There are perhaps a dozen breweries in the world that provoke genuine obsession among serious craft beer collectors. Troon Brauerei — operating out of a modest facility in Hopewell, New Jersey, is one of them. Since opening in 2017, Troon has built a reputation that extends far beyond its home state — a brewery whose releases sell out within minutes of announcement and whose bottles regularly appear on secondary market lists at multiples of their retail price. At Weine & Spirituosen SA, Troon is one of the American craft breweries we follow most closely. Here is everything you need to know.
The Origins: Hopewell, New Jersey
Troon Brewing was founded by Jeff Millet in Hopewell, a small borough in Mercer County, New Jersey. The name references a town in Ayrshire, Scotland — a nod to the Scottish heritage of hoppy, aromatic brewing traditions, though Troon’s beers bear little resemblance to anything produced on the Firth of Clyde. New Jersey’s craft brewing scene has expanded dramatically over the past decade, but Troon occupies a category of its own: a destination brewery that draws visitors from across the Northeast and ships to collectors internationally.
The brewery operates on a relatively small scale by design. Limited production is not a marketing strategy at Troon — it is a commitment to quality that Jeff Millet has maintained since the first pour. Every barrel of beer that leaves Hopewell has been tasted, adjusted, and approved to a standard that most larger operations cannot sustain at volume. The result is a consistency of excellence that is rare in any brewing tradition.
Troon Brewing Style: Hazy IPAs at Their Absolute Peak
Troon is, at its core, a hazy IPA brewery — but that description undersells what Jeff Millet has achieved. The New England IPA style, popularised in the mid-2010s by breweries like The Alchemist and Tree House, is defined by its soft, pillowy mouthfeel, low bitterness, and intense aromatic profile of tropical fruit and citrus. Most breweries working in this style produce good beer. Troon produces extraordinary beer.
What distinguishes Troon is the combination of hop selection, water chemistry, and yeast management that produces a texture and aroma density that collectors immediately recognise. A fresh Troon IPA — poured within days of canning — has a quality that is difficult to describe without sounding hyperbolic: a weight of tropical fruit aroma that fills the glass before the beer even reaches the lips, a mouthfeel that is simultaneously thick and refreshing, a finish that lingers with ripe mango, passionfruit, and fresh citrus peel.
Spirit of Despair 2026
Spirit of Despair is one of Troon’s most celebrated annual releases — a double IPA of considerable intensity built around a rotating selection of the season’s finest hop varieties. The 2026 edition continues the brewery’s tradition of sourcing experimental and proprietary hop strains that are unavailable to most brewers. Expect pronounced tropical aromatics, a dense but smooth body, and the characteristic Troon finish of sustained fruit with minimal bitterness. A reference-level release from one of America’s most respected craft breweries.
Precipice of Truth 2026
Precipice of Truth represents Troon’s approach to the hazy pale ale format — lower alcohol than the double IPA range, but no less complex in its aromatic construction. The 2026 edition is a study in hop-forward brewing at restrained strength: a beer that drinks with the freshness of a session ale but carries the aromatic intensity of something much stronger. It is, in many respects, the harder beer to brew — achieving maximum hop expression without the structural support of elevated alcohol requires technical precision that very few brewers manage consistently.
Why Troon Is So Difficult to Find in Europe
American craft beer distribution to Europe has improved significantly over the past five years, but it remains logistically complex. The core challenges are freshness, volume, and cost. Hazy IPAs are time-sensitive products — their aromatic intensity peaks within 30–60 days of canning and diminishes progressively thereafter. Getting beer from a small New Jersey brewery to a collector in Switzerland within that window requires cold-chain logistics, rapid customs clearance, and a distributor willing to move small quantities quickly.
Most European importers focus on higher-volume, more shelf-stable American styles — imperial stouts, barleywines, sour ales — that tolerate the longer transit times associated with transatlantic shipping. Troon’s hazy IPAs require a different approach: smaller, more frequent shipments, maintained at cold temperatures throughout, with rapid turnover at retail. It is an expensive model that only specialist retailers can sustain.
Unter Weine & Spirituosen SA, we have built the import relationships and cold-storage infrastructure to handle exactly this type of product. Our Troon allocations are small by necessity — the brewery’s total production is limited — but we prioritise freshness above all else. Every Troon can in our catalogue arrives within its optimal drinking window.
How to Drink Troon: A Practical Guide
Hazy IPAs reward attention. A few practical notes for getting the most from a Troon can:
- Drink fresh: the can date is your guide. Troon is at its peak within 30 days of canning and remains excellent to 60 days. Beyond that, the tropical aromatics begin to fade and the beer loses its defining character. Do not cellar hazy IPAs.
- Serve cold but not ice-cold: 6–8°C is optimal. Too cold suppresses the aromatics; too warm and the mouthfeel becomes heavy. Allow the can to sit at room temperature for 5 minutes if it has been in the fridge.
- Pour gently: a slow pour down the side of a clean glass preserves the haze and the carbonation. Avoid excessive agitation. A wide-mouthed glass — tulip or snifter — concentrates the aromatics and enhances the experience significantly versus a standard pint glass.
- No food pairing needed: the best Troon IPAs are complete experiences on their own. If you must pair, mild foods — fresh cheeses, light charcuterie, simple salads — work better than anything that competes with the hop aromatics.
Troon in the Context of American Craft Beer Excellence
Understanding Troon requires understanding the broader context of the American craft beer movement. The United States has produced the most diverse and technically innovative brewing scene in the world over the past three decades. What began with West Coast IPAs and imperial stouts in the 1990s evolved through the sour beer revolution of the 2000s into the New England IPA phenomenon of the 2010s — a style that has arguably produced the most aromatic beers ever brewed anywhere.
Within that New England IPA tradition, a small number of breweries have achieved cult status through consistent excellence: The Alchemist (Heady Topper), Tree House Brewing (Julius), Bissell Brothers (The Substance), Tired Hands, und Troon. Each has a slightly different approach and house character. Tree House tends toward citrus and brightness; Bissell toward stone fruit and density; Troon toward an almost overwhelming tropical intensity that is uniquely its own.
For European collectors who have followed the American craft beer scene, finding these breweries’ beers in Switzerland has historically meant either travelling to the US or relying on informal import networks. We have changed that calculus for our customers — read our complete guide to buying rare American craft beer in Switzerland for the broader picture.
Buy Troon Brewing Beer in Switzerland
Troon allocations at Weine & Spirituosen SA are small and move quickly. We ship across Switzerland from our climate-controlled warehouse in Eclépens, VD, and to EU customers from France — faster, cheaper, no customs complications. Beer shipments are packed in cell-divided cartons with temperature buffering for summer months.
Browse our current craft beer catalogue for available Troon releases. For allocation requests or questions about upcoming deliveries, reach us at +41 78 644 10 00.
For the full landscape of exceptional American craft beer available in Switzerland — from Troon to Tree House, Side Project to Forager — our rare US craft beer guide is the essential reference.
For further context on Troon’s releases and community ratings, Troon Brewing on Untappd tracks every release with verified check-ins from collectors worldwide.