SEPT/OCT 1998

VOL.3 NO.8

Taste of the Month -- Some Foods and Drinks Make Bigger Impressions Than Others

As tempting as it is to make the Champion Beer of Britain, Coniston Bluebird Bitter, the Taste of the Month, there was actually one beer sampled during August that impressed me even more. Although I must admit that in this case, the context of the tasting probably had a lot to do with it.

Said context was my return from ten days of drinking almost exclusively cask ale in London. It was a delicious experience, and one which gave me a renewed respect for complexity and nuances of cask ales, but after that, something inside of me just longed for a good hit of American hops. That hit came a few days later during a trip to Denver, Colorado, and the beer that administered the dose was the Phantom Canyon IPA.

I have raved about this superbly balanced, refreshing-yet-fruity IPA before, so its brilliance came as no surprise to me. But after a prolonged period of serious hop deprivation -- because, let's face it, the English pale ales, bitters and IPAs are much more subtle and profoundly less bitter than their North American equivalents -- the Phantom Canyon IPA was as close to an ideal ale as I encountered over the course of my four days in Denver.

The Phantom Canyon IPA is available at the Phantom Canyon brewpub in Colorado Springs or can usually be found on tap in Denver at Broadway Brewing at 2441 Broadway, about a 10-15 minute walk from Coors Field.

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