Fantôme de Noël

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

Serve in Tulip

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UPDATED: NOV 7, 2007 750ml capped&corked bottle. Pours a very dark and cloudy brown/black with a thick tan head that quickly fades into a thin, wispy layer of small bubbles. The aroma is alarmingly similar to Jolly Pumpkin’s Madrugada Obscura: a mix of spices, dust, chocolate, sour apple vinegar, and alcohol. The sour vinegar smell seems strangely inappropriate with the earthy musk and chocolate. The flavor starts dry and dusty with semi-sweet chocolate - balanced by hints of fruity acid. The combination seems a little more successful on the tip of the tongue than in the aroma. The middle of the tongue detects some funk - the acid builds and is paired with dry, musty notes - but is strangely lacking sourness. It is incredibly dry on the tongue at this point and leaves a strange, cloying mix of vinegar and unsweetened cocoa powder. The finish is hot with alcohol, very dry, and keeps going the odd combo of vinegar and unsweetened cocoa. The mouthfeel is pleasantly carbonated and surprisingly light for a beer of this strength - but the funk (brett, lactic bacteria, acid) gives a wicked sensation of dryness across the middle and back of the tongue. As the beer warms up (or maybe its the alcohol hitting my brain) it improves a little: the beer reveals flavors of roasted grain and prunes, mixed with the chocolate and must. Also, the dryness isn’t so distracting once the tongue gets acclimated to it. Overall, I’m a bit disappointed. I have really enjoyed a few other Fantôme beers (especially their signature Spring Saison), but this one is much weaker. I think this sort of thing - the funky, brett stout - just isn’t up my alley. I think Jolly Pumpkin’s brew was a little more successful than this one, though.

Hazy caramel-amber with big, flotsam, beige head / Delicate nose of orchard fruit, oak, caramel, and brett / Light to medium body, lively, mildly tart and acidic, alcohol not apparent, with excellent balance and dry, ever so lightly bitter, finish / Earthy, delicate flavors of green apple, rotten apple, cherry, chrysanthemum, buttered caramel, chocolate, oak, hay, and wet fur / Great stuff, as usual for Fantome.

UPDATED: APR 29, 2012 Bottle from smith4498. Pours a very cloudy deep amber. Nose is apple, brett, oak and funk. Taste follows suit... but accompanied by barnyard dirtiness. Alcohol is slightly noticeable but well blended. This beer is world class. Thanks, Jason!

750ml bottle - $8.00 at Total Wine & More in Kennesaw, Georgia.

Appearance: Pours out a medium brown body, thoroughly hazed, with a tall, foamy, though brief, beige head.

Smell: Initial notes of toasted, brown sugar sprinkled bread, heavy dose of farmhouse cider, iced champagne mignonette, and a few stray golden raisins. Then, a bit of berry chutney, vanilla sugar, fragrant gentian, allspice, alligator pepper, and spiced honey candies.

Taste: Toasty malts, a thin sliver of caramel, light-colored brown sugar, but not too terribly much in the way of overall sweetness. Sips of sharp champagne vinegar, a few bits of shredded mint leaf, then more alcohol tossed, chopped fruits tasting of apples, berries, and peaches. Prickly spicy accents balanced by some hints of amber honey and vanilla, so, you’ve got all this stuff going on without anything overstaying its welcome. Acidic, cidery, lightly spicy but also a bit lightly sweet on well-carbonated finish.

Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. High carbonation, crucial to keeping the proceedings moving along fine fashion, without anything become cloying, just languishing on the tongue.

Overall: I’ll admit, I was more than a bit hesitant towards purchasing this one. I find many of the X-mas brews to be overtly spiced, more than I’d prefer and some being so heavy and cloying that you’re still wrestling with the flavor like hard-shell plastic electronic packaging hours later. Not the case here, as the effusive carbonation is really the key. I was surprisingly delighted.

Bottle shared at recent sour tasting. Thanks goes to Blake for sharing. Dark and peppery. Somewhat malty with a very light body. Wasn’t sure if I liked this one or not. Interesting but didn’t really wow me.

Pitch dark red body with a big slightly off white head. Very nice yeasty aroma with wheat, cereal, caramel, some spices, a subtle mustiness. Great dry yeasty flavour with cereal, spices, brown sugar, a subtle acidity. Great.

Bottle @ tasting. Aroma is spice, some swamp and yeast. Meh. Flavour is malty sweetness, spices, dry sourness reminding of white grapes. Dust, hay, spices and a slight sourness in the finish.

UPDATED: APR 8, 2012 Brown body and creamy head. Farmyard, yeasty, some spices, fermented fruit, hint of barn. Dry body, sharp fruit, rich tate. Really my style of beer. Foamy maybe, but great, smooth body. Hint of sourness. Love this. (75cl bottle, at dEnk house tasting)

Bottle at mini-dEnk tasting. Hazy copper pour, solid off-white head. Aroma is quite spicy, murky and a bit swampy. Flavor is slightly sour, slightly bitter, quite spicy and a bit dry. Full bodied. Well balanced, but not my favorite spices.

3/IV/2012 - 75cl bottle @ Sam’s place (London) - BB: not indicated on bottle (2012-318)

Cloudy murky brown beer, big beige creamy head, pretty stable, non adhesive. Aroma: chocolate, some citrus, orange peel, spices, caramel. MF: good carbon, medium body. Taste: very ripe fruits, plums, barnyard, hay, chocolate, bit of dirty malts, ripe banana, some citrus. Aftertaste: little citrus, chocolate, bit herbal, hoppy bitterness.

Excited to try this one. Pours opaque reddish brown with a tan foamy head. The aroma is fairly acetic and sour with oak and spiciness. The flavor is far different than this. A punch of caramel with a touch of tartness. There is a spicy oaky complexity balanced with a bright fruitiness. A little alcohol heat on the finish. Great brew.