Pivot Imperial IPA

Pivot Imperial IPA is a pretty cool series of strong ales from Picaroons Traditional Ales/Northampton Brewing Co. out of Fredericton, NB. The concept is simple and the execution is elegant. There are (to date at least) nine versions of Pivot. The grain bill is the same in each, though the hops vary from release to release. They all seem to come in very handsome 500mL bottles and contain 8% alcohol. Sadly, I only had one version to write about, rather than multiples to compare, but I’ll live.

The version I found in my parent’s fridge was #8—brewed with locally-grown Sorachi Ace hops from Moose Mountain Hop Farm, along with Warrior and Azacca varieties. 

Pivot 8 was a largely clear number. It was golden-hued and poured with a nice layer of creamy eggshell head. It had a dankly bitter nose supplemented with a waft of floral perfume. Like many of Picaroons’ offerings, Pivot 8 is built around a familiar biscuity, slightly toasty, malt foundation, but it departs from the formula in the degree and style of hopping—fragrant and floral, with some pretty arid attitude. It wasn’t as assertively, crisply hoppy as I’d have liked, but the IBUs were definitely there.

Picaroons’ Pivot Series is almost certainly one worth exploring if you’re a beer lover with a passion for hops varieties. Unfortunately, I can only speak to one version, which I enjoyed, but if you dig exploring how a few changes elements can affect the whole of an ale, this here is a good opportunity.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.