beer details from Untappd.
