Fantôme de Noël

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

Wow, this was not what I expected. I’ve really enjoyed everything I’ve had from Fantome - but somehow when I see Belgian + winter I expect something much more malty, heavily spiced, etc. Well, once I got my head past my expectations I just fell in love with this wonderfully tart, subtly spiced concoction. The winter cousin of a Flemish sour, this one has very tastefully integrated notes of dried fruit, graced by faint traces of spice and just a touch of hop flavor. Really just so, so good.

Pours a nick dark brownish-black, with a nice tan head. Nice malty sweet nose with hints of a sour oakyness and caramel. The flavor is definately a belgian with the earthy mustiness, but is complemented by a nice spiciness that must be the black pepper as it is not your normal hoppy spice. The alcohol is very subtle and plays nicely with teh coffee-like earthiness. This is a great beer from this crazy belgian brewery.

75 cl bottle drank on 4/16/02: Muddy brown color with a huge head that slowly settles. Sour, bready nose. Barnyard taste with overripe dark fruit and spices. Acidic finish. Many different traits come through as this beer is sipped (this ain’t guzzling beer), such as oranges, wood, and cherry.

Cloudy apple cider appearance with a frothy tan head. Aroma of sour fruit, yeast and spices. Initial taste is farmhouse all the way, with loads of tart sour oaky wood flavors and sour apples and yeast. Some peppery spiciness as well. Not what you’d expect for a winter seasonal, but at 10% this is a nice brew for a big hearty Christmas time meal. Should age quite nicely with a good pile of yeast at the bottom of the bottle. It will be interesting to see how the tartness will mellow after a year or so of cellaring. Cool bottle with an evil ’Casper the ghost’ overlooking Santa and his reindeer.

750 ml bottle uncorks so loudly I'm afraid it'll wake the neighbors. Huge yeasty nose, I'll have to let it settle for details. Bottle has no discernible dating, but purchased a year ago. Very murky dark dried-blood color with huge billowy maple-cream head. That head just doesn't die. I'm going to have to sleep and drink this for breakfast! Now I can get more from that nose. Very yeasty, alcohol fairly obvious, black currants, seawater (yeah, weird I know), bit of brown sugar. Very yeasty and strong flavor, sour with hints of cherries -- this reminds me both in appearance and flavor in a way of a super-strong Flemish sour. Very acidic, but with some nice finishing tart grapefruity sugar. I rather wish this was a smaller bottle, as it's definitely challenging my tastebuds and I wants something to follow it up with...but I'll make do I guess. Very good overall, but tough.

Pours a dark copper color with a big beige head. Aroma of roasted malt, fruits and spices. Flavor of sweet malt, chocolate, spice and wood. Alcohol is present. Medium to full bodied, normal carbonation for the style. Big Saison!

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.)

Sour fruity aroma, dark and murky. Notes of sweet malts and acidic, tartness, and noticable lack of spices compared to the other Fantomes. Sweet and sour all the way. Enjoyed this bottle with Jaymobrown.