Fantôme Strange Ghost

I can’t thank SoLan enough for sharing this beer with me. Pours dark brown with a surprisingly small white head and tan edging. The aroma is quite intriguing: lemon, herbs, funky yeast. For a while, there was one taste and smell I couldn’t place until it hit me: SASSAFRASS ROOT. Tastes include sassafrass, more lemon, mint, parsley, musty earth, orange zest, slight hand soap, and the whole kitchen spice rack. Medium carbonation and full-bodied. Incredibly complex and different from other Fantome brews. I enjoyed this immensely. Make more, Dany!!!

Ruddy translucent copper with a splotchy head. Nose is an unbelievable combo of cloves, brown sugar, pepper, and....go ask JorisPPattyn. The mouth takes all of wich and adds licorish root, anis, sasparilla, soap and a touch of malt. Finishes with aquavite.

Dull amber (yeast in suspension, despite careful pouring), with orange-red shine. Nose is - GOD WHAT? - cypress? myrrh? incense? - no - it's the smell of bog myrtle in an Irish moor. Taste: WOOW! This is the taste of kaffir-limes ("wild limes"), if you've ever had the opportunity to taste those, together with bog myrtle, cypress. Yet there is a subterranean sweetness. It's like being in a late autumn garden, next to the cypress plant, wild mushrooms coming up, and in the field next, the winter leeks are being covered, marvellous! Mouthfeel: oily, slick, but in NO way repulsive. Aftertaste: what I described as myrrh or cypress, now turns to a resiny flavour: cedar, copalite, Retsina. THAT'S it: this is the Retsina under the beers. Strange (ghost) indeed. I LOVE it. I don't like Retsina. Go figure.

Cedar, leaves, lavender, sage, white pepper and celery in the spicy aroma. Clear caramel-copper coloured body with a decent and lasting fine-bubbled off-white head that leaves some fair lacing. Cedar, peppery spiciness and yeasty flavours mingle nicely. Smooth and creamy texture with a gentle effervesence that caresses the tongue and cheeks. Truly a unique artisanal beer from a master craftsman. Sampled at Mondial de la Bière 2005.

2005 RBSG Montreal Friday Night Tasting. Golden amber colour with a frothy off-white head. Spruce, juniper, caramel, rosemary, and herbal aroma. Eucalyptus, juniper, rosemary, light caramel, and light citrus flavours. Light but, dry, but very refreshing. Yummy.