Fantôme de Noël

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

Big thanks to beeryum for this one. Pours turbid ruby/magenta with medium, off-white head. Aroma of malt, dark fruit, hops, cabernet, chocolate....prize winning aroma! Tastes malty, spicy, with some citrus, merlot, cinnamon, chocolate, and a complex, dense finish. Outstanding!

reasonable saison. Pepper, sour dark. Creamy medium plus mouthfeel. Barnyard smell, but not the most barnyard of all the Fantome I have tried. Fresh from Belgium.

Poured a hazy dark amber with a medium tan head. Malty aroma with notes of yeast, light barn yard, spice, and a little tart fruit. Flavors go from malty to spicey then a mild alcoholic dry finish. Nice complexity.

750 ml. Very dark murky brown with a huge soft beige head which lasts for a long time. Second and third pours become murkier and more opague brown. Aroma of fruits like plum, ripe apple, raisins, and cherry, along with some spicy notes and lots of bready and wild yeast hints. Flavor is powerfully sweet balanced with a mild bitterness in the end. Good dark crystal malts back up all the crazy belgian fruity flavors. Slightly tart, and acidic but this is balanced well with some of the malt sweetness. Delicately smooth finish with almost no trace of alcohol. This one definately knocked me on my ass, but it also restored my faith in Fantome after getting burned a few times with infected, sour, and flat beers.

Pours a very clouded dark brown. Nice light head on it. Smells of spices - very earthy. Tastes very tart, and I felt that took away from the rest of the palate since it was overpowering. I wasn’t expecting that, and it made it hard to drink. I didn’t finish the bomber. Gave it a higher overall score because it didn’t drink like it was 10%, but the palate made it hard to pick up the glass again.

750 ml. green bottle. Corked & crowned. Poured out a deep hazy chocolate/ cocoa brown, with a thin light brown head. Aromas are mostly of musty barns, horse blanket, and some sour malts. Flavors are mostly of Brettanomyces at this point, sour, tart, and astringent. Puckering even. Not too much left in the way of spices, honey, or pepper. Slight peppery bite to it as it’s swallowed. Alcohol is well hidden, tastes more like a 5% ABV sour red Belgian than a 10% dark ale. Finishes sour, tart, and vinegary.

Deep ruby colour. Medium sized head that sinks rather quickly. Subtle liquorice aroma. Soft toffee on the palate. Roasty, almost smoked flavour. Rich, warming, somewhat salty finish.

cork pops open with a kaPOW! first pour is almost all head, which is voluptuous and peachy-tan in color. it takes five more pours to get a full tulip glass. aroma is sour apple, cloves/ and spice. some horseblanket and yeasty funk too. there is a sweet white grape aroma, faint like confectioner’s sugar. color is a cloudy mahogany and rusty gold at edges. microparticles floating in the body, and carbonation to the surface like a hot spring! flavor starts sour and dry, light mouthfeel. strong carbonation. faint gin-like alcohol warmth that rides with a sour/dry/TONIC finish, which is also woody and peppery! disappearing aftertaste. what a trip. this is a dark saison and the closest beer to a gin & tonic I ever had.