Fantôme Magic Ghost

Brewed by Brasserie Fantôme
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Soy-Erezée, Belgium

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

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Bottle … Fantômepalooza 2011… Ok, so it’s not as neon green as the picture to the left, but it is a murky, key-lime ale with a small, creamy, white head. Good retention. The nose is dusty and musty with strong, herbal, green tea notes. Medium to full-bodied and milky with active carbonation. The flavor is lightly acidic and herbal. Moderately sweet. Finishes mildly tart and lightly bittersweet. Thanks to Beerlando for sharing this beauty!

750ml corked bottle and served in my Duvel snifter (I really need to get a Fantôme tulip but anyway)... Pours an illuminating lime green with a light green apple head and spotty lace. Yep, may be the most bizarre colored beer I ever had. The aroma has notes of green tea, pale grains, herbal and grassy hops, hint of pear and apple esters, with a hint of coriander and mint. The taste is very similar to the nose. Green tea baggy astringent notes along with lot of pils malt character. Touched by a herbal, piney and husky quality with a dash of fruit and spice. Got a touch of iron and lactic acid sourness around the edges. The mouth feel is sprite and lively, dry finish with the aforementioned astringent note. Not bad but in the realm of Fantôme brews I would put this near the bottom.

The beer is a dark amber / green hue and shows a brilliantly clear, shocking, green-apple-candy color when held up to the light. The beer is topped by a frothy, perhaps even green tinged, pale tan colored head that starts out at three-fingers in height in my large Tripel Karmeliet tulip. As I pour this beer I get a pronounced, fruity aroma coming from my glass. A closer inspection yields an aroma that smells quite floral and fruity up front; it is definitely distinctly floral and herbal somehow, almost grassy or weedlike in some way. The nose is quite distinct, in that something was certainly added to this beer, but I am not quite sure what it is. I almost can’t imagine that it is just green tea that was added to this. There is a certain candy like fruitiness to the nose somehow; does this remind me of those Chinese green jelly candies somehow, I am not sure.

The beer is a bit drier than I was expecting, it has a slight tartness to it, perhaps a touch of astringency to it in the long finish and certainly has green apple overtones to it. The finish has an almost menthol like herbal character, or perhaps it is better described as grassy. The beer has a definite viscousnouss to it (even visually it looks like it has a certain thickness to it), but without being overly heavy; there is an ample effervescent carbonation that keeps this light and quaffable though. There is a definite astringent / bitter note to the finish, this is light, but quite herbal in character and helps to balance the up front fruit and tart notes.

A weird beer all around, this is of course in all the right ways though. Quite tasty, and quite interesting and this has me wondering what this “green-tea” was that is added to this beer. The dominant character here is certainly a grassy, herbal, floral like character; for some reason it makes me think a bit of woodruff (is that because of the bright green color though). I wonder if this is going to get funkier over the years, it could certainly use a touch more of the wild Fantôme character; the herbal / tea character though is completely intrigueing during each and every sip and is certainly Fantôme in character. I definitely like the light tartness that this beer manages to have.

750ml bottle purchased at west lakeview... Pours a lime green, somewhat transparent lively and topped with a semi-frothy creamy white head... Semi-sweet lightly tart with slightly funky Belgian yeast with earthy tea funk. Enjoyable. A touch minty and herbal. Refreshing... Flavors are more of the same with accents of sweettarts, herbalness exhibiting a semi-tart earthy nature. Body is somewhat light and semi-lively. A touch of earthy bitterness on the backend with a light aspirin finish.

Head: foamy, away fast
Colour: light, lime green
Smell: yeasty, herby, limes, spruce, little sweet
Taste: slight acidic and creamy, something lemony and bitter peels/zesty, irony, end is dry and bit bitter, resfreshing !

Bottle shared with Linh and family. If the bottle is not swirled this will pour a crazy progression of color - starting with a hazy mountain dew electric yellow, and finishing with a deep, bright olive green body with lots of sediment. Aroma suggests that this could very well be a sour ale, however the initial tart punch in the nose fades into a dusty, earthiness in the palate which is complimented by light fruit notes of apple and gra

My Bottom Line:
Apple and citrus fruitiness benefit from lactic acid, bubbly carbonation and relative dryness, a flavor profile which recalls some Berliner Weisses, creating quite the conversation piece.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A veil of foam settles atop the cloudy pale green. Yes, matcha-like green.
-Yes, green tea adds to the flavor profile, even if it isn’t as prominent as the green colour might suggest it would be.
-A tart splash makes everything quite quenching.
-The carbonation’s prickly but not too intense.
-I don’t buy Fantômes often, but when I do, this is EXACTLY what I expect. Promise delivered.

Bottle.

Bottle: Fucking hell, I was completey surprised by the pour, haha... Absolutely lives up to it’s name! A completely hazy and brighter soapy, green apple, poison green colored beer. The foamy head has a color between green and white. Wow that smell is strange fruity and funky: lemon, spices, some citrus, hops, lime, forest fruits, forest spices, funky, spicy sour. Taste good bitter, hops, bitter hops, soap, some lemon and lime, wheat, herbs and spices, funky, green fruits, forest fruits, funky fruits, hint of yeast. Different! Aftertaste is bitter with herbs/spices and some soap and hops and green fruit. Low carbo, soft mouthfeel, good medium body and a light creamy texture. What a taste, different and did not Expect this at all. Not bad but not my favorite either.

75cl bottle - pours clear light green with medium head. To be honoust - it’s not an appealing colour for a beer! Nose of fresh lime, a bit grassy. No tea aroma whatsoever. Light body with vivid carbo level, nice and fresh from beginning to end. But the green colour...

750ml Bottle: Got in trade from stobbe74; THANKS Soeren! Aroma of yeast, green tea, malt, grain, citrus, lemon, leather, horse-blanket, and yeast. Poured a muddy lime-green/green tea/ecto-cooler in color with a tiny, fizzy, loose, white head that disappeared instantly, except around the edges. Opaque. Very sparkling. Flavor is light to medium sweet and medium tart. Tastes of barnyard, lambic, wood, tart fruit, leather, light citrus, slight green tea, fruit, lemon/lime, and more barnyard. Light to medium body. Thin, tingly, then lightly dry texture. Lively carbonation. Barnyard, leather, tart fruit, lambic, wood, slight green tea, citrus finish is lightly dry. 8%ABV is completely hidden throughout.

Bottled. Hazy golden, small head. Fruity nose with vinegar and green tea. Medium bodied with soft mouthfeel. Some minerals, tea, winegums and salt. Tart finish with slight bitterness.