Fantôme Chocolat

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

Well a new shipment of different fantome brews arrived at my supply-store Bert. This chocolate brew isn’t too great... at least I expected more. It has a yeasty, a little chocolate malty and spicy aroma. Cloudy, brown coloured with a brown head. Taste is sweet and slightly sour. Very yeasty, bit hoppy, some chocolate malts, some spice and fruit. mwoah....

Aroma has got some hints of chocolate, but not much.. Flavor hasn’t got a strong chocolate taste either.A bit apple like, smooth hops.

Bottle. Hazy orange coloured with a huge off white head. Aroma of spices, fruits and wood. Sweet flavour of spices, fruits and wood with notes of hops.

Pours a hazy brown with a beige head. Some orange. Couldn´t spot any chocolat. Medium to full bodied. Sour hoppy finish.

(Bottle 75 cl) Hazy amber golden with floating impurities and a gigantic, off-white head. Vaguely malty nose. Full-bodied and malty body - but absolutely no traces of the chocolate. A very drinkable Fantome this time, which unfortunately is not always the case (but for some reason the beers always seem to improve immensely when crossing the Atlantic...) 270106

Cloudy dark amber color with a taller stable heavy cream colored head. Light pale toasted malt, with a mild wild flower and lemon zest kick in the aromas, a backdrop of yeast, eucalyptus and lime leaves. Funky, yet enjoyable. Ever so soft on the palate. Dry grain flavors start the quaff, with a wild yeast and wild weeds and flowers swimming about. A day in the country during thrashing time. Ever so slight chili bite near the finish. It takes time, but I do find a chocolate extract flavor about 3/4 of the way through the swallow. Almost a green cocoa flavor. The best part for me is the long and ever changing linger. It start off where the finish leaves off with a mild chili burn, followed by a light lime citrus touch, it skips a beat with a dry wood flavor, but pick the pace back up with a mild toasted malt and malted milk ball nip that just teases the senses. For some reason this seems like it would be the perfect brew to serve with a mole’ dish. The complexity of the flavors in this one floors me. I could easily see someone having a swig of this and spitting it out as much as caressing it on the tongue and letting it give a hug back. The longer I suckle this one the more I get dry cocoa stuck to the back of my throat. The warmer this get the thicker, deeper and more mysterious it gets. This is one of only a few brews that really moves my senses and feelings as I imbibe. I’m smitten. If not for the few rough edges on the way this would likely be a perfect. Yet, I have to wonder, how do these things happen. Truly goddisgood. FYI, Thanks BBB63 for bringing up the refresh topic. I saved the words before submitting and saved the text, otherwise the above would have been lost and a mediocre review been put in it place (ok, a more mediocre review).

When I was told chili and chocolate were used in the brewing process, I just had to have it, regardless of the $20 price tag. I was expecting that great Mexican flavor, mole. Not what I got. Interesting and complex aroma, kinda peppery and spicy. Cloudy amber appearance. Slightly sour or bitter taste when served too cold. Flavor mellowed as it warmed and chococlate became more apparant, but was still very subtle. Glad I tried it and would surely revisit it again.

Densely clouded pale amber appeaarmce. Funky, musk, yeasty nose, mild sweet fruitiness. Subtle dry cocoa intro and undertones, moderately sweet and smooth at first, followed by a fairly acidic sour second half. Fairly bitter in the finish. Pleasantly surprised after thinking this was going to be a real novel loser. The cocoa notes are subtle but not hard to spot as some have noted. Still, a stronger chocolate emphasis would have been nicer since there should have been a little more here.