In this paper the plane flow of a shear thinning solution of 5 wt% polyisobutylene (PIB) in tetradecane (C14) (PIB/C14) around a cylinder placed between parallel plates is investigated numerically and experimentally. Both Laser Doppler Anemometry and Flow Induced Birefringence measurements are performed and compared with numerical results, using a Discontinuous Galerkin method and a one-mode Phan-Thien Tanner model. Previous work has shown a good agreement between measured and computed stress fields for the flow through a planar four-to-one contraction with this fluid. The flow around a cylinder, however, leads to some surprising differences.