Following our stop at BierWerks, we made our way to downtown Colorado Springs for a stop at Phantom Canyon. From what I know of the brewery, now-Colorado governor John Hickenlooper, whom I've toasted with at Brew at the Zoo, purchased the historic railroad office building back in the early 90's. It's on a little strip of neat 'old-town' feel CoSprings on Pikes Peak Avenue. They've got one helluva selection of on-draft beers at all times it seems with a list of upcoming and 'in the tank' beers viewable, as indications of hopes for planned future visits. I couldn't stop thinking about the Oatmeal Cookie beer that's "upcoming". The Phantom IPA is apparently PC's flagstone beer, but we were a little pressed for time and enjoyed two others instead:
1877 Strong Ale - 9.5%abv, obviously this was the one that I picked to try. Some might call this a strong ale, some might call it something else, I call it delicious: a copper red in color, not too cloudy but somewhat dense looking; thin head, light lacing around the sifter lips; seemingly served cool, not chilled; complex flavors, like sweet earth w/o the dirt feel; tastes like baked fruit, both apples and pears (mentions a taste of sugar cookie, but I didn't taste that); real good overall and would easily get your drunk after 2-3.
Railyard Ale - 5.2%abv; good medium amber hue; very drinkable session amber; easy fall ale; light on depth; light head, little lacing; like an Oktoberfest brewed w/o anything bitter; not amazing, but I also tasted AFTER the Strong Ale (woops!).
The brewery is huge, with a 2nd level pool hall and a third level 'party room'. Full menu of food; we ordered soft pretzels with beer cheese and course mustard; pretzels were delicious and both the cheese and mustard were great dips. Will be back here as well to expand on the menu for a longer session of consumption. Good stuff.
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