Lisa Morrison

Ale-xploring: Colorado Springs

Still bleary-eyed from traveling as I write this, it’s nice to reflect on the past weekend full of fun, friends and good beer.

The hubby, Mark, and I had to leave the Oregon Brewers Festival festivities early so we could travel to Colorado Springs for a good friend’s wedding. Thanks to some crazy airline issues, we arrived in the Springs shortly after midnight on Sunday morning, several long hours after our scheduled arrival Saturday night. Ugh. Thankfully, the wedding wasn’t until Sunday at noon!

Unfortunately, the flight delays cut into our plans to do some “beer exploring” Saturday night, so Mark and I had only later Saturday night after the Big Event and Monday until we had to drive back to Denver to catch our flight home to drink in the Springs’ beer scene.

We managed to squeeze in a visit to three local brewpubs and sample a beer from a fourth in the three short hours we had for our ale-xpedition. Fortunately, thanks to some well-informed locals like Erik Boyles and Eli Shayotovich of Beer Tap TV, we managed to hit the cream of the crop.

First stop, The Blue Star, a beer-centric restaurant that is conjoined both physically (they are in the same building) and professionally with Bristol Brewing Co. A dark and swanky place, with what could be nominated for the World’s Deepest Bar Top (seriously, longer than an arm’s reach in depth), The Blue Star features most of Bristol’s brews but has a really nice selection of draft beers from other breweries and an impressive list of bottled beers — both from around the corner and around the world. Mark ordered the Compass IPA, which was a nice, solid beer with enough hops to keep my hophead happy. One of the other beers on draft was Black Fox Brewing Siempre Loco, a beautiful and unusual saison made with cumin, lime zest and black peppercorns, all of which lend a slightly spicy note that would, not surprisingly, pair well with Mexican food (and Indian, too, methinks).

As soon as the brewpub opened on Monday, Mark and I found our way to the large and lovely appointed Phantom Canyon Brewing Co. Housed in a large, old building in a great location downtown, it’s easy to see why Phantom Canyon is a popular spot for both the workday lunch crowd and after-work imbibers. We had recently enjoyed breakfast with the newlyweds, so we skipped the food, but it looked great. Mark and I shared a sampler of all 10 draft beers instead.

While all the beers were good, there really wasn’t anything that leapt out at either of us. I was impressed that the Phantom IPA and the Zebulon Peat Porter (made with peat malt, which lends a hint of smoky flavor) were served on cask from a hand pump — even in pitchers. And I also have to give the brewers mad props for their brilliant “Revival Series,” an ongoing program that features defunct styles of beers. Two in the series were on tap at the Phantom when we were there: a true-to-style 1941 Whitbread IPA out of London and a Dampfbier, a style from the Bavarian forest near the Czech border of Germany. (Read more about this unique style here.) With a good dose of malt to balance out and enhance the fruit and spice notes from the weissbier yeast, the Dampfbier was a favorite for both me and Mark.

Our final stop in Colorado Springs wound up being the most intriguing: Trinity Brewing. Housed in a nondescript location in a strip mall off the busy Garden of the Gods Boulevard, Trinity has been brewing up some interesting stuff in its nearly two years of operations.

Offering a goodly number of guest taps (20-plus) in addition to its own lineup of beers, Trinity is definitely the brewery that’s really pushing the envelope in the Springs. From its drop-dead gorgeous bar top made of recycled beer bottles to the way it offers its beer sampler, complete with a small sample of Dubliner cheese, the care and respect Trinity gives the beer is obvious. The Flo IPA was a favorite among Mark, me and our newly wedded friend, Dan, who tore himself away from his bride to join us one last time before we left. (But I really think it was because he likes Trinity. A lot.) I also appreciated the Farmhouse, a saison that changes with the seasons; the current Farmhouse, Fantome SS, was inspired by the eponymous brewery in Belgium. It was a fine tribute, indeed. Awaken is a coffee stout brewed with chicory, which seemed to round out the odd-flavored edge that I often find a bit off-putting in many coffee stouts.

In all, despite the short time we had in Colorado Springs, it was enjoyable to experience this friendly city’s burgeoning beer culture. We look forward to revisiting it again in the future.