THE PHANTOM CARRIAGE BREWERY:

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE SOUR BEER AND SPOOKY ATMOSPHERE

By Mick Haven, Cuisine Columnist
Photos By Phillip Cooke

A plastic toy soldier with a handkerchief parachute falls from the sky as a giant rubber buzzard suspended from piano wire swoops in and gobbles up the hapless G.I.

This black-and-white, Ed Wood-esque tableau—or maybe an actual Ed Wood film— plays out in the screening room at the Phantom Carriage Brewery in Carson as the Misfits blare out of the sound system. But Phantom’s main objective isn’t starting a schlock horror film renaissance, it’s bringing craft sour beer to the South Bay, while invoking a Transylvanian taproom feel.

With ingredients like bacteria and naturally occurring strains of yeast in their brews, you know mad scientists are running the laboratory.

Head brewer and mad scientist Simon Ford brings all the sour beer formulas from his days concocting small batches in his garage for friends.

What’s the origin story with sours? Well, Belgium’s been doing them for more than a minute. But it’s a pretty new deal in the New World. Phantom Carriage Brewery’s at the forefront in the Los Angeles area, along with other local breweries including Beachwood BBQ and Brewing, Craftsman and Monkish Brewing Co.

Ford’s most potent potion, the Lugosi (see their theme? Consistent, huh?), a dark sour, clocks in at 12.8 percent alcohol by volume.

Andrew Fuller, from Venice Beach, tried a flight that included a couple of blondes and the Lugosi.

“The Lugosi’s my favorite, he said. “It has this winey finish I’m really liking.”

Fuller’s got an astute palate, seeing as how the Lugosi’s got about the same alcohol content as wine.

Ford continues his monstrous in-house experiments, brewing small batches and filling the wooden barrels held together with rusty patinaed hoops. The portly containers were stacked high throughout the industrial building housing Phantom. They have partnered with Smog City, which handles the big batches, keeping the Carriage Brewery floating in suds.

Besides its puckery trademark, Phantom offers a rotating roster of other beers. On tap, options range from the El Segundo Blue House Citra Pale and from El Segundo Brewing, to the farthest flung offering of a toasted porter all the way from Akureyri, Iceland, by the Einstök Beer Co.

And, along with the taps, the oodles of bottled choices are pushing 100.

How to get there to sample some of these sumptuous suds? Well, since secret laboratories are secret, finding the place to get a taste of these nefarious libations ain’t all that easy. A lone, unlit sign hanging from a chain link fence in a long block of industrial buildings makes missing the driveway on the first pass likely. But it’s there on 18525 S. Main in Carson. So, don’t get scared away.

Once you find it, there’s a lot in back or street parking, if that gets crowded. Watch out if it’s dark as, just like the driveway, you might sail right past the front door, and only entrance, on the side of the big block of a building.

Inside, it’s all noir as you pass through a foyer and get to the bar. Behind the bar is a lit-up menu of featured beers available. To the left is a sizable tasting room, all dark and appointed with heavy wood tables and tall chairs. To the right is the screening room, playing cheesy horror films that started things off way back in the beginning. Everything is black. The open ceiling with exposed girders goes all the way to the top of the two-story building, with the wooden barrels presumably holding the hootch stacked on racks forming a wall at one end, as well as on top of the kitchen structure.

There’s food, too. The place features a menu that elevates some classics, while staying hearty and basic. How’s that done, you ask? Well, the menu’s got things on it like a turkey sandwich, but it’s smoked turkey with chipotle mayo. Another smoked offering is brisket on a baguette with some au jus to get it wet or a bar staple, the pickled egg, which gets a bunch of pickled vegetable companions reminiscent of Italian giardiniera or sottaceti. Either way, it’s damned tasty if you like sour goodies with your sour beer. Oh, and an ice cream beer float composed of vanilla bean ice cream and a rotating stout sounds wicked also.

The only gripe: the latest the place stays open is 11 p.m. Thursday through Friday. C’mon, everyone knows that the most diabolical plans aren’t hatched till the darkest depths of night.

Jairo Bogarin, the bar manager, went to Cal State Dominguez Hills and revamped the DH Sports Lounge, the campus watering hole, by turning it from a Coors Light swillhouse into an IPA and stout-friendly environment.

“I’m pretty sure we’re zoned for it,” he said. “So, it’s definitely on the table to stay open later as the clientele grows.”

Details: (310) 538-5834; www.phantomcarriage.com
Venue: The Phantom Carriage Brewery, 18525 S. Main St., Carson 90248