Fantôme de Noël

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

Serve in Tulip

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Bottle (750ml). Shared with blankboy, GregClow and tupalev - my bottle. Poured a murky reddish-brown with a large lasting pancake batter light brown head. Aroma was quite mild perfumy spice, quite sweet, light pungent yeast and caramel malt. Taste - quite a surprise - tons of crushed peppercorn funky spiciness, nutmeg/allspice caramel sweet roast malt, ear-warming alcohol, citrus rind and a bit of yeasty Christmas cake - some very faint hops joined with the alcohol to give this one a touch of bitterness in the longish finish. Mouthfeel lively, acidic, pretty thick but mostly spicily alcoholic. Not too sure what exactly to make of this, but unique among the Christmas brews I’ve tried - very warming, definitely not a patio beer.

Sample at Ale Wine & Spirits in Powell on 12/16/2011. The beer is a reddish-copper color with a medium light beige head that dissipates steadily to an outer ring. Stringy lacing on the glass. Aroma of caramel malt, spice and a bit of lemon. Medium body with flavors of sweet malt, peppery yeast, fruit and caramel. The finish is short and mildly spicy. Above average overall.

Dark brown and copper colored body with a medium khaki colored head. The aroma is rich with that typical funky fantome nose. A little bi of lemons along with some barnyard and then a little ginger thrown in for good measure. This makes me think of Christmas chocolate candy that has some orange flavor. The taste is dry and strong with the barnyard leather. There is also some orange peel along with some milk chocoate. There is some ginger bread in the finish. The alcohol is well hidden. The is fairly dry like most Fantomes. Very interesting.

UPDATED: DEC 26, 2006 Cloudy dark brown body with a medium tan head. Yet another wild Fantôme. Anise and a bunch of other herbs. Toasted bready malts, tree roots and other earthy and woody stuff. Earthy cherries and red grapes in maple syrup. Notes of chocolate without the sweetness. Light acidity and a quick sourness that come and go. Alcohol extremely very well hidden. Mouth drying dusty finish. The beer is tasty, complex and different. For the lovers of herbs and wild “think outside the box”. Drinking a To me drinking a Fantome Noel is now a christmas tradition along with the gift exchange, decorating the tree, and drunk uncle Raymond falling down the stairs.

Bottle. Opaque black-brown, reddish tint, with thick tan head. Funky wood-laden aroma is saturated with dried fruit and fun organisms. Nice carbonation. Has coffee in the background and strange spices and fruits in the foreground. Some moldy flavors are strange. The flavors are nicely layered, and change with shocking sharpness. After the moldy beginning there is a sharp shift toward interesting chocolate and coffee. Ends finally in a swath of apple core and seeds.

Offwhite small head. Opaque black body. Soft old hop aroma with some acidity, and very complex spices. Slightly vinuous. Massive dark oil taste with some burntness. Massive spice impact, hard to analyze. Somewhat acidic, with notes of wild berries. Aftertaste of burnt toast. Taste of burnt oil and spices lingers. Not bad, but too massive for me to enjoy. (0.75l bottle.)

Poured a cloudy copper color with a small tan head and some lacing. Taste was spicy citrus, with some caramel and a saison-like aroma. Taste of candy sugar, alcohol and some caramel. The carbonation was too much in this one.

UPDATED: DEC 21, 2004 (Re-rate 12/2004) Muddy brown color with medium, tight and beige head. Quite sour, very peppery cherry flavor. Medium-bodied, quite carbonated but bearable palate. ABV hidden well. Very interesting, quite sour, but actually quite nice brew (or at least this bottle was much better than the one before :). (original, was 4-3-4-3-8 = 2.2) Spicy and sour cherry aroma. Bottle popped up loudly and kept foaming for several minutes after opening! Muddy dark brown color, tanned head. Stingy banana aroma with cherry. Sour cherry flavor - very strange and not exactly pleasant. Carbonated, acidic and sour palate. A strange combination of kriek and strong ale. Goes down better after few sips as the alcohol takes over the strange flavor. Even thought the bottle was bad, but I guess this is normal reading others’ comments. Not my kind of beer, however.

750, capped and corked. Pours a deeply hazy dark bronze with a dense and creamy tan head and plenty of sheety lace coming down the sides of the glass. Nice tart note leads the nose, some balsamic showing with a bit of lemon under. The blend of spices and spruce show up slowly as it warms, but they’re subtle when the beer is cooler. Creamy medium body with soft pleasant carb. Lemon, balsamic, chocolate, pepper, and spruce on the mid palate. Unusual, and highly focused on chilly wintertime drinking. But it’s skillfully executed, both refreshing and complex, and thoroughly rewarding to drink. Really a great spin by Dany--what this has to do with saison escapes me, but it’s a fantastic mid-winter beer.

Balsamic sandalwood, dark cherries, yeast aromas with a sweet/sour barnyard character. Opaque brown with generous, fine-bubbled, fizzy, tan head that recedes to ring but persists. Plenty of yeast in suspension. Balsamic and wood notes very apparent with alcohol fairly noticeable (though not at all dominant) and a definite tartness. Wonderful collapsing, fluffy, structured body that I have come to love from this brewer. It seems a lot like a highly carbonated, lightly boozy flemish sour red. Bottle (enjoyed with MartinT, Rastacouere and some non-RB tasters).