Fantôme de Noël

750 ml bottle: Reddish chestnut brown w/ a lasting light beige head. Aroma is barnyardy/brett, lactic sourness, & catty. Lightly bready malt beyond that, but balances aroma after it warms a little. Some green apple at the start, and a light roast becomes more apparent as it warms as well. Well balanced, moderately sour, and toasty malt flavor. A little chocolate with a dry, tart finish. Some lactic sourness & granny smith apple flavor. Aftertaste is lasting and a little more than tart. Alcohol is well hidden, medium bodied, higher carbonation, and a lightly dry m/f. This style still doesn’t quite do it for me. Some interesting roasty and chocolate notes make it interesting, but this is still not my favorite style. A good beer for what it is, but not one I can take too much of at once.

75 cL bottle, snifter, 2004. Rich malt aroma comes in waves of chocolate, caramel, hearty grains and perhaps some walnuts. Strong, but not overwhelming, yeast scent is a combination of barnyard and damp leaves. Clove, spicy white wine, date, cask wood, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, and madeira aromas blend beautifully with the malt and yeast. The beer’s hue ranges from orange to maroon all the way to brown. An average-sized, off-white, creamy head tops it all off. Moderately sweet, moderately acidic, lightly bitter flavor becomes a lightly sweet, moderately acidic, moderately bitter finish. Acidity is a mix of spices, citric, and sour…so, not the bad kind IMO. Medium-heavy body, creamy/oily texture, soft carbonation. The bottom line is: a new scent in every sniff, a new flavor in every sip…this beer must be rolled around the mouth to be fully enjoyed.

This dark brown ale poured with a huge tan head. The flavor was very chocolatey with a clean, floral finish. Very warming and satisfyijng. This is an outstanding winter beverage!

750ml bottle, Winter 2003 vintage. Aroma is fairly complex, having some honeyish, sugary, sweet maltiness and lightly musty, fruity yeast along with fainter tones of pepper, peach, berry, dried orange peel, banana bread, aged hops, tea leaves, allspice, ginger, musky perfume, old wood, leafy, dry herbs, a slight, seemingly lactic tartness and gentle wafts of medicinal alcohol, along with seemingly many unidentifiable but exotic (Eastern?) spices. Medium-dark red color, hazy with swirls of fine sediment throughout and a massively foamy, lasting, creamy off-white head and a copious amount of lace. Flavor is sugary and sweet to start, turning spicy and lightly bitter with a fruity, faintly tart, warming, earthy and alcoholic finish. Creamy and smooth mouthfeel, body is full and amply malty. On the sweet side, to be sure, but manages to elicit some intrigue through a combination of highly unfamiliar and unique attributes. Impressing, ultimately.

75cl bottle at least one year old. Big pop from cork. Muddy, earth colored beer rushes into the glass with a big beige head. Sporatic lacing. Earthy, peppery malt, chocolate and brown sugar. Nice body. SPicy bitter finish. This brings to mind fall weather w/ a roaring fire outside. Earthy, somewhat smokey, some warming alcohol, pepper. So far, my favorite "christmas" beer this year...but this transcends that lable. A joy.

Hazy, dark brown color with red highlights. Large tan head that stayed until the end. Aroma of dried cherries, caramel and yeast. Sweet and sour flavor with bits of dark fruit, malt and yeast. Not as funky as other Fantomes I’ve had.

Bottle. Amber in color. Maibockaddict aged for a year. Brick red in color with a nice than head. Hoppy. Styiran Golding? Earthy aroma. Alcohol burn but not overpwering. Good beer. Malty, chocolatety. Nice.

the Sly Fox IPA fest is really paying off for that Styrian IPA is helping me identify those SG hops in these Belgians. This one I aged for 1 yr. Pours a cloudy brick red with a nice tan head. aroma has that Styrian quality. Rather weedy and earthy, like a fresh Summer’s day. Slight touch of alcohol. Flavor also has the Styrians present. Plant like with a good malt backbone. Slight alcohol burn in this one, even after a year. Notes of chocolate present in the aroma and flavor as well. I need to snag a couple of this years for next and beyond, for this is an exceptional ager for sure. This is great beer, but be forewarned, I had a sample of a fresh one a year ago and thought it too hot. And addionally, this reminds me of the great Belgian Quads that we all know and love...