Review: Picaroons Yippee IPA (Northampton Brewing)

Over the past 3 years, I've made some amazing friends from Twitter. One such friend is Emili! A while back she went back to her home province of Nouveau Brunswick to see family, while there she picked me up a bottle of Picaroons Yippee IPA by Northampton Brewing Co. out of Fredericton. As being someone who loves to try ALL the Canadian beers, I was quite excited. I didn't get to meet her until end of March, and she was moving to Montréal at the time, so it was my only hang out with her, until I get to Montréal.

After 2.5 months, I finally get to open this beer, as I'm just a beer hoarder who gets too scared to open the beer in the first place. I love India Pale Ales more than lots of other styles, so I'm just incredibly excited to get to try this in the first place as it may never be available in Manitoba.

Appearance: Holy.. as I pour this beer, it has beaucoup de foam. So much foam that I have to get a second glass just so I can do this review. Okay… there we go. It pours a very nice and rich orange/red amber. In a way it reminds me of a combination of Unibroue's Éphémère Cassis meets Rickard's White…. very vibrant appearance! The head is a thick light yellow/beige that is not going anywhere at all. Slight amount of carbonation, but not much.

Aroma: This is how IPAs should be. It has a medley of caramel from the malt, grapefruit, lemon and pine from the hops, and a bit of bitterness that stings the nose. Very rich aroma, to the point that it could scare off a person who prefers a lager over an IPA. To those, like myself who love hops and a bitter beer, this is quite a treat for me.

Taste: The very first thing I find is a sweet caramel coming from the malt, yum! Quickly I notice beaucoup des houblons (hops) taking place, a mixture of lemon, slight grapefruit and pine all hitting my palate. The bitterness of the hops is lingering more and more as I keep drinking this, similar to Mad Tom IPA by Muskoka Brewery. It's a quite decent India Pale Ale as it has a great combination of citrus, LOTS of hops and a nice sweetness.

Overall Thoughts: Quite a solid IPA! They don't skimp on the hops, they balance the bitterness, sweetness and citrusness quite well in this beer, though some people would disagree. It has an ABV of 6.5% and comes in a 500mL bottle - which is perfect size for an after work beer (Western Canadian breweries, take note!)

Je veux dire mercy à Emili pour cette bière :) One day I will be in Montréal and I'll be bringing awesome beer with me!

Some people are quite "regionalists" when it comes to drinking beer, some people will ONLY drink beer from Quebec, Ontario or British Columbia, but look at the Canadian beer industry in general - We have a damned great industry! Every province has a brewery or 5 that sticks out and provides only the best beer possible. In New Brunswick's case, Northampton Brewing is one of the best in the province!

From thé label: Inspirée de la côte est, elle est parsemée d'amertume et d'arômes du houblon sur un fond de malt. Cette bière peut changer légèrement d'une cuvée à l'autre à mesure que nouse explorons les diverses interprétations de ce style.

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An East Coast-style India Pale Ale that weaves intense hop bitterness and aroma throughout a blanket of malt background. This beer may change slightly from batch to batch as we explore the various interpretations of the style.