Phantom Canyon Railyard Ale

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

This is one of Phantom's better brews. This is a full bodied ale with enough hops and complexity to recommend this one to others. It's worth the price.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 7

Sampled on draft at Phantom Canyon. Pours clear amber. Dark fruit, pepper/spice and cara-malt aroma. Toffee & hop spice dominates the flavor. Medium-bodied and smooth. Not a trypical brewpub amber. A fine beer.

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

Sampled draught at the brewpub in Downtown Colorado Springs, CO.

While I think I can give their IPA a "B+"...., I'm not as hessiatant about giving this beer something along the lines of an "A-". Much more satisfying and "complete", in my book.

My main "complaint" (...and the word "complaint" is rather too harsh in this context) with the Phantom Canyon IPA was that seemed a little empty in the middle. It's fine if the brewers didn't feel the need to go balls-to-the-wall with all of the beer's various hop additions. But the maltbill didn't seem to support this move, and the resulting beer just seemed a little disjointed to me.

Not an issue here -- the malt bill with this bad boy squared up nicely throughout the entire glass. No, not as hoppy as the IPA of course -- but even still this beer was not shy about stretching it's wings, hop-wise. And it all interacted nicely with the malt bill, which thankfully was not too sweet or cloying (a big deal breaker for me, when it comes to many Amber/Red Ales).

A solid drinking beer, that I could see being a good session beer -- or, at the very least, a good beer to start a session, before moving on to Phantom Canyon's other interesting offerings on-tap.

Recommended.
//TB