Fantôme de Noël

No date. Pours dark brown with garnet highlights and no clarity; head is average, light tan, pillowy and frothy, with decent longevity and some tight lacing. Nose is very interesting brown ale-ish; nutty burnt caramel, strong Belgian chocolate, nutmeg, and just a hint of funky sourness. Flavor is more saison-ish but with some intriguing differences; burnt caramel notes with a sour tartness of overripe cherries followed by drier notes of light pepper, burnt toast, restrained roast, nutmeg, and a spruce note like the description points out. Palate is dry, medium, soft to lively, and velvety. Finishes dry with burnt chocolate, lingering sour notes, and the sprucey note. Similar to Jolly Pumpkin’s stout with dark, dry notes mixed with tart, sour notes. Certainly far from a typical saison, but extremely drinkable for the ABV and deceptively spicy. Certainly a nice beer for the season, and a refreshing new twist on the style.

Bottle. Pours a dark copper-brown body with a medium soapy off-white head. Spicy aroma of ginger, pepper, nutmeg, and warm alcohol. The flavour didn’t seem overly spicey though, just some tasteful nutmeg and toasty caramel stickiness. Not as intense as some Fantomes but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

Deep blood-orange in colour, very large and long lasting beige coloured head, excellent thick lacing. The aroma initially starts off quite yeasty, rather sweet, some spice and pepper, moderate chocolate. The flavour is of oranges and very light grapefruit, yeasty, lots of spice, chocolate and dark malts, some sourness, earthy. Moderatly bitter mouthfeel, medium body, high carbonation. Finishes long, gassy, good amount of citrus and yeast. No alcohol is noticed throughout this beer, wonderfully complex. This is holding up extremely well.

750ml bottle from the <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Place/new-york/buffalo/premier-gourmet/443.htm target=blank>Premier Gourmet in Buffalo, New York.
Purchased in November 2004 and opened on February 8, 2007.
Vintage 2002.

Very floral aroma, spicy, with a sweetness. Pours dark brown with an off-white head. Sweet and spicy, with strong chocolate and vanilla flavors, a steady sourness runs throughout the back ground. Smooth and dry, very interesting, it gives me a slight wassabi/horseraddish burn in my nose, but very feint. With a lot of chocolate flavor as it warms. Not my favorite from this brewery but still awesome. draft @ redlight redlight keg from 2008 Very spicy nose, malty, caramel, light citrus like starfruit. Pours a very cloudy caramel amber with no head. Slightly tart flavor, dry, with a lot of spiciness. Dried cherries, dried cranberries, hints of herbal mint, very earthy, dirty tastiing, spicy, cinnamon, corriander, grains of paradise, classic funky fantome flavor. Very tart and dry. Excellent!

Aroma of pepper, funk, sourness, and a very light chocolate. Black body with a thin head. Medium palate. The flavor is sour up front with chocolate and black malts coming through. A hint of pepper in the aftertaste. Very complex.

dark brown/ruby pour with medium head. wonderful licorice aromas with some sourness and farmhouse goodness. very smooth and roasted up front with a touch of welcomed spice. the sour finish was a delight. the flavors balance so well on my palate and made this very enjoyable and flavorful yet completely refreshing.

Bu au Post-Mondial 07. Brune foncée, peu de collet. Arome de malte defruits très épicé type des fêtes. Goût pain d’épice malté, bien houblonné.

750 ml bottle. Knightly Spirits aims to please. Pours a ruby-tinged black and tight webs of tan lace. Tireless and always skunky with a touch of chalk and hay on the nose. Crisp with spicey-yet-subtle notes of Dewar’s scotch and granny smith apples. Head is a huge, tinted brown and the nose is caramel and malt. Perfectly sour with yeast. One of my all-time favorite beers due to its complexity, smoothness, and intrigue.