Fantôme Black Ghost

Brewed by Brasserie Fantôme
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Soy-Erezée, Belgium

Robe brune foncée surmontée d’une mousse brune légère, mais tenace. Arômes salées d’épices. Saveurs sûres d’acide lactique et de houblon amérisant.

2005 bottle. Pours a lush, thick cherry brown with a beige head of foam. Aroma is a woodsy cork, with a hint of biting citrus thrown in. Guess this mysterious odor goes along with the claims of the brewer, that the ingredients are known only to a select few, and the appearance is not what it seems- pours thick and dark but tastes light and tangy. Taste is citrus/pine, with a bit of peach in the aftertaste. Interesting, to say the least. Finishes with a grapefruit taste and tanginess. This is a brew that demands your attention; there’s too much going on for it to be a mere afterthought. I am begining to really like this brewer. Palate is coating but thin; a nice variance with what one would expect otherwise. Great brew, great brewer. A defiinte repeat.

This must have been and older version of the beer, because it did indeed resemble a stout. Smells like coffee right when the top is opened. Pour was not as I expected, I expected a dark black but instead got a dark amber. Aroma also has some cream scents. Flavor really falls off a bit once it gets in your mouth, probably due to age. Stil very strong coffee flavor and creamy. Not very malty or sweet, tastes somewhat like a coffee or cream stout thats been aged.

Dark amber from the bottle with a creamy brown head. Aroma leaves something to be desired...some dark malts and caramel, and some packaging box cardboard. Initial taste is sharp and a bit unpleasant, but it quickly turns into caramel and chocolate, with a hint of coffee. The aftertaste is actually the best part of this beer.

Bottle that may have been left from a tasting, not sure: Dark muddy brown body with a medium tan head that lasts, then fades to a small ring that sticks. When held to the light this beer shows off a beautiful deep ruby body with miniscule particles in suspension. I stick my nose in the glass and don’t like the aroma. It smells like a ripe plum wrapped in band-aids and drizzled with caramel and dunked in sweet artificial cola syrup. As it warms some hints of nutmeg and cinnamon show through, but I still don’t like it. The flavor is band-aids and caramel up front, which I was dreading, but then opens up to some plums, dark fruits, milk chocolate, godiva chocolate liquor, artificial cola flavoring, bread, cherries and yeast. Then the finish hits and it’s like no other beer. From out of the ashes of stale caramel band-aids comes this wonderful dark chocolate, dark roasted malt, and chicory-laden coffee aftertaste that just gets bigger with time. Medium-full bodied, medium-lively carbonation, oily mouthfeel. Well I’m not really sure how to rate this one - I hate the aroma and initial taste, but yet I keep drinking it just to get to the great finish.

Bottle. Dark hazy ruddy brown pour. Dark fruity somewhat sweet aroma, and something that reminded me cola syrup (specifically that stuff you can get at a drug store to keep you from yacking when you are sick). Big roasty malt and grassy funk flavors, and I got a decent amount of unsweet or bittersweet chocolate as well. Spices and herbs come through mid to end, with corriander at the very end a slight bitter bite. Very good Fantome.

Poured a dark brown with a red tint and thin off-white head. Aroma of cola syrup and milk chocolate cocoa powder. The chocolate shows as the beer warms. This actually had more chocolate than the Fantome Chocolat. Some alcohol notes present underneath. Flavor contains some chocolate, some cola, malt, and a light sweetness. Wet bitter finish. Starts out almost creamy but then turns lively on the tongue. Very nice.

Kind of tastes like a spiced, belgian dry-irsh stout. Definately a saison nose with coriander, nutmeg, raison and maybe some ginger? Nice clear bronze appearance with a retaining tan layer of foam on top with no lace. Taste is dry with cocoa. Thin body, with a roated bitterness at the end. A thin Anchor Special Ale. I’ll take Anchor any day. Just ok.