Phillips Hop Circle IPA

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Pours a large frothy, foamy head that gives off good dirty lacing. Aromas of hops, lemony, and oranges. Flavours are very citrus oriented. Oranges, grapefruit, mild lemon with mild floral hops and very mild malts. Nice warming sensation. Hoppy bitterness found in an IPA, this one's much more apparent. Really nice taste ant not too bitter. Good balance.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 5

Nice to see the LCBO getting some West Coast IPAs (as this one and the one I tried last night from Green Flash). Pours a rich golden colour with a foamy-creamy head that has good retention and decent lacing. Nice fresh grassy hop aromas, but not just Cascades (as I do not get much grapefruit and the pine is mild). Mixed with other hops. After a while, the scent changes. Fruitier and sweeter, with caramel (and something else odd). For the taste, I am getting something weird. I am thinking it is the other malts with the Cascades that don't mix well. On the vegetable side. Thankfully, some light bitterness shows up in the finish to take over. Not really a fan of this one (preferred the Green Flash IPA).

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

This brewery went through a big transition period as it went from tiny regional beer producer to Western Canadian distribution, but its back on its A Game and this beer today showed that. All the right american/citrusy hops that made IPA a standard with a light enough malt base to make it really drinkable. Medium to light bodied, lots of flavour. Nice.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Hazy yellowy amber with tall fluffy cap. Aroma is very citrusy, grape fruit, oranges, flowers, more stuff, packed full of caramel malt. Sweet brew with a big bitter finish, heavy citrus, mild soap. Chocolate shows up in the finish, more flowers. Man i can drink this fast, goes back easy. Bitter lingers but not that long. Good completely average brew.

Aroma: 5 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 6

341ml bottle
6.5% ABV
I tried this beer on December 9, 2011 at "C'est What" in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The beer poured a weak clouded lemon yellow colour with a thin white head head which disappeared quickly. The aroma was grains and citrus hops. The mouthfeel was medium bodied with medium carbonation. The flavour was weak grainy malt and weak citrus hops. Just an 'ok' beer.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Now called "Hop Circle". Bottle from trade: Pours a clear honey-gold ale in the glass. Great sticky cap lasts and laces the glass. Aromas of musty grapefruit and raisin bread. Not overly complex but a boilerplate APA, Rich malting and decent cascade hopping give fair balance and a long bitter finish. Not outstanding but very good as west coast IPAs go.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 6

Pours dark gold and hazy with small head. The aroma is clean and citrusy with strong lemon notes. The flavor has a rich malt base that might be a little too sweet, but is thankfully outshines by bright grapefruit bitterness. One of the better beers I sampled in Canada.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 8

Poured out a huge creamy off white cap on top of a hazy yellowy amber brew. Lasts forever, excellent lacing. The aroma is citrusy and refreshing. Ruby red grapefruit, apricot, orange, floral, mixed well with the caramel. Obviously a hops first IPA, not a caramel first one (like the last couple I've had). Mmmmm. Made my mouth water on first sip and most other sips that followed. Great sweetness and very tasty orange, grapefruit, pine, almost has a candy like flavour. Mid taste spice and caramel tag along with a bitterness that rises but does not linger forever. Excellent carbonation (I just tasted garden fresh carrots.... still lingering... what the hell? Piny finish. I drank this pretty damn fast!

Aroma: 4 | Appearance: 3 | Mouthfeel: 2 | Flavor: 3 | Overall: 3

Bottle courtesy of Irondjin: Poured an orangey color ale with a super big foamy head with perfect retention. Aroma of bitter hops with strong sour notes. I am guessing we have an infection issue here which may explain why the head is still perfectly in place ten minutes after I have poured the beer. The label mention that these beers were heavily hops to make all the way to India without going down the drain – well seems like this one didn’t make it across the country without getting infected. The brewery is usually reliable so I will have to rerate when I get the chance.