COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO
Owned by Wynkoop Brewery of Denver, front-patioed PHANTOM CANYON BREWING, visited August ‘07, resides at a historic building nearing East-meets-West railroad juncture. Dimly lit with prominent stain-glassed L-shaped mahogany bar, sidewinding dining space, exposed ducts, and windowed brew tanks bedecking busy restaurant, its left red brick-walled section provides fine dining while second floor billiard hall and third story banquet room add further eloquence.
Lemony grapefruit-fronted raw-honeyed wheat-dried peppery-hopped Queens Blonde Ale, fizz-spiced banana-sweet lemon-dropped mandarin orange-dabbed Hefeweizen, dry-hopped honey-dipped soft-grained Railyard Amber Ale, and kindling-hopped barley-toasted orange-burnt tobacco-dried tea-like Cascade Amber Ale were routinely standard.
Enjoyed grapefruit rind-embittered piney-hopped orange-tart The Phantom IPA, peaty Band-aid-wafted, oily coffee-dried, fig-soured, black chocolate-finishing Peated Porter and coffee-chocolate-centered Stonehead Stout a bit better. Worthy seasonals were dry ginger-profiled eucalyptus-spearmint-lilac-freshened raisin-tinged East Meets West Ginger Beer and lemon-bruised white-peached corn-starched hop-fizzed Demolition Cream Ale. Best bet: startling Oak-Aged Imperial IPA, a sharply alcoholic digestif with peach liqueur sweetness bulging grapefruit, baked apple, and curacao orange illusions.