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.
January 19, 2012 at 10:34 AM
Jason,
I think Samuel Adams has, in the past, put out a mixer of several single hop IPA’s. I don’t think that came all the way to Alberta…a real shame.
January 19, 2012 at 2:08 PM
It didn’t.
And the Chinook is currently the guest IPA.
January 19, 2012 at 9:20 PM
In addition to being pretty good beers, at $26 or so it’s probably the best bang for your buck in Alberta.
January 20, 2012 at 10:20 AM
Picked up a case last night. Pretty good quality. I like the single hop line up they got going, I really like tasting what each hop variety has to offer. Personally, not a huge fan of chinook hops in general but it was still very hoppy and drinkable. I also tend to like my IPAs with a bit more caramel on the finish for the style than most.
January 20, 2012 at 12:44 PM
Will definitely have to try that! I’m quite pleased with their beers, from the five I sampled at Wunderbar in Oct.(Beer Geeks)to the bottles I’ve tried. Really liked the ‘Hoperation Tripel Cross’, a Belgian tripel/IPA hybrid if I remember correctly…the Amnesiac was quite good too.
January 20, 2012 at 2:25 PM
ah, yes! How could I forget the Amnesiac DIPA. That was the first Phillips beer I had, and I wasn’t disappointed.
January 20, 2012 at 3:20 PM
Phillips launched with a lower price for the first couple of months, so look for it to be about $2 more now. Still a good price.
January 20, 2012 at 9:50 PM
Drat! Must be something ‘Amnesiac-related’, so to speak, lol. On the topic of hops, I had meant to bring up a blog I kept pretty regularly checking out before Christmas(for the humorous Advent Beer Calendar). But the mention of hops in the Jan.12th posting stuck in my mind & sort of tapped me on the shoulder-whispering ‘hey remember me?’-when I read about the Hop Box. Check out(they’re in english)the Jan. 12th & 13th postings-‘Beer Labels – Do They…’-at/on http://www.beersweden.se/ …& take a peek at a couple of the brief Advent Beer Calendar entries, they’re a great pair, Darren & Trev.