Phantasmagoria Returns: Our Super-Fresh, Top-Rated IPA (Which You’ve Probably Never Heard Of)

An insider secret…

You've probably never heard of Phantasmagoria, and that's exactly what we always wanted. With a 4.09 Untappd rating and a bit of a cult following in our hometown, this is a big, bold, hop-forward IPA that until now, we've only ever sold direct from tank, in the cosy taproom attached to our original brewery in St Werburghs, Bristol. If you’re one of our beloved locals, or you’ve considered yourself part of the Bristol craft beer scene for a while, you’ve more than likely enjoyed a few tulip glasses of this super soft, super hazy juice bomb in your time. Perhaps you even helped pour your own serving, during one of our early brewery tours…

The original serving tank in our St Werburghs brewery

Tank beer: the freshest you can taste

We've always been fiercely protective of Phantasmagoria’s incredibly punchy, flavour-packed profile, which is largely thanks to the sheer quality and volume of beautiful, premium hops that are almost overflowing from this recipe. Hops fade fast.  With any amount of time on shelf, even the best brewed beers will inevitably lose some of the incredible diversity of a young, hop-forward beer’s flavour, and so tasting beer that’s still in tank, unpackaged, remains one of the great privileges of working in a brewery. It’s rare that consumers get to enjoy beer at this stage of its journey, and so for Wiper and True (and many other breweries across the world), offering tank beer provides a wonderful window into the joy of the freshest beers you can taste. 

Phantasmagoria tank beer at the taproom: it’s back!

And so, in the case of Phantasmagoria, the beer was always designed to be drunk directly from the source, to protect its super-fresh flavour profile. The last couple of years of lockdowns and restrictions naturally meant that brewery-exclusive beers were off the menu, since we couldn’t consistently welcome drinkers into our site. Now though, six months into life at our new home in Old Market, things are looking up. We are thrilled that from next week, our Old Market taproom will begin offering tank beer again, and we’re kickstarting things with a stunning batch of Phantasmagoria, piped directly from the tank, through the fonts and into your glass.

The twist: a one-off keg release

To celebrate Phantasmagoria’s return, we're also doing things differently. As a very special and incredibly limited batch, for the first time ever we’re releasing Phantasmagoria into the wild, sharing it with some of the countries finest venues, for one batch only, and for a limited time only. Why?

Because we want to celebrate the phenomenal capacities of our beautiful new brewery and its taproom.

Because we want to share our excitement with the incredible venues that have supported Wiper and True over the last ten years.

Because over the years, our audience has grown. Many of our locals have moved on to pastures new, and can’t (sadly) pop back to the taproom every time we brew their favourite tank-only beer. We want beer lovers across the country to enjoy Phantasmagoria - in their favourite local.

Because Phantasmagoria has a 4.09 star Untappd rating - our highest ever IPA, and third-highest rated beer of all time. It’s just too good not to share. 

If you love beer, and want to taste some of the very freshest on the block, get out and about next week and track down a Phantasmagoria stockist, and let us know what you think. We'll be hosting a free live tasting from tank at our Old Market taproom at 7pm on Wednesday 1st February. The Barrel Store will host a free live tasting on Friday 3rd February, also at 7pm. We’ll be sharing a full stockist list on our website and socials soon. Long live fresh beer!

Try it for yourself