Hoperation Tripel Cross Belgian IPA - Phillips Brewing Company

IronDjinn

Alberta (Canada)

4/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

From a 650 ml brown bottle. Pours out a bright clear golden hue, short creamy white head that settles to a thin cap.

Leafy and citrus rind hops on the nose, some peppery spice, and dry grainy malt in the background.

Dry grains and spice up front in the flavour, finishing with dry grapefruit rind and pith, more herbal down the line and into the aftertaste, with an astringent mouthfeel long into the aftertaste.

Lighter-bodied mouthfeel, texture gets a bit sticky from the hops, moderate carbonation.

Reminds me a lot of a Saison with its dryness, but since this is a new-ish style anything kind of goes at the moment. Quite enjoyable for what it is, I'd go back for more.

Serving type: bottle

10-24-2011 05:45:33 | More by IronDjinn

Kmat10

Alberta (Canada)

4/5  rDev +0.3%

05-20-2013 05:07:19 | More by Kmat10

kjyost

Manitoba (Canada)

4.34/5  rDev +8.8%
look: 5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

New bottle tried on 04-28-2013
A substantially better bottle than the first. Crisp bitterness with Juicy Fruit hop aromas & flavours coupled with Belgian esters. Very nice beer.

04-20-2013
650 mL bottle newly arrived at the MLCC Crestview. Bottle label appears to be notches 2 - Aug. WTF does that mean? I hope it is BB, not bottled last year!! Bottle claims to be 7.3% ABV. Served ~7-8C into a stemmed beer flute.

A: Crystal clear straw yellow with a nice white head that laces gloriously. (5)
S: Muted herbal hops and some peppery esters - expecting a lot more from an IPA's aroma. (3.75)
T: Meh. Not atrocious, just nothing like what I was expecting. Sweet malt, with a corn like finish along with some light belgian estery notes (pepper, maybe a hint of stone fruit) and some light earthy & herbal hop flavours. Very weak on the hops. (3.25)
M: Bitterness is low, but slowly builds. Carbonation comes off as being lower than expected, but it is a good amount.(3.75)
O: I was expecting so very much from this beer. Is this not always the way? Build something up, you will be disappointed. Come in with low expectations, be amazed. Sigh. (3.5)

Serving type: bottle

04-29-2013 15:44:25 | More by kjyost

Muhly

Alberta (Canada)

3.95/5  rDev -1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Bottled on April 1 according the label. Poured from a bomber into a round beer glass.

Pour a slightly cloudy yellow with a nice white tight-knit head and strong lacing to boot.

I can smell both a good dose of light bready malts and a yeast smell that borders on funky, but doesn't stray into Saison territory. Hops are present in the background emanating a pine and earth smell.

Bread, malts, mildly phenolic peppery notes and a good, but reasonable dose of hop bitterness.

The quaff is round and smooth and coats the tongue a bit. Finishes with some astringency, but allows some sweetness and pepper to shine through as well.

I don't think throwing a bunch of hops in a belgian pale ale or whatever is a terribly inventive or creative thing anymore, but Phillips does a great job of it here. It is more or less what you expect, but everything works together in concert to provide a nice beer.

Serving type: bottle

04-18-2013 04:04:41 | More by Muhly

goalie35

Alberta (Canada)

4/5  rDev +0.3%

04-07-2013 00:01:52 | More by goalie35

artemh

Alberta (Canada)

4/5  rDev +0.3%

03-28-2013 23:11:25 | More by artemh

sclitch

California

4.25/5  rDev +6.5%

03-28-2013 15:06:28 | More by sclitch

BlackAura

Alberta (Canada)

3.75/5  rDev -6%

03-17-2013 03:37:27 | More by BlackAura

IanSpindler

Alberta (Canada)

4.25/5  rDev +6.5%

02-27-2013 21:02:46 | More by IanSpindler

DaPan

Ontario (Canada)

4.25/5  rDev +6.5%

02-14-2013 13:41:18 | More by DaPan

smekermann

British Columbia (Canada)

4.1/5  rDev +2.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

I've had a few of these Belgian tripel/IPA hybrids before which tasted similar yet sodomized your palette with an unholy collection of widely disparate tastes and flavors that had no business trying to meld together (basically, the less said about Stone's Cali-Belgique abomination, the better), so I initially approached this beer with caution.

Beer pours a hazy, slightly pale orange, with a decent off-white head and persistent lacing on the glass. Smells of floral hops and Belgian yeast sort of assault your nostrils. First thing you taste is hops: a really strong, floral aroma that somehow manages to smoothly give way to Belgian yeast and Candi sugar with almost no beta acid bitterness. Despite the somewhat sweet aftertaste, the beer manages to feel fairly dry: the dryness of the initial hop aroma and the sweetness of the Belgian malts and yeast make this a fairly neutral beer in this respect. It also hides its alcohol content really well; I doubt many people would say this is over 6-6.5% in a blind tasting. Basically, this beer will make you think you could handle three bombers because it's so delicious and easy to drink and the next thing you'll remember is waking up on a park bench somewhere the next morning.

Overall, this is one of my hoppy mainstays, especially since it's fairly easy to find in the Lower Mainland. The hop profile is actually pretty gorgeous, especially for a Canadian beer - it's reminiscent of something you'd see brewed in California, although probably a bit mellower compared to the usual fare down there. Undoubtedly my favorite beer from Phillips Brewing and one of the better examples of this style of beer.
---
Editing this review to say that I've had multiple bombers since the beginning of the year and I've found them pretty lacking in hop profile compared to past experiences. The gorgeously aromatic, flowery hop nose and mouthfeel simply aren't there anymore Not sure if something changed in the recipe or I'm just constantly picking up old beer. I'm not getting any off flavours from the beer, though, so I'm reasonably certain it's not old. Anyway, a fairly disappointing turn of events, in my opinion. I'm going to leave the original rating up for posterity, but I'd probably rate it a 3.7 nowadays.

Serving type: bottle

12-29-2012 14:40:01 | More by smekermann

KalanM

British Columbia (Canada)

4.5/5  rDev +12.8%

11-29-2012 02:52:29 | More by KalanM

shagal

Alberta (Canada)

4/5  rDev +0.3%

11-28-2012 05:08:07 | More by shagal

DrShakalu

British Columbia (Canada)

4/5  rDev +0.3%

10-22-2012 21:53:46 | More by DrShakalu

Molson2000

Ontario (Canada)

4.5/5  rDev +12.8%

09-19-2012 23:40:50 | More by Molson2000

bigorange

Massachusetts

3.5/5  rDev -12.3%

09-17-2012 21:54:37 | More by bigorange

tcampbel1

Oregon

3.5/5  rDev -12.3%

09-14-2012 00:29:02 | More by tcampbel1

mbehrns

Alberta (Canada)

3.5/5  rDev -12.3%

09-04-2012 03:14:22 | More by mbehrns

Stizz19

3.75/5  rDev -6%

08-22-2012 03:22:14 | More by Stizz19

4ster

Quebec (Canada)

4/5  rDev +0.3%

08-19-2012 19:28:04 | More by 4ster

ChuckGnarly

British Columbia (Canada)

4/5  rDev +0.3%

08-06-2012 05:29:10 | More by ChuckGnarly

thefullpython

3.5/5  rDev -12.3%

07-18-2012 05:33:54 | More by thefullpython

jrenihan

Ontario (Canada)

4/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Beer is light golden, quite clear. A nice solid white head on top. Good retention, good lacing.

Smell consists of yeast, soapy and grassy hops, pine, a bit of a damp scent. As it opens up, a nice light fruit scent makes itself known.

Taste is similar to the nose. Belgian yeast, some light fruit (banana, apple), grassy hops, lemon, pineapple. Fairly bitter.

Medium bodied, moderate carbonation, somewhat oily.

Overall, pretty good. Not one of the top Belgian IPAs by any stretch, but pretty tasty.

Serving type: bottle

07-10-2012 00:50:22 | More by jrenihan

liamt07

Ontario (Canada)

3.6/5  rDev -9.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

Bottle from Rutager, 650ml into a tulip. Thanks Brad!

Hazy yellow body, couple fingers of soapy white head. Good fluffy retention, and nice lacing. Nose has a soft lemony citrus and floral bouquet, some Belgian notes as well. A bit of spice, light grains. Taste is a bit of step down, some grassy herbal hopping. Lighter citrus, some zest, a bit soapy and some Belgian yeast. Reminds me a bit of the Cuvee Houblounee III from A La Fut in terms of the yeast character. Medium body, medium high carbonation. An OK beer but I'm not a big fan of the way the yeast comes through.

Serving type: bottle

07-04-2012 03:05:01 | More by liamt07

g4g2008

British Columbia (Canada)

3.75/5  rDev -6%

07-03-2012 23:21:53 | More by g4g2008