Phillips Draught Dodger Maple Cream Ale (prior to 2008)

Formerly brewed at Phillips Brewing Co.
Style: Cream Ale
Victoria, Canada

Serve in Footed Pilsner, Lager glass

UPDATED: FEB 5, 2005 Hazy reddish amber colour. Slight mapley aroma with hints of sweat and a bit of malt. Crackerlike palate, with a bit of toasty malt. Simple character.

Bottle. Orange-brown with a good sized white head. Aroma - a bit of maple, I suppose, but more on the light malt and toffee side of things. Medium mouthfeel. Flavour is light, thin, balanced but boring, with a flicker of maple. Pretty middle of the road.

Creamy head, and pours clear which is disappointing because I’d have wanted more cloudiness. Maple-syrup colored, though: nice amber. Distinct maple aroma and flavor, strongest at the beginning. Rounds out smoothly without cloying aftertaste. Nice and different but just not my thang.

Bottle. Pours a clear lighter brown with reddish highlights. Limited cabonation with a very thin, quickly disappearing head. I wantingly struggled to discern some maple syrup in the nose but it was just not there. Very malty and nice, smooth mouthfeel, but flat overall in taste. Again, it seemed like it dodged the maple profile, although as it warmed, maybe, just maybe there was a hint of increasing sweetness (maple perhaps?) Not an unenjoyable beer, just nothing special. Still looking for the maple scented beer that actually has a discernable maple prescence. Thanks to mgermani for the bottle.

Pours a dark brownish amber with a quick foamy head, soon forgotten. No aroma, just a faint malty sweetness that may have been my imagination. Amber/crystal malt, plenty of toffee. Good bittering at first, followed by a watery thin malt aftertaste. Light on carb, decent body. This one tastes like any other weak house beer at a yuppy restaurant. I’m glad I managed to get a single. Not a failure by any means, but not a beer I would ever opt for unless it was on tap and there was nothing else.

Was told about the maple after I had tasted it. Cool name. Orange copper with a big lasting head. At first a strong belgian-like nose and then brown sugar trending towards toffee. Malty with strong sweetness and a subdued finish. Better than the Granville Island attempt. Restrained maple flavour.

Bottle. Thanks mmmIPA for this one. Amber orange-brown, average head with decent retention. Fresh almost leafy aroma, kind of weird. The palate is the same, with some low-key caramel sweetness that is trumped by this off-putting celery-veggie kind of freshness. Not a terrific flavour profile, and it makes me wonder if I got a dodgy bottle. When I read other ratings, mine seems like an outsider. I’ll try it again to re-rate if I have the chance.

This is one of the best tap beers Ive ever had. A little sweet but goes very well with any meal.

Pours a cloudy red not unlike an ice tea. A whiff of head affords no lace. Aroma yields faint maple and perhaps some wood smoke. Mouthfeel is one part bitter and three parts heavy on the syrup. Rather undercarbonated but may be only this bottle.