Phillips IPA

Though I haven’t written down a fresh set of notes I thought I’d update my score since the old score (a 3 overall) was not accurate. It’s generally been in the upper 3’s to lower 4’s every time I’ve had it in the past couple of years.

Light copper; full, rich head. Aroma has lots of woody cascades. There is a crisp bitterness, but it ends there - some woody taste but nothing to balance off the bitterness nor to provide any sort of complexity. Body is a bit thin. I can see myself drinking it - it has a top-fermented Bitburger sort of appeal - but it’s not on a par with Tree Hophead. Final note: Much better on tap, with more malt backbone and fresher-tasting hops...but I can’t get it on tap here. Look for a re-rate soon though.

Draught at The Railway Club, Vancouver
Hazy golden color; creamy head. Very nice hop aroma, delicate fruits (mango, oranges), creamy. Good toffee and caramel flavor, and strong bitterness; the hop comes with some resins (side to side with Big Kettle ESB, it has less aromatic hop, more hop oils, less sweetness). Good.

<!-- i -->courtesy of Oakes<!-- /i --> - pours a hazy orange colour under a rocky white head leaving a beautiful lace; the nose shows a strong hoppiness where aromas of apricot dominates tones of flowers and cream; very creamy mouthfeel and medium-bodied at best; robust but not aggressive bitterness and a rather short fruity and woody finish - a good beer but laking a bit of complexity

Orange-amber beer; yellowish tinted, creamy head. Bit soupy initial nose, even ureum, then giving in to a superb fine-flowery hopsnose. Aroma’s as from the best English hops, finally some cookie malts. Very bitter, near-metallic and outspoken grapefruit hopflavours, even some walnut peel. Again very little malt detectable, both in taste and MF. Better than the Nelson IPA - but still, there’s an empty feel no hops can fill in. Needs malts for that, and this isn’t some shy English bitter at 4% neither. Quite OK IPA, however, the hops are great. Big thanks, Mike.

Any first impressions?
-A sheet of foam spreads atop the near-transparent honey gold.
-A floral, fruity hop perfume soars above the wooden dryness.
-Resinous hops benefit from some mandarine fruitiness.
-The well-rounded body and rather comfortable carbonation produce a very drinkable mouthfeel.

What if you dig deeper?
-Lingering earthy hop resins pleasure the back of the tongue.
-There is enough caramel and bready maltiness to support both the nose and flavor profile.
-This is an efficient, classic PNW IPA, worthy of a forest hike.

Bottle; no date.

Bottle courtesy of boutip. Pours copper with a huge white head. Smells of bitter citrus, some soap, biscuits. Tastes of a nice blend of caramel, lemons, oranges, some pepper and spices, wildflowers and a bit resiny. Nicely balanced finish.

Draft. Semi-cloudy golden orange appearance, soft colors. Fruity, smooth, hearty and soft fruit flavors, some spicy, fruity citrus hops, sweet everywhere. The smell is hoppy oranges and sweet peaches. Tart body, sweet resiny, oily finish... like orange popcicle flavors, actually. A very good IPA, I was impressed.

I had been planning to re-rate this after trying some of Phillips recent brews. It is much improved and a welcome addition to the BC liquor stores. Cloudy golden-orange beer with a thick white lasting head. Aroma of citrus, vanilla, faint resiny character as well. Flavour shows grapefruit and resiny hops balanced by sweet malts. There is a touch of orange and vanilla in here as well with a long bitter finish. March 7, 2004 500 ml bottle. Light amber coloured clear beer with a thick off-white head. Very faint malt and a subtle hoppy aroma. Some hints of grapefruit. Very little flavour, a thin body and a very short bitter finish make this beer quite disappointing. Not nearly enough hop aroma for my taste; seems more like an American pale ale to me. 4/3/4/2/8