I was lucky to recently have one of my best friends move back to Edmonton from BC along with his wonderful family, and to make it even better he brought me a bottle of Phillips Amnesiac Double IPA to sample. It sounds like Phillips Brewing Company out of Victoria BC has been producing some extremely good beer. The Hop Circle IPA has been getting some great reviews, and my buddy Dan of small beer had the chance to tour and sample some of Matt Phillips newer brews with great words to say. The brewery was started by one man, with a passion for quality beer and a stack of maxed out credit cards. For the full story please refer to Dan's wonderfully written 3 part story, as he's done a substantial amount of work and research into the history and future of the brewery. I vaguely remember trying some Phillips products while I lived in Victoria, but I do remember the absolute dedication people in the city hold for this brewery and their craft.
Phillips Amnesiac DIPA pours a hazy copper orange with an impressive frothy head which lazily fades away leaving heavy lacing. Bright citrus and piney hops with sweet apricot and pineapple notes. The flavor is pleasantly creamy, smooth and drinkable. Sweet caramel malt base followed by citrusy floral hops with a surprisingly mild bitter aftertaste. For an 8.5% ABV brew the alcohol content is hidden well until it's to late. A little on the thin side though, for what it is. The flavors are great, but they don't stick around very long.
A nice beer, mild but delicious. I'd be happy to revisit a bottle of Amnesiac sooner than later. I wish I had payed more attention to Phillips beer during my time in Victoria. That being said, I wish I had payed more attention to all of the quality breweries in Victoria, or British Columbia for that matter. Slowly they make appearances here in Alberta, unfortunately too slow for my liking.
A nice beer, mild but delicious. I'd be happy to revisit a bottle of Amnesiac sooner than later. I wish I had payed more attention to Phillips beer during my time in Victoria. That being said, I wish I had payed more attention to all of the quality breweries in Victoria, or British Columbia for that matter. Slowly they make appearances here in Alberta, unfortunately too slow for my liking.
I'm not sure if this is true, but the last few Amnesiacs I've had have had a substantially more powerful hop profile than any I've had before, which makes me think the recipe has been tweaked a little recently. I could always email them and ask. It's possible I've paid the price of buying them cheap off warm shelves in the BCL. But in the past, they were always pretty tame for imperial IPA. Now they're more than decent.
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