3.8 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20
My favorite so far of the fantome's. A darkness that reminds me of the bottom of a swamp. Nice aroma, with hints of many spices. Very flavorful due to a good combination of spices/malts.
3.6 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 14/20
UPDATED: DEC 25, 2008 2008 batch. Head is initially average sized, frothy, light brown, mostly lasting. Body is hazy medium amber, bottle conditioned. Aroma is lightly malty (cookie, toasted grain), lightly hoppy (herbs), with light notes of cinnamon/nutmeg, orange peel, clove. Flavor is moderately sweet, lightly acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is lightly sweet, lightly acidic, lightly to moderately bitter. Medium to full body, velvety texture, lively carbonation. A restrained but pleasant batch. I haven’t had a great sample of this one in a couple of years, so figured it was time to re-rate.
3.6 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 14/20
Cloudy red-brown with creamy tan head. Aroma is sour, cherry, with some vinegar; sweeter toward the bottom of the bottle. Taste is sour cherry, supplemented by vinegar and bubblegum. Very carbonated, and finishes dry.
3.1 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 2/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 12/20
02: Spicy, barnyard nose, similar in a way to the Hiver 02. Funky, dark amber-brown color with tons of haze; big time sediment. Very soft, very smooth palate. Funky, complex, and raw malt flavors. Zingy and sour spiciness; rewarding, sharp finish. Wild yeast flavors throughout. Very different and eccentric with tons of personality, albeit strange.
4.1 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
UPDATED: DEC 5, 2004 12/5/04: 1998 Bottle: This brew pours with a deep red body topped by a thick head with a good amount of lacing. The aroma is sweet and flowery with great fruit notes and a little sourness. The flavor is slightly sour and vinious with some fruity notes. Great beer. Smooth and medium bodied with a touch of dryness. Wow, how my tastes have changed. I leave my original rating here just to show that. 1/18/03: Aroma:7 Appearance:3 Flavor:1 Palate:2 Overall Impression:8 Rating:2.1 Opaque dark brown body topped by a tan thick soda like foamy head that disappears rather quickly leaving a decent amount of lace. sour citrusy aroma with a slightly sweet melon background and a spicy maltiness. Very sour lemony flavor with a slight spiciness and a nutty woody finish. Not to my liking, it is way to sour. Very dry, full bodied and warming.
3.2 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 13/20
UPDATED: DEC 28, 2004 Dark for a fantome beer. Sourish aroma. Flavor is sour and strong salty-metallic tinge. It is almost bloodlike, I’m guessing irony water--it is very apparent here. Not horrible, but I’m definitely checking out other beer from fantome before coming back here.
Rerate 12/28/04
Dark ruby-brown, barely translucent. Spicy aroma, some iron oxide. There are some roasty malts (touch of chocolate) in there as well. Heavy spicy flavor, with some cinnamon as well as tea. Some milky sourness. I’m not getting much in the way of malt flavor, the spices are there and then it sort of takes a beeline for the long sourish finish. A bit better than my original rating, but probably still my least favorite Fantome. 6/3/7/3/13
3.9 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 16/20
UPDATED: DEC 18, 2004 2004 bottle - wow, this one’s better than the last couple for sure. Thin sour tart fruits, and right in the middle - BAM! - it’s like the flavors just explode and fill your mouth with a complex melange of fruits, malts, spices and wild things. Palate is a little acidic, but that’s allright. More crazy goodness from Fantome
2002 bottle - O.K. we let this one warm up a bit more - palate thickened and it took on more qualities of a port wine. Still found this to be over the limit as far as acidity goes.
2001 bottle - So sour, tart and carbonated that I can’t finish it. It almost seems like it’s gone bad, but from reading some of the other ratings, it looks like it’s supposed to taste this way. (Will re-rate after trying the 2002 bottle.)
4 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
Colored as Coca Cola or some slightly weak coffee. Big head, multiple sized bubbles. Leather, oak, sourishnesh, anise, and pepper abound in this unusual beauty. This could be the single most challenging beer I have yet had on RB...I’m wavering between dreading each new (warmer...WARMER) sip and loving it. Pucker up and feel the Fantome weirdness in all its glory!
3.3 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 14/20
Brownish red color. rather clouy. thick beige head. very complex beer overall. the aroma and taste did not seem to me to match. lots of spices in the nose, with some citrus blended in too. the flavor was surprisingly different though, it was spicy only for a quick moment promptly after that the flavor got very malty sweet and then a hint of lambic sourness seemed to sneek its way into the beer. overall the taste finished clean and sweet, too sweet for me i could not drink more than the one glass that i was given. Not one of my highest ratings, but i cant wait to taste more of the fantome brews.
4.3 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 18/20
Mahoganny red body, excellent head formation. Sweet and sour fruit aromas, cherry, a little vinegary, peppery spice and woody tones. Completely different beer on the palate. Coffee with cherry chocolate liquer at the front, roasty, bitter and sour towards the end. Cherry sweetness comes in at the finish but has some roasted bitterness to it too. Ginger and herbal spice develops as it warms. Awesome (who’s the guy that rated 0.8?)
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