Phantom Carriage

heytomcat from Minnesota

5/5  rDev +15.5%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5

If your in So Cal you gotta check this place out. Not much to look at from the outside but inside has a very fun "horror movie" theme to it. If your a fan of sour beers, this place is top notch. Great, knowledgable service too.

Sep 23, 2017

DVMin98 from North Carolina

3.62/5  rDev -16.4%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.25 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5

Feb 24, 2020

socon67 from New York

4.15/5  rDev -4.2%
vibe: 4.25 | quality: 4 | service: 4.25 | selection: 4.25 | food: 4

Brewery off the highway in Carson. The scene is that of gothic horror; skeletons adorn the bar area, and some cool artwork as an homage to the 80's supernatural\horror indie films (Evil Dead and They Live stood out above the to-go fridge). Service was solid; even let me sample a habanero raspberry ale after it was obvious I was cashing out. Plenty of diverse offerings; many with names alluding to horror film themes. I really enjoyed Rare Exports; a sahti no less! Food was standard pub fare and my philly cheesesteak did not disappoint.

Overall, there are options in the area that one would find with better beers (Smog City, Monkish). But the diversity of selections, the chill theme, and addition of food make this a solid visit in the area.

Jun 07, 2019

DrinkThemAll from California

3.85/5  rDev -11.1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.75 | service: 4 | selection: 3.75

Mar 29, 2019

SierraFlight from Virginia

4.34/5  rDev +0.2%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.25 | service: 4.25 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.25

Oct 26, 2018

Goneflying87 from California

4.26/5  rDev -1.6%
vibe: 4.75 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.25 | food: 4

Visit this place multiple times in which they do have some pretty good IPA beers when they do can releases. They are a nice big brewers of sours; one of the best I have tasted is Dolores in which sadly they no longer brew it. They do have a nice selection of food in which in my opinion some are over priced such as the pork sliders. I personally recommend the Phantom Freetos!!!! Those are a must!

Sep 24, 2018

TGarbo from California

5/5  rDev +15.5%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 5

An awesome place, with a cool, dank vibe. Screening room, with classic awful movies, and some of the best sours in the LA South Bay. Worth a stop.

Jan 02, 2018

AlexCarls from California

4.15/5  rDev -4.2%
vibe: 5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5

Nov 27, 2017

Mista_Carta from California

4.43/5  rDev +2.3%
vibe: 4.75 | quality: 4.25 | service: 4.75 | selection: 4.25 | food: 4.25

Pretty standard industrial area location, they take the theme and run with it... Dimly lit tasting room walled in by barrels stacked high all with the haunted/horror theme you would expect. Skeletons, skulls, comics, horror movie masks & props—there is even a small "Phantom Theatre" that continuously loops horror movies. The tasting room itself is normally playing heavy metal (at a reasonable level).

13 (still going with horror/superstition theme?) taps, one of which is nitro. Taps are split pretty evenly between PC brews and guest taps. Occasionally, they do some bottle pours as well. Guest taps are predominantly SoCal/left coast. Phantom Carriages own offerings lean towards sours (even their BA porters & stouts leans toward sour...) with an occasional IPA/PA option which is fine, it seems like whoever is curating the tap list seems to find a style balance between the PC & guest taps. They also have a small cooler with some local bottled options for on-sight consumption.

Food is a combination of "bar food" small plates (big pretzel, "Frito pie," sliders, couple pickled/veggie options) and BBQ medium plates (brisket sandwich, varying sausages, pulled pork panini, smoked turkey, grilled cheese/grilled mushroom for veg). Pretty sinister looking dessert list that I try to steer clear of... Actually pretty good, and more than capably does the booze soaking job. Despite being on the "heavier" end of the culinary world, the portions aren't huge so you don't feel like a total beast.

Lunch is pretty mellow. Evenings can get rowdy especially if they are running specials tied into any local heavy metal concerts.

Overall fun spot. Helpful, friendly staff. Worth a visit.

Also, the Goodyear blimp is sometimes parked at its airfield just a couple blocks away.

May 05, 2017

kmanjohnson from California

4.35/5  rDev +0.5%
vibe: 4.75 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4

Feb 18, 2017

HoppyDude421 from California

4.65/5  rDev +7.4%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4

Love this place, but I'm biased since horror movies and heavy metal are both life-long obsessions. Add in tasty sours/fruit blends and it gets two thumbs way up. My only complaint is that it's 400 miles away, so I only get to visit a few times a year.

Jan 05, 2017

AleHunter805 from California

4.28/5  rDev -1.2%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.25 | service: 4.25 | selection: 4.25 | food: 4.25

Nov 20, 2016

datpingao from California

4.05/5  rDev -6.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3.75 | selection: 4.25 | food: 4.5

Sep 04, 2016

kjkinsey from Texas

4.26/5  rDev -1.6%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.25 | selection: 4 | food: 4

Aug 26, 2016

PBRandJ from California

3.9/5  rDev -9.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3.75 | selection: 3.75 | food: 4.25

Jul 25, 2016

SDRedDevil from California

4.14/5  rDev -4.4%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4.25 | selection: 4.25

Jul 20, 2016

mrcraft from California

4.31/5  rDev -0.5%
vibe: 4.75 | quality: 4.25 | service: 4.25 | selection: 4.25

Phantom Carriage is located in an industrial part of Carson. The building itself is a regular commercial building. The only thing that may tip you off what you might find inside are the barrels and name. The entrance to the tap room is found as you walk towards the back on the side. Once you enter, it's dark! It will take your eyes a bit to adjust. This was just so cool, this spooky feel to it.

Once you enter, you have a small bar area where you order your drinks. I didn't order food, but likely food as well. There was a small kitchen right by it. There are plenty of tables with chairs and candles. Their barrels were prominently on display throughout. I also saw two themed rooms with more area to gather and mingle.

The service was friendly and quick. I ordered some sour tasters. The Broadacres varieties were nice as well as the new Porter they had on tap. They also sold bottles for consumption onsite.

I'm glad I visited. Very cool.

Jul 17, 2016

Drew_V_dt from California

4.7/5  rDev +8.5%
vibe: 5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.75 | selection: 4.75 | food: 4.75

Jul 15, 2016

zanbell from California

4.43/5  rDev +2.3%
vibe: 4.75 | quality: 4.75 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4

Brilliant brews and food. Amazing atmosphere, especially if you are into the horror or dungeon feel. Even if you aren't you owe it to yourself to get ahold of their fantastic wild beers.

May 25, 2016

Keananmichael5 from California

3.94/5  rDev -9%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.75 | service: 4.25 | selection: 4 | food: 4

May 21, 2016

Brolo75 from California

4.14/5  rDev -4.4%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4.25 | selection: 4.25

Visited Phantom Carriage brewery to pick up some bottles I ordered online. First off and what I liked the least about the brewery was that it is very dark inside. I'm really not one for dark bars I prefer a tasting room that is well lit, especially for viewing and rating a beer. The service was great, great selection of their own beers on tap and guest beers, a solid variety of bottled beer. I did not order any food but what I saw looked really good.

I think they make some really great beers.

Apr 17, 2016

Yermomsfavorite from California

4.49/5  rDev +3.7%
vibe: 5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.75 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5

What's not to love about a horror themed brewery with exceptionally tasty beers? Throw in their mini theater with a 4K Retina display screening classic horror films, smoked meats or their selections of bottled beers from other breweries available for in-house consumption & it's just about perfect. My only complaint would be the limited seating areas as it definitely fills up quickly. Highly recommended.

Apr 11, 2016

Phil-Fresh from California

4.03/5  rDev -6.9%
vibe: 4.25 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4

Small brewery tucked away in Carson, which is definitely not the first place I’d expect a brewery. The place has a very strong horror movie theme to its décor. As such, the place is a bit darker than most tasting rooms. The tasting room is pretty expansive and there’s ample seating, even an area to watch movies. The brewery has a number of in house sour offerings. Phantom Carriage has some pretty kick-ass Berliner iterations, but since they’re still new, their barrel aged offerings are just starting to mature.

Mar 14, 2016

Synthetrix from California

4.73/5  rDev +9.2%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | food: 3.5

Mar 07, 2016

DoubleJ from Wisconsin

4.01/5  rDev -7.4%
vibe: 3.75 | quality: 4 | service: 4.25 | selection: 4 | food: 3.75

Phantom Carriage camouflages itself well with the industrial neighborhood it's located at, so finding the place was very difficult at first. When I finally did, I walked inside and thought that I had entered Disneyland's Haunted House. It's darkly lit inside and made up of several rooms. All rooms lead to the bar and barrel room, which has a heavy metal theme to it; even metal music was playing overhead. One of the rooms even features a 113 inch screen, which was great because it was the day of the Super Bowl. And drinking with user corby112 made the overall experience a little better.

A total of 12 taps pouring, with five of them being house beer. Phantom Carriage beers had a theme towards leaning towards the wild and funky side, and on-tap were their berliner weisse, hoppy saison, dark saison, wild ale, and brett ale brewed with Centennial hops. I opted for full pours, and the berliner weisse was well done, the dark saison being light and fruity. The glassware was nice as well, served in goblets with beautiful pours. Guest taps included beers from Ballast Point, Beachwood, Almanac, Stone, and Ritual. To cap it off, there was a fridge stocked with at least 60 bottled/canned options.

Good, helpful service behind the bar, plus a warm baked pretzel with house cheese sauce made my mood a whole lot better, especially after the frustration that I had to find the place. It's a bit of a drive from my residence, but I would stop by again.

Feb 12, 2016