Phillips Blue Buck

Brewed by Phillips Brewing Co.
Style: English Pale Ale
Victoria, Canada

Hazy amber brown, butter-toffee aroma, slightly fruity. Sweet malt palate, mild hop character. Very easy-drinking. Nicely done pale.

Well, I guess this is pretty much as bad as the first bottle I had. Orangy beer, small white cap with some very nice ropy lacing. The aroma is very weak but there isn’t anything too wrong with it aside from that. Light citrus (lemonish), grains, slight caramel. The aroma does start to come around after awhile but at this point I more than likely should have already polished this off and moved on to the next bottle. It becomes more rich in the malt department - there was hints of that early on but I really did not think this would round into anything worthy of sitting on. Good thing I decided to go out side and free climb my house at any spot that looked possible. Very light on flavour, weak grain, slight fruit, some hops own the back end. Watery but not quite empty, very mild overall which ain’t all that bad. The after taste is the best part about this beer. Do I even bother finishing this knowing what is up next?

"Clear dark gold ¼” cap with good retention lots of bubble columns are floating up from bottom of my glass, looks fairly standard but maybe slightly above average. Flowery hops, hay like malts and a dark bitterness fills the nose in this powerful aroma, also seem to be hitting some citrus notes. And there is this smell that seems like it would be unpleasant but I like what I swear smells exactly like rain soaked hay bales. Dark malty taste that goes down smooth and creamy (insert gay innuendo here) after taste is very clean with a slight hint of Swedish berry. Hops are nice and crisp but don’t have a single trace of bitterness, earthy malts and this very strange out of place banana orange punch flavor. I could drink this on a regular bases but I probably won’t."

Bottle. Pours a nice looking beer. Lasting head on orange-copper. Slightly hazy. Hint of apricot in the nose. Lightly fruity taste; apricot or peach with pineapple in the back. A bit of a soft hop taste. Fizzy and a bit weird as it warms fruit flavours seem to morph.

6/6/08 On draught at the Stickey Wicket, Victoria, BC. Aroma is earthy, funky, dusty hop flora forward with a light sweet malt balance. Appearance is clear copper with a medium maintained white head. Flavor is sweet malt blended with a sour, kind of metallic hop flora. Mouthfeel is medium low bodied with a medium carb texture. Overall, the aroma is just a killer.

Bottle courtesy of Mirek. Pours a clear bubbly golden-orange with an average size diminishing white head. Aroma: Hmmm, not loving this: A bit of tomato juice with light sweet malt, light hops and fruit. Flavour’s a bit better but still not great: Mild sweet malt and floral hops along with cardboard, some vegetal notes and a light bitter finish. Light to average bodied. Wow, I’m surprised how poor this is, these guys are capable of so much more.

Bottle (341ml). Courtesy of blankboy. Clear bubbly gold pour, solid creamy/foamy white head. Soft fresh cereal grain aroma - lightly herbal - a bit like a standard English golden ale. The taste is a bit like honeyed oatmeal, light dry floral bitterness. Thick mouthfeel - I felt like I was choking it down - not much carbonation, a quick finish, no alcohol profile - decent enough, it seemed a little sickly by the end of the bottle.

Slightly hazy amber brown, moderate off-white head. Butter-toffee aroma, slightly fruity. Sweet toffee malt palate, mild fruity hop character. Very easy-drinking. Nicely done, but nothing fancy.