Fantôme Hiver (Winter)

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

Bottle - big yeasty nose with bunches of spice. Amber, rusty body with a HUGE beige head and floaties galore. Hugely complex flavor ... gonna take a while to describe and I’m not sure I’ll do it justice. Big yeast up front followed by a clove finish. In initial swallows flavors just bounce all over the mouth. Tart and acidic. A nice, fizzy mouthfeel. I’m not a huge Belgian fan, but - wow!

Murky brownish-yellow appearance; fine lacing and a single layer of retained head. Yeasty, reserved, marshmallow-like, honey and pepper; slightly hesitant aroma, overall. Huge, complex mouthfeel: yeasty, spice, pepper, belgian sugars, light citrusy bitterness - everything slightly tart and effervescent (Champagne-like) on the tongue. Yeast and spices (cardamom?) dominate on a lengthy, satisfying finish. Such an excellent beer.

Poured in everything. Looks like dark rust. Nearly opaque. A hardened soft glow seeks the center but doesn’t even come close. A tall, all encompassing, cap of thick, luscious foam sweeps up the side of the goblet growing like the increasing wind of a oncoming storm. The top is tanned light brown in hue with a spot of brown leather in the center from the yeasty drippys. Tends to keep one heck of top sitting there the whole glass through; from pour to pour until the bottle is empty, the top is always sitting with a solid presense. Lacing is slow and low into the glass with patterns of thickly stringed blobby forms. Aroma is soft and tender of a darkened tartness of citrus and smokey malts. Kinda grapey, kinda plummy, a certain funk of leather and wet, old wood simply keeps it interesting to the nose. Flavors are simple in composure but complex in layers and length. Simple ways about it seem forebodingly dark and seeping into a sweet, deep tartness thats amazingly soft and supple. Flavors are a wave of mixtures making the overall current a tasty little display of dark grape and citrusy orange dusted with cocoa and semi tangy molasses. Very moderate really but lasting. Rides out for a tauntifingly, yeastified, sweet, and candied treat. The semi sweetness, sugared cookie doughness, and wood/leather funk hints is the make and mark of a great Belgian beer. And this smacks of that fact. Feel is sublime! So succulant, so soft and tender. It works sublimely with the flavors across the palate. As if to unfold, or create a breeze with verve and steadiness. The body is just over medium and never strays from there. Texturized in fluffy stuff that yeasty things like to create. Perfect. This is one very damn fine brew. That 8% and bigger 750ml bottle can catch ya off guard right quick if your not careful. A sipper, sure. But downable all the same.

750 ml bottle


Thanks to hezron for sharing this at a small tasting on the 10th. It was the first beer we sampled of three and probably the best of the afternoon. The best part is that this particular bottle cost a whopping $3.99 at the local grocery store. Now that’s value.

Aroma / Appearance - A bubbly off-white head settled into the chestnut colored body, leaving only a faint trace of coating. The nose was an interesting take on the typical saison. I detected many fruity characteristics including apples and pears. In addition there was a mixture of vanilla, hay and bittersweet cheap chocoloate (like Hersheys).

Flavor / Palate - After taking a sip, I found that my expectation was completely diffferent. Instead of an average beer, this one had plenty of complexity and balance. Wheat, semi-sweet chocoloate, honey and butterscotch were among the first few sips. Towards the end it resembled rye bread. The malt profile was very well done, making this an intruiging and excellent take on the saison style.

Bottle: Poured a dirty dark yellow color ale with a small foamy head with minimal retention. Aroma of weird spice mix with some strong Saaz hops. Taste is incredibly dry probably from the mix of spices and hops but doesn’t really excite my taste buds. Body is about average and carbonation is quite low. Not bad but just doesn’t provide the magic that I usually find in Fantome beers.

A transluscent brown color, some sediment in suspension on an undisturbed bottle, with a fat-bubbled head that is sustained by aggressive carbonation. Aroma is milk-like but absolutey dominated by cola and soybean fried potato chips with some nice dark fruit touches. Though for a winter beer I would assume deeper, lusher malt aromas. Flavor is all about the dark, sundried fruit and a little cola that is all lifted away by a nice carbonation level. A touch of cork in this beer is actually welcome to add an ethereal, background complexity and to help perceptively dry the beer out from being cloying. This is pretty tasty.

Sampled head to head with Fantome Noel. Pours a cloudy tan color with a small, tan head. Head lasts with the entire beer. Spicier than the Noel, this beer presents itself with a certain "bite". Carmel, heavy anise, and a grassy note dominate this beer, along with the background sweetness. Slightly sticky, but entirely drinkable. Definitely recommended.

(750ml bottle) Bieropholie/SAQ Imports and brought to my door by Lubiere. I had always thought that I had review this beer? I’ve passed it over numerous times only to find that I haven’t... or at least not reviewed it. And I am ashamed as this is unbelievable! Pours a large frothy lasting white head and a cloudy light amber body with floaties. Nose of marshmallows, vanilla, wild yeast, citrus and coriander. The flavour echos the nose yet with a herbal tongue, Fluff spread and vanilla soy milk mixed with rosemary. The guy may be a crazy brewer but its incredibly enjoyable beer!