Colorado: day three

Today we visited Garden of The Gods in Colorado Springs...


Spectacular!



We then headed into Colorado Springs, where we had two brew pubs on our agenda: Phantom Canyon Brewery and Judge Baldwin's Brewery.




Phantom Canyon Brewing Co.
August 13, 2007
5:30 p.m.

Nice remodel of an historical building. bright, with a windowed corner. Hard wood floors, and a beautiful bar with lighted stained glass accents. In general the beers here were kind of bland and uninspired. Reid's pick the Ginger Wheat. Rox - did not order a beer outside of sampler. The brewery did seem to have a lot of traffic, perhaps because of serving $2 pints during happy hour 3-6 weekdays.

We started using numbers to rate - 1 being horrible and 5 being awesome. We are very conservative with 5s, and it seems most beers fall in the 3 range - average.

Zebulon's Peated Porter - 3 Reid, smoky, but still sort of bland. 3 Rox I love dark beers, but a little lifeless.
Root Beer - 3 Rox, just average, not very fizzy
Imperial IPA - seasonal fruity, hints of apricot, a lot of tang. 2 Reid, 3.5 Rox
Demolition Cream Ale 3 Reid 3 Rox deh.
Ginger Wheat 3 Reid 3 Rox - Tangy
The Phantom IPA 3 Reid, Flat and lifeless, but has potential, 2 Rox - almost no immediate flavor, but a strong hoppy aftertaste. Not my style.
Cascade Amber Ale 3 Reid,
Railyard Ale 2 Reid - lacking flavor, 2 Rox
Hefeweizen Bananas! 2 Reid, 3 Rox Banana and clove flavors make an interesting, very taste-specific combination. They seemed a little overwhelming.
Queen's Blonde light and easy 4 Reid, 4 Rox

We had pretzels for palate cleansing, but otherwise no food here.



Judge Baldwin's Brewing Co.
Colorado Springs, CO

This brewery is located in the Antlers Hilton, very near the Phantom Canyon Brewery.
Our sampler was accompanied by a bowl of pretzels. This brewery is adjacent to the Hilton hotel. Nice ambiance, we sat in a comfortable booth with high wood partitions for privacy. There were ample TVs and a good-looking bar. Glass between eating and brewing areas.

The beers are overall enjoyable, with more flavor than the other Colorado Springs brewery we visited. Roxanne's pick, #3 Lager, Reid's pick #3 lager

Champion Wheat
3 Rox, 3 Reid - nice

Raspberry Wheat
3 Reid, 4 Rox - strong Raspberry favor, nice freshness, light and enjoyable.

Flemish Oud Bruin
Reid 3.5, Roxanne 4
Very spicy, Christmasy flavor. So favorful, probably can't drink a lot of that, but tasty and well made.

#3 Lager
4 Roxanne, 4 Reid

Cascade Amber Lager
Hoppy without a strong aftertaste. Reid 4, Roxanne 4

Wellington Pale Ale
Tasty and smooth. Reid 3.5, Rox 3.5 Reid cites a 'fruity tinge' . Rox: I think it's drinkable and flavorful.