Fantôme de Noël

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

Serve in Tulip

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This cloudy brown baby reaches out with its light nose of fruity and malt, combined with a taste of fruit, yeast and light alcohol to make you say damn. Lightly caarbonated with a light body that could almost make you sweat.

After a consecution of American brews it always seems natural for me to return to Belgian styles, as they are unequivocally closest to my tastes. This occurrence allowed me a first look at the brewery Fantôme, one that has eluded me for some time but always sparked a certain curiosity. The pour produced an eerie swamp-like body, a deep murky red hue topped of a custard colored foam that thins rapidly. A comforting scent of sweet pipe tobacco springs forth immediately and creates a welcoming atmosphere for the bouquet of coffee, black pepper, red wine and slightly green cocoa beans. The nose has an unusual texture, if I may even call it that; a somewhat spongy consistency that reminds of mushrooms and earthy essences. The palate is deep and rich and with a buttery smoothness that coats the mouth in its dense flavors. Some alcohol is present, a spicy vinous tone coupled with the unmistakable flavor of chocolate-covered coffee beans that extends to their distinctive dry aftertaste. A beer simply full of character and an enchanting flair fit for any conversely dull day of the year.

Bottle. Pours murky brown with a very thin tan head. Lots of fruit in the aroma, grapes, cherries, sour apples and other various dark fruits. A slight musty spice comes thru as well. Taste of cherries, tabacco, oak, some chocolate and coffee. Aftertaste reminds me of apple peel. The fruitness is amazing in this beer and the more I drink it, the tabacco taste goes away. Mouthfeel creamy and this is a very filling beer. I enjoy the taste, but as I said, very filling.

Dark brown, with a tan head. Aromas are fruit and malt, somehow both sweet and sour. Flavors are fruit, spice, yeast, and is also somewhat musty. Interesting.

Bottle. Dark brown with large light brown head. Very sweet and malty. Fruity with a hint of chocolate. Slightly moldy in flavour.

A hazy amber beer with a lazing orange head. The aroma is sweet and quite fruity. The flavor is sweet fruity with a strong note of dust.

Definitly a darn good beer. I have always liked saisons. Herbal yeasty aroma. For 10%, this is insanely balanced. If you told me this is 7%, i would likely believe you.

UPDATED: SEP 29, 2007 As far as drinks go, beer is solidly masculine. This is a precarious generalization, but mostly holds true with the exception of sugary sweet Lambics, and maybe one or two Flemish Sour Ales. Even so, I’ve found myself at the wrong end of ridicule because I won’t leap for joy over a glass of scotch. I’m impervious to the illusory allures of whiskey, vodka, tequila; nay, not even a simple rum can elicit a tendril of drool. And this is something I’ve thus far been thankful for. My superior beer inflates me with enough contempt to brush off even the heaviest lashes of liquor fueled taunts. Still, I can’t help think I’ll never be part of the “old boys” without my short glass of hard liquor and its characteristic rattling ice. This was my burden, until I first tried the Fantôme de Noël. It was clearly a Yule tide beer, made for a prescient snowfall in December, but I had other beers occupying my Christmas palate. The Fantôme would wait until March to have its share. It suffered nothing from the delay. The reserved and collected dark wood color kept the room a dimmer shade then expected, and threw a dusky cottage brown haze around the glass. The aroma gave off an intense smell of sour apples, sour cherries, and, strangely, dust. Also, it smelled a bit like Hobbit weed’s pipe tobacco, which is a cherry based tobacco available from my local tobacconist. The taste, like those drinks I had deigned to envy, was very dry and very smooth, like a liquor too sophisticated for me to understand. Aside from this gentleman’s flavor was a flux of apple, but mostly inhibited by the deluge of alcohol. Concisely, Fantôme de Noël is a beer that nuzzles up with its mature counterparts in their smaller, but no less fancy glasses. Moreover, it is an excellent way for me to drink and feel on par with those friends that can down a glass of the expensive stuff without having their doubts that they may be drinking shoe polish. Truly, a gentleman’s (or lady’s) beer.

Cork reads, "Brasserie Fantome Soy 086/477044." Bottle number? Very dark ruby/black. Massive, dense, tan head. Nose of fresh grains, slightly sour barn funk, spices, chalk, pepper. Intensely strange aroma. Flavors are more of the same with roasty chocolate malt and sour yeast. One of the most complex brews I’ve tasted. This beer has the full flavor spectrum- sweet, bitter, roasty, sour, spicy, earthy, grainy. Unbelievable. The palate throws a change up as well, just when you think it will stay smooth and rich, it finishes musty dry, with a pleasant sour bitterness and hint of roastiness. Alcohol hides in the shadows like a phantom, only showing itself a split second at a time. Definite black pepper kickin in the back of the throat from about the 600ml mark. Have to get some more of these to lay down.

Bottle shared with blankboy, HogTownHarry & tupalev - courtesy of HogTownHarry. Hazy ruby colour with a small beige head. Aroma is quite herbal, almost floral, with a yeasty backing and something that reminded me of an orange flavoured candy I used to like as a kid. Flavour is quite complex - my palate was starting to suffer by this point in the tasting, but got some spices like nutmeg and cinnamon, and a hint of candied orange rind (my wife makes some every Xmas, it’s awesome!). Warm, peppery finish. Another unique & enjoyable beer from Fantôme.