I usually make an effort to try beers from as many New England breweries as possible, and to quickly share my thoughts on Hoppy Boston, usually in the form of a beer review. I think the best way to pass along information about a new (or new-to-me) brewery is to write about one of their beers, especially if I really enjoyed it. Occasionally I’ll try a few beers from a brewery without writing anything up, usually because other articles take precedence or because the beer is past peak by the time I sample it and I don’t want to review a suboptimal beer. A good example is local contract brewery Medford Brewing Company, I’ve tried and enjoyed a couple of their releases but haven’t had a chance to write-up a formal review on Hoppy Boston for one reason or another. Fortunately, I recently found some cans of Phantom, Medford Brewing’s new NEIPA, which gave me a great excuse to write about their beer (and I made sure to drink it right away so it was very fresh). Medford Brewing Company Phantom is available now on draft and in 16 oz cans.
Medford Brewing Phantom pours very hazy deep yellow with a solid white head. It features a nice hoppy nose, heavy on the tropical fruit aroma. The flavor is also very hop forward, notes of peach, mango, and papaya along with a very soft bitterness. A solid malt backbone adds balance along with hints of crackers and biscuits. Phantom is medium-bodied and very smooth, not overly boozy at 6.5% ABV. The finish is crisp with some lingering hop flavor. Overall this is a really nice NEIPA, well constructed with plenty of hop flavor. Hopefully it won’t take me so long to review beer #2 from Medford Brewing, I know I will be drinking more of their beers in the near future! Hoppy Boston score: 4.25/5.
Hoppy Boston 
