Fantôme de Noël

picked up at the PP Carlsbad shop: heavier than i expected for a saison, poured nearly flat, but it is accompanied with a lot of flavors and aromas that prove its complexity; easier as it warms, there is practically no alcohol present, and has so much going on without what could be a horrible mushy gist; this is the winter saison? call me naive, call me ignorant, but i want something less in potential notes that also hides the alcohol, but allows me to write specific, solid notes... i need more time with this seeing as how the average score here is 3.73.

750 ml bottle. Wonderfully complex. A beer that seems to open itself to different aromas and flavors the more you drink. Large, lasting head. Dark amber body, hazy. The aroma is sweet at first, with molasses and caramel, but also shows hop notes of pine. It is heavy with earthy mustiness. Also full of spices, specifcally clove, nutmeg and cinnamon. Some hint of fruit, especially cherry. Great balance of sweet malt, earthiness and spices. The flavor is moderately sweet, light bitter and moderately acidic. Medium body, velvety texture and lively carbonation. Dry finish. Love the complexity and myriad flavors. Thoroughly enjoyable and world class.

2007 750ml capped & corked bottle: Murky mahogany pour with a nice whipped head. Plenty of lace. The nose is powerful with an interesting mix of lime zest, licorice and herbal spice. Thick, chewy body. Very sweet mix of caramel and bready malts. Lots of wildflower honey, orange peel, caramlized sugars, brown sugar and sugary chocolate. A healthy dose of cinnamon presents itself as the beer comes to temp. A nice warming sensation in the finish helps to balance the malty body. Very interesting and pretty darn good. After reading the description I realize that this bottle didn’t display any sourness - that is just fine with me.

Spicy nose of pepper, caramel apples, chocolate and fig. Pours dark red/mohogany with a tall off-white head. Flavor starts sweet but the hops quickly rid the palate of that, finish is carbonated, yeast and pepper dry it out and the bitterness sticks around. I remember this beer having more sourness, might need more time to develop it. Bitter chocolate is left in the aftertaste and slightly filmy.

(BELGIUM) Courtesy of fellow knight, AFI96 !!!! This brew has a dark brown / black color with a thin tan head that lingers till the very end. Now, the aroma is a bit complex !!! I detect some dark fruit, apple, chocolate, and caramel. The taste is very yummy !!! It has a smooth coffee mouthfeel that turns into a slighty tart candy that finishes dry. But the amazing thing here is the 10% is extremely well hidden in this saison !!!! Do yourself a favor and buy some of this wonderful liquid refreshment. :)

Wow, what an incredible beer! It takes all of the best characteristics of a saison, porter, and a sour and rolls them all into one magnificent brew. Pours a very deep brown with a creamy tan head that lasts through the entire glass. Notes of apple, cherry, chocolate, and yeasty spiciness are detectable in the nose. The flavor, oh the flavor, is bitter roasted coffee as it first hits your tongue then it migrates into a tart citrus and goes back to bitter in the finish. Each sip reveals more subtle nuances, apple, raisin, plum and spice all make an appearance at some point during the show. It finishes dry with a lingering roasted bitterness. Not at one point was anything overwhelming, just a beautiful parade of flavors carried on a smooth, slightly bubbly liquid without a hint of alcohol flavor. I’m really kicking myself right now that I didn’t buy two bottles. Do yourself a favor if you see this and buy a few bottles.

dry raisins, figs, very reminicent of the prior and pater by st. berndardus. very malty, dark fruits, mollasses and little hops. 10% is hardly there at all! color is so lovely, dark dark brown....yet so bubbly around the mouth that it hardly makes sense -- which seems to sum up fantome so well. im immedately drawing so many parallels between this and regular fantome to DT and their noel, both of those are much more spiced and ’belgian like’, while this is truly in a class of its own, like all fantome products.

750ml Bottle: Complex aroma is both sour and malty. Smells of sour yeast, chocolate, malts, toasting, and spices. Poured dark brown in color with a medium-sized, dense, British tan head that shrank but lasted throughout. Opaque. Flavor is lightly sour, and very complex. Tastes of sour yeast, cardboard box, roasted malts, chocolate, and some astringent. Medium body. Chalky texture. Average carbonation. Dry, roasted finish. Did not really like this one.