Imagine Colorado Springs without any breweries. Or if you’re a long-time resident, remember back a few decades. Thirty-one years ago, there were no microbreweries in the Springs. Unless you knew, or were, a home-brewer, you were out of luck drinking any beer made locally. That changed when a visionary Denver brewer and restaurateur named John Hickenlooper saw the potential in a condemned downtown building and a market just waiting to be tapped, literally. Now Phantom Canyon Brewing Company is celebrating its 30th anniversary throughout November with a food drive, four new brews in honor of four of its first employees and a community birthday party.
Since 1993, Phantom Canyon has been a community staple and leading brewpub in the heart of downtown. Now its historic, beautifully renovated location includes a high-ceilinged restaurant with an ornate historic bar, a hip billiards hall, a scenic second-story patio and a large third-floor event space that I can attest is a beautiful venue for wedding receptions. In 1989 though, the Cheyenne Building came within weeks of demolition thanks to a parking lot deal that fell through and a historic preservation designation.
Built in 1901, the Cheyenne Building originally was the office for the western terminus of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad and a hotel for its railroad employees. Through the years, it served as a different cheap hotel and housed various retail tenants with the sandstone visage of its namesake Cheyenne Chief Two Moons overseeing it all on the corner of Cascade and Pikes Peak avenues.
Before he would go on to serve as Denver mayor, Colorado governor and Colorado senator, Hickenlooper bought the building in 1991 with the vision of a fresh gastropub that blended old-style brewing in the building’s renovated historic character. The time was right, with Colorado at the forefront of the growing craft brewing movement. Hickenlooper’s team had opened Colorado’s first brewpub, Wynkoop Brewing Company, in 1988 and watched it serve as one of the earliest catalysts for Denver’s LoDo revitalization. New Belgium Brewing opened in Fort Collins in 1991. And microbreweries across the U.S. were growing tenfold from 100 breweries nationwide in 1985 to 1,000 in 1995, according to the Brewers Association. Colorado Springs was ready to join the movement. With another nod to local history and the rugged beauty of the Pikes Peak region’s Gold Belt, Hickenlooper and company named their new brewery Phantom Canyon and opened in 1993.
Thirty years later, Phantom Canyon is still going strong, even recently earning a spot among our Best Breweries in Colorado Springs list. Much credit goes to head brewer Charles McManus, who has infused the brewery’s legacy with a resurgence of creativity since taking the helm in 2018. McManus centers his brews on the Colorado seasons. He loves to focus his tappings around local agriculture, allowing Phantom Canyon to feature seasonal tappings year-around.
In honor of the brewery’s 30th anniversary, McManus worked with four of the brewery’s original employees — a telling sign that they are still on staff — to create four new exclusive legacy brews. The Two-Headed Shauna, a double IPA, is already on tap. The brew is named after Shauna Stewart, who has been with Phantom for 23 years and whose daughter Eden also works at Phantom. As a self-proclaimed “IPA gal,” Shauna wanted to brew a big, bold and ultra-hoppy double IPA. Phantom used mountains of Citra and Centennial hops for over-the-top aromatics in the dangerously drinkable hop bomb.
The other legacy beers are the Pop’s Porter, named after Jimmy “Pops” Schmidt; the Cascade Amber, named after Johnny Mills; and the Peppermint Patty’s, a chocolate peppermint imperial stout named after Patty Lovekin.
All the legacy beers will be on tap at Phantom Canyon’s 30th birthday, which happens Nov. 25 at 6 p.m. The brewery will be partying like it’s 1993 with a DJ, dinner buffet option, party decor, prizes, legacy beers, a holiday barleywine and chance to meet the brewers. The party happens on the brewery’s third floor, and admission is free. You can find the details at @phantomcanyon.
We don’t expect Senator Hickenlooper to be in attendance, but it’s a great opportunity to raise a glass in gratitude to the vision of Phantom Canyon and the Colorado Springs craft beer scene it helped to usher in.
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