Fantôme Strange Ghost

Brewed by Brasserie Fantôme
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Soy-Erezée, Belgium

Pours with a dense but not long lasting head. Taste is spicy like autumn leaves. Lots of tree sap, coriander, tea, soap thats sweet but somewhat dry. This will be awesome with 2* years on it.

Slightly hazy auburn with a dense, thick tan head. Crazy aroma of all kinds of spices and herbs. Pine, rosemary, juniper, sage, sweet caramel, light citrus, cinnamon, white pepper, freshly cut grass and shrubs, a touch of brown sugar, orange zest and maybe some light alcohol. A retronasal experience shows bits anise and perhaps a little living vegetation. A nice, full body with a light, soft carbonation. The flavors are cooler than I expected from the nose. The sweet malt backbone meshes superbly with the fairly strong herbal character. The interplay of sweetness and spicy, bitter herbal qualities are really unique. Perhaps a little strange in terms of everyday drinking, but enjoyable nonetheless. All told, this is another winner from Dany. Well done and interesting as all get out.

(750ml bottle) Opaque, dull amber body with medium beige head. Aroma medium sweet, tarragon, lemon peel, ginger, other herbs. Taste is medium sweet, tarragon, white pepper, ginger, other herbs, light lime. Medium body with a dry finish. Not bad by any stretch, but not sure that I need to ever drink a tarragon beer again.

Geez, what a strange beer! Smelled like mint and dust, but tasted like rosemary. Very intense, yet not offensive at all. A beer that really demands that you take your time drinking it. Definitely for the adventurous, but not at all a novelty.

Sampled at Logan’s loft during GABF RateBeer party 2005. One of the more bizarre offerings of the evening. Amber gold in my glass, hazy with a light and good-looking head. The aroma is jammed with herbs! Smells like cooing in our kitchen with sage and thyme and pizza sauce lying around. Flavor is very light and stays that way. You get herby flavors of pizza type spices (oregano, thyme, etc.), very interesting and in no way is it bad. Body is light and watery, in a refreshing way. Don’t know when and with what you would drink this, but it was good.

Pours a orange/cherry color body with a sticky white head. Aroma reminds me a lot of Italian seasonings. Like the mixed seasons I put on my pizza. Complex spicey flavor (again, pizza spices) with the signature mild tartness in the finish. Light effervescent palate. Something I wouldn’t have expected to want to drink a lot of. Very well made.

Rusty copper, with a creamy, condensed milk head.
The most varied mix of spices as I have ever smelled...You got mint, ground pepper, basil, thyme, lavander, cloves, it’s like he emptied his spice rack in there! And it was something new at every whiff. Unbelievable stuff.
Pretty complex taste, quite heavy on the spices. In fact, it reminded me of my Dad’s spaghetti sauce! The aftertaste had the bitterness of dandelion leaves. The alcohol was nowhere to be felt, an impressive feat for an 8%. I thought I’d get tired of it after a while, but not at all. I’m glad I have a few more to cellar.

Sampled August 2005 Pours a slightly hazy, pretty, ruby-orange color that is topped by a light cream-tan colored head that is held aloft by a persistent, good carbonation. Wow, the aroma is quite interesting, it is fully herbal with notes of sage, thyme, rosemary & pine being quite evident. Underneath the herbs is a nice fruitiness reminiscent of plums and raisins, there is a bit of a tart citrusy note here too. Reminds me a bit of a German herbal liquor.

The taste is fairly dry up front, with just an ever so soft touch of sweetness. As the herbal qualities of this beer take hold, it dries out considerably in the finish. What an interesting beer, I really almost don’t know what to say. The beer has a definite tartness to it, which is especially evident in the first half of a draught of this beer. The tartness and the fruitiness of this beer make me think of a tart orange. As this beer warms up it becomes quite a bit softer and smoother as it looses some carbonation as well. The herbal note is still quite evident though with Sage leading the lineup.

This beer is almost an aperitif, it would be perfect preceding a night of noshing on roasted lamb, but the herbal character also make it useful as a digestif. All in all a very interesting beer from Dany. I really am enjoying this, even though the balance is perhaps a little bit too much on the herbal side.