Phillips Amnesiac Double IPA

Oakes’ bottle at GD party: poured amberish with a decent sized off white head. Mild hop aroma and not one that I enjoy in my American Double IPA’s. But then again this is a Canadian one. Light sweetness and again, less hops than I like. Still, drinkable.

Clear copper pour with a thick, frothy off-white head. Lightly soapy British hop aroma has some sugary pale malt. Starts with a full body and a touch of candy-like sweetness along with a ton of bittering piney hops toward the finish. Could use a little more complexity and balance to help it flow better, but otherwise a good attempt at the style.

Sample from Oakes’ bottle at Great Divide. Dull metallic orange with a white head. Big fat citrus notes and mild cattiness in the aroma. Flavor is piney and ultra-dry with intense bitterness. Medium-thin body with a note of hot alcohol. This is a dry alcoholic hop delivery vehicle and a good beer although the hop profile is not especially interesting.

Pour is clear ruddy amber with a thin tan head...smell is pine and grapefruit...taste is bitter with very little malt presence or sweetness from the alcohol even...seemed a little watery too...

(bottle) ody with off-white head. Aroma is medium sweet, herbal, some pine. Taste is medium sweet, big hop, herbal, light grapefruit, caramel, dry finish. Fairly smooth medium body.

Poured a clear amber color with a medium off-white head. Big hoppy aroma dominates the malt underneath. Bitterness in the flavor runs from the very start through the finish. The flavor could use a little more balance of having more malt and hop flavor instead of just the bitterness. The aroma was much better but the flavor picked up as it warmed.

As far as Douple IPA’s go, it is pretty good. Not being a hophead, it’s hard to apprecaite fully. Alcohol is well hidden.

From the bottle: Pours an orange/copper with a medium foamy white head. Aroma is subdued floral hops, pepper/spice tones and a slight almost toasted marshmallow hint. Flavour is more rounded than the original IPA (from Phillips) Pleasing maltiness with a peppery zing to start quickly transitioning to hops then more hops. Finishing with a lasting bitterness. Credit to Phillip for this one. Hops do not dominate this beer from start to finish. Like so many other IPA’s trying to "Hop it Up. Much more to this IPA than just extra hops.’ The first thing you taste isn’t hops, but it doesn’t take long. Secondly 8.5 a/v and you’d never know it.