After missing an issue due to a lack of space (January can be lean times for alt weeklies), Vue Weekly has finally run a piece this week that was originally slated for late December. Most of you know that Victoria’s Phillip’s Brewing entered the Alberta market in the fall, which is a nice thing. As pleased as I was to see some of the wonderfully hoppy beer this brewery produces, I was not expecting something called the Hopbox.

The Hopbox is Phillip’s mixed pack. Fair enough. Many craft brewers sell a mix six or twelve pack of their beer. I think it is a good idea, as it lowers the risk factor when trying something new. A consumer might balk at buying six (o twelve) of the same beer. What if they don’t like it? Even an experienced beer guy can get burned that way. Knowing there are only two or three of a handful of beer is a safer bet (and a nice way to do a “tour” of that brewery).

However, Hopbox is different. It is, to the best of my knowledge, the only mixed pack in North America that offers only India Pale Ales inside. Hopbox includes four different versions of Phillip’s  IPAs. Now THAT is cool!! And worthy of a column (which you can now read here). After some background on Phillip’s – and they do have a fantastic back story (just think Spike Lee, maxed out credit cards and showering in the Y…) – I  offer a brief review of each beer in the pack. Given space constraints the reviews are capsule-like, but it is enough to give you the picture.

For those of you too lazy to read the column, I will tell you that the four beer in the pack are their mainstay Hop Circle IPA, Skookum Cascadian Brown Ale (their Dark IPA), Grow Hop Cascade IPA (a single hop IPA), and Krypton Rye Pale Ale (really still an IPA), which was my personal favourite. It was a pleasure working my way through the four beer, even the ones that didn’t knock my socks off. Just knowing I had a mix pack of IPAs kept me rather giddy. It is like having a mixed pack of lambics (wouldn’t that be fun…).

Actually, I also profiled Phillip’s during my Regional Beer Personality series on CBC Radio. However it, and the remainder of those columns,  have not yet been posted so I  have been unable to share it with you. That piece does a better job of telling Phillip’s story and linking it to the broader B.C. beer scene. I won’t go into it now, but I do think Phillip’s nicely represents the personality of B.C. beer.

Maybe I can get that piece posted in the future. For now, use the Vue piece as an appetizer.