Hop Circle IPA - Phillip's Brewing Co.
So, unless you've been under a rock, you will probably know that some of the best American-style India Pale Ales are being produced on the west coast, not just in the USA, but also in Canada. Phillips is one of these brewers. Located in Victoria BC, they make a very wide selection of beers, including the Double IPA, Amnesiac, and it's younger brother, Hop Circle IPA. If you live in Ontario, then you just might as well be living under a rock, so you might never have heard of Phillips, unless you had travelled west. Thankfully, because of the efforts of Ralph and Tom Moranna, through their importing company, HMH Negotiants, more and more Ontarians are being introduced to excellent breweries, like Phillips, that the LCBO don't carry. Watch HMH closely, get in on their private orders (this beer came in to Ontario through one such order), and take part in the spread of great beer in our province. Oops, I normally don't get on my soapbox until the end of the post. Let's get to the good part, the beer:
[caption id="attachment_931" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Hop Circle IPA - Phillips Brewing Co."]
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From a 341ml ISB, this beer is a dark yellow, with hints of orange in the centre. 1" of head dissipates to a bit of film pretty quickly, and leaves a little lacing. The aroma is mainly hops, citrusy and a little spicy, but with a really clear malt sweetness in the background. Grapefruit and citrus freshness pops the instant this beer hits your mouth. Nicely dry, with a little mineral there is a good balance of nice sweet malts, though the emphasis is definitely on the hops. The beer actually finishes a little sweet, but the linger is all hops. A medium-light bodied beer, with a nice carbonation, this could be a wonderful session beer, if you could find enough of it to last. It hides it's 6.5% well, though, so watch yourself. A great beer, get yourself into one of the few bars around Toronto smart enough to bring in some cases of this.
Cheers to Phillips and HMH Negotiants for bringing this into Ontario.
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This IPA I found a little over the top in IBU with nothing to balance. Overall though... Not to shabby.
That's interesting. For an American IPA, I felt that it was actually closer to centre. But such is taste. The good news (for those of us here in Ontario) is that we will be seeing a shipment of this at the LCBO in the not-too-distant future!
My fave from the North American Craft Beer Experience last night, very happy to find it at my neighbourhood LCBO today!
Awesome Lisa. It's such a solid beer. Hope you had fun at the NAC event!