Baxter Brewing Phantom Punch

My buddy Mike over at the Tippling House once told me that Baxter Brewing was the largest growing brewery in the USofA, and that their Stowaway IPA was even available in the Acela Train. Now, I'm not one to fact check, so I'm assuming that's true. What I do know is that after the death of his mother H. Luke Livingston took a shot at doing what he did in his college dorm, brew beer. I also know that   Baxter is the first brewery to exclusively can it's entire line of brews, which helps them keep up their green practices. And lastly, I know the first time I ever got to sip on a Stowaway IPA was at Charlie's Kitchen in Harvard Square, out of a can with a lovely wool coozie wrapped around it, and it was fantastic. Anyways, I was able to get my hand on a sweet Baxter can glass and their new seasonal  Phantom Punch had just came into the store. So it was a match made in heaven.

If you were unaware, Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston fought the 2nd of their two fights in Lewiston, ME after the Massachusetts Boxing Association said the fight wasn't properly licensed. I totally forgot till I saw this beer, I thought it was Portland. It's really too bad they couldn't superimpose the iconic shot of Ali standing over Liston, but I remember my grandfather telling me about the phantom punch and showing me the Sports Illustrated he still had.

Anyways, this beer is delicious. Lovely stout with chocolate all over the tongue and a nice vanilla finish. It also gets better as it warms up. I don't need to say much about it. It's a great beer. Too bad they couldn't call it Anchor Punch like Ali always called it, but I think the potential lawsuit from Anchor Steam was enough to call it the Phantom. Or maybe Luke is just a Sonny Liston fan. Just don't tell my Gramps about it.