Fantôme de Noël

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

Marachino cherries and spice. Reddish brown, small soapy head, solid lacing. Bitter orange and sweet syrup, cinnamon tartness, like a distant cousin of Campari. Big carbonation, full body, slow but solid burning finish. Might be a little hot, but a very interestingly fruity and spicy beer, unique.

Brown with orange highlights and a medium sized beige head. Aroma is of oranges, apple cider, and spices. Flavor is of oranges, yeast, apples and wood.

On draft at Redlight. Pours a very hazy dark cola brown color with a medium sized tan colored head that settles to a thin film. The flavor shows dark fruits, cherries, figs, and some of the signature funky yeast. The flavor shows more of the sourness from the yeast to go with the dark fruits and cherries with some winters spices on the backend. There wasn’t much chocolate malt present at all. Light bodied and very dry with good carbonation on draft with a long sour finish. Not there best beer, but a solid offering anyway.

Pours a hazy dark gold/brown. It has a funky dryness with cherries, straw, nuts, sweet fruit, and bread. Hints of citrus and herbal hops. Interesting saison no doubt.

Draft at Redlight Redlight. Thanks to Brent for getting this on draft for us! Aroma is sweet and funky, with cherries, nuts, dust and the signature Fantome funk. Cherries rule the flavor, with a good sourness and corriander. Overall, a great beer that I’m happy to have had on draft.

2001 Bottle:
Deep dark brown coloured body with a nice perfect sized tan head. Ruby tints near the bottom, slightly clear, somewhat opaque - perfect though! Nice sour scent with some coffee, nuts, malt, sugars, alcohol and a light spiciness. Medium-bodied; Strong malty flavour with coffee and chocolate noticeable first, then a perfect sourness and tart finish with everything in between. Aftertaste is the combination of bitter coffee and malt, sweet fruits and a really tart sourness. Overall, a damn good and complex beer - especially after spending 5 years away. One of the best beers i’ve had in a very long time. I sampled this 75 cL bottle purchased at Premier Gourmet in Buffalo, New York on 04-January-2006, sampled after 5 years of the bottle being around!!!

Bottle courtesy of dchmela thank you Dave! Pours a dark amber with an off white head falling of to a smallish ring around the top of the beer with some lace. Aroma is dark fruit tart cherry spice brett earthiness. Flavor is that wonderful Fantome spicy funkiness that I love so much. Up front is roasted malt caramel spice dark tart cherry. Finishing off slightly sweet with just the right touch of sourness lingering at the very end. This was very nice and a great beer to hit 50 ratings with. I need more!

Bottle. Aroma is fantastic. Tart cherry, grape, strawberry, light pineapple, and faint caramel. Opaque brown with a red tint at the edges and stringy lacing from a thin brown head. Flavor comes up short of the expectations set by the nose, dominated by caramel with fruit in the background. Dry with more spice than fruit. Chalky palate, but dryness makes it drinkable.