Fantôme Chocolat

Brewed by Brasserie Fantôme
Style: Saison
Soy-Erezée, Belgium

Serve in Tulip

75 cL bottle (2005ish), Bordeaux glass. Deep, hazy and brassy-orange body is covered by a thick and creamy off-white head. The aroma is redolent of spicy and yeasty esters common to my experience with Fantôme...dough and cilantro harmonize along with a light note of horse blanket, all carried on a crisp pils malt base. A cloud of grassy, floral hops extend over everything. And of the two special ingredients? Wonderfully integrated...a pure ’red’ chili hotness, slightly nose-tingling in its pungency accents the darkness of soft cocoa powder in a manner reminiscent of a smoky Mexican molé sauce. Forward in the flavor are sweet pils malt along with a gentle chili burn and a light acidity. Mid-palate releases a gentle funk and tame sourness, quickly displaced by the long finish in which a soft grassy bitterness defers to a drying cocoa aftertaste with a warming chili sensation. The chili and cocoa really work well together in this beer (though perhaps more cocoa, less chili would have been okay) but the front-end is really lacking. Everything interesting seems to happen mid-palate or later (especially the aftertaste). The texture is silky smooth and the next sip always seems to relieve the chili burn from the last one. Carbonation is, as expected, vigorous and the significantly chewy for a saison, though not a detriment in this case. Seriously, this would be diabolical with real, earthy Mexican dishes.

It pours a clear yellow color. Bubbles arise from the bottom of the glass. Very small white head is poured. Quickly dies into a small bit of lacing around the glass. Warning when taking the cork out of this beer. The cork is very brittle. I was afraid some of the cork had got into the beer but it didn’t. Just a heads up. There is no cocoa in the aroma. At least I didn’t pick up any. Instead it has a small amount of funk, hay, lemon, faint smell of chili, and yeast. Maybe if I drank this brew when it was fresher I would of picked up the cocoa. Still it was an inviting aroma. You’re greeted by a tart, light, and enjoyable taste. Tart lemons, spice, yeast, and a nice funky musty taste. The chili is there but isn’t big. It does add up overtime to add a little bit of a hot kind of feeling and taste but really isn’t huge. I loved the small tartness this beer gave off mixed with the mustiness. Mouthfeel is light, crisp and refreshing. Goes down like a champ.

Bottle. Creamy white good mostly lasting head. Yellow colour. Light malty and hopy very sour aroma. Moderate bitter sour flavor. Average moderate bitter finish, Oily palate. Quite boring and where the hell is the chocolate?

Green 750ml bottle with cork shared by Patrick. Amber colour with a white ring of foam around the glass. Some brett on the nose but I was somewhat watery, I’m still searching the chocolate and the chili. Some oxidation is perceptible. The taste: watery and oxidized. An old bottle or a bottle that is going downhill.

Pours orange and hazy with minimal head. Nose is lemons and grapefruit. Taste us mostly sweet with a hint of sour. Mouthfeel is smooth and silky. Awesome aftertaste.

I shared a bottle with Marcus Siu at the Louisville Beer Store. A - Pours a nice medium-dark yellow with a nice fluffy white head. It is evident from the pour that there is moderate carbonation. S - Smells super funky… spices are evident with fruitiness in the background, oranges? Also, malty/earthy notes, and Belgian yeast. This is one of the funkier Fantome brews I have tried. T- Tastes of funk, spices, yeast, bread, earthy notes, and light fruit. Funk is still there, though it is less funky than the nose. I get a hint of the pepper, and the chocolate brings a nice earthy balance. M – Like I stated earlier: moderate carbonation with a medium to light body. O– This is a funky saison for sure. Honestly, this Fantome exceeded my expectations a bit. Marcus said it was his favorite, and he liked it better than the Fantome Noel.

(75 cl) Un anneau de mousse sur un liquide ambré. Des parfums oxydés et des saveurs fatiguées. Une touche épicée, peut-être. Aucune trace de cacao. Des fruits aigres, des notes acides. Une bouche correcte, sans plus. Une finale qui n’arrange rien. Une bouteille au bout du rouleau.

Bottle from some shop in Belgium. It poured a foggy yellow-golden liquid with a white head. Fruity smell with apples and yeast. Similar taste, fresh and crisp.

750 ml bottle bought @ Bierkompass.de and consumed on December 15. Pours hazy yellow with a small white head that leaves some lacing on the glass. Smell is sour and dusty with plastics, farmyard, orange zest and cocoa. Taste is slightly sour and malty with lemon zest, red chili, apricots and cloves. Finish is dry, sour and silty bitter. Taste was quite good but smell was just bad :(