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COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- Colorado Springs loves its beer and its microbrews. With several local breweries in the city those looking to test their taste buds have lots of options.

"There's a lot of creativity in this industry right now. A lot of people really pushing the boundaries, you know not everything is a success but people are willing to try pretty different things right now," Alan Stiles, head brewer at Phantom Canyon, said.

Phantom Canyon is the oldest brewery in Colorado Springs and they've learned that to stay in the game they've got to stay on their toes.

"We've really rededicated ourselves in the past few years to making better food, better beer. The competition has got a lot stiffer," Stiles said. "Trinity, Bristol, I mean everybody's doing really amazing stuff and it makes us say 'ok we have to amazing stuff' because we don't want to be that brewery that was left behind."

Best known for their Rail Yard Ale or their Queen's Blonde Ale Stiles said he's always looking for inspiration for Phantom's next invention.

"We have a lot of ability to do a lot of different beers. We have our six year-round beers and we usually have five specialties on at any time that are constantly changing," Stiles said.

Focused on the beer experience Stiles said at Phantom the staff tries to pair beer with food.

"You get the whole experience. It's not just like having a beer at a restaurant. You're in the place where the beer is made and there are people that are really passionate about it and want you to have a great time," Stiles said.

Bristol Brewing Company, another long standing favorite in Colorado Springs, has their sights set on a different goal.

"We really are focused on distribution, so our beers are available in restaurants and liquor stores throughout Colorado," Mike Bristol, owner, said.

With a staff of only around 25 people Bristol manages to produce around 10,000 barrels of beer a year. That breaks down to around 20,000 kegs or 3.2 million beers.

"Our model is a little different than a lot of other larger craft brews in the state. We're not sending beer all over the country, we're only available in Colorado, and still 70 percent of our beer is right here in Southern Colorado," Bristol said.

Bristol Brewing has been around since 1994 and they have made huge strides in the beer industry.

"Laughing Lab has been our best seller ever since we've started. It's also earned more awards than any other Colorado beer at the Great American Beer Festival, so we're very proud of that beer," Bristol said.

While making great beer is a top priority for Bristol so is helping out the local community. Bristol's Community Ales program pairs a specialty beer with a local organization.

"All the profits from that go back to the non-profit but the other sort of intangible is that particular group gets a lot of exposure by having a beer associated with it," Bristol said.

One of their most popular community ales is the Venetucci Pumpkin Ale which sells out quickly every year.

New on the scene, but quickly making up for lost time, is Colorado Mountain Brewery. They have only been around for two-and-a-half years but they have already earned a spot in the industry.

"Colorado Springs has really embraced the concept, they've really embraced what we're about," Paul Dehner, Director of Operations, said.

Around two months ago they opened their second location off Highway 24.

"Almost within in a year we started thinking about possibly expanding and kept our eyes open for the right opportunity and this location presented itself and honestly for us it was a no brainer," Dehner said.

Dehner said Colorado Mountain Brewery is committed to to being a part of the community while bring their customers a true Colorado experience.

"I just want to show people an extremely good time and extremely great value for their money," Dehner said.

Colorado Mountain Brewery only has two signature beers on tap at all times the Old 59er Amber and the 7258 Blonde Ale, but Dehner said that allows them to rotate through other seasonal beers more often.

"We're trying to take the envelope we're trying to push it, we're trying to break it apart. We're trying to do some things that your average brew pub is not necessarily set up for," Dehner said.

Though each brewery may take a slightly different approach it all comes back to the beer and showing people a good time.

"There's nothing better than sitting around with your friends having a few beers and talking about whatever. It just makes people happy," Stiles said.

The beer business is booming currently in Colorado Springs. Phantom Canyon said they are having their best year ever and beer sales are up 50 percent over the last three years. Both Phantom and Bristol have plans for major expansions in 2013.