A First Visit to Phantom Ales
Board of beers and taps
Having heard about Phantom Ales in Anaheim, I was curious to visit and try their beers. So last night, along with several other folks, we tried out their beers. Walking into the building, one encounters a bunch of homebrew supplies, which is part of their operation – in addition to being a brewery, they also are a homebrew supplies shop! When walking in to their tasting room, it is a sparsely-decorated space, with wooden tables and a metallic serving area. (There is, however, when one looks up to the next level, kegs that are accompanied by a grim reaper, which does provide the space with some interesting personality.) Phantom Ales has not only nine beers on-tap, but they also have two ciders and a mead on-tap. One can order taster flights of five, which come along on a wooden taster panel.
Flight of beers
I started off with their Pale de Galaxy (5% ABV), a pale ale, which was delicious, very smooth for a pale ale, and pretty calm. It had prominent tropical fruitiness going on and some sweetness, as well. This was a very tasty and neat pale ale! Next up, I drank their Kia Ora Hoppy Lager (6.35% ABV), which was noticeably piney, with some tropical fruits coming through. I then tried the Flying Brick Double IPA (8.2% ABV), which featured a nice, pleasant pineyness throughout the nose, palate, and finish. It also had tropical fruits emerging about mid-palate and continuing on through the finish, and it also tasted a bit sweet.
A grim reaper protects kegs
I then consumed their two stouts on the menu. First up was their Oatmeal Stout (5% ABV), which had chocolate notes and was semi-smooth. It wasn’t anything special, but the next stout certainly was. The Chocolate Raspberry Coffee Oatmeal Stout (5% ABV) was a very tasty beer! One cannot miss the coffeeness going on, with a very noticeable coffee nose, which stayed on the palate, but the soft fruitiness softened the intense coffeeness on the palate and on through the finish. This beer was certainly noteworthy in our group. We had a young lady who was not much of a beer-drinker, but she greatly enjoyed this beer. It’s a really tasty beer!
Homebrew supply shop
Phantom Ales seems like a neat little place to come and drink beer, although they do close at 8pm, so they are not as open as some other breweries in the area (nearby breweries, Bottle Logic Brewing and The Bruery, are open until 10pm), but it’s a good first stop. I thought their hoppy beers were solid and I enjoyed them, especially the Pale de Galaxy. Of course, the most noteworthy beer of our visit to Phantom Ales was the Chocolate Raspberry Coffee Oatmeal Stout, which was a very tasty beer and I hope they keep it available.
