Fantapants
Feral Brewing Co.

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From:
Feral Brewing Co.
 
Australia
Style:
American Amber / Red Ale
ABV:
7.4%
Score:
90
Avg:
4.12 | pDev: 8.74%
Reviews:
8
Ratings:
14
Status:
Active
Rated:
Mar 21, 2017
Added:
Nov 24, 2009
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  1
Fantapants is offensively bitter (like most redheads!) but begins slightly sweet, with an aroma of passionfruit and pineapple. The finish is full-bodied with a hint of biscuity malt.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
 
Rated: 3.96 by BAsbill from California

Mar 21, 2017
 
Rated: 3.75 by Boozecamel from Canada (BC)

Nov 12, 2015
 
Rated: 3.75 by Kroehny_Loves_Hops from Australia

May 01, 2014
Photo of heygeebee
Reviewed by heygeebee from Australia

3.86/5  rDev -6.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
From notes.

Pours deep red one finger dark cream head. Head stays beautifully, lace everywhere.

Muted aromas. Hops, butterscotch, caramel.

Taste is not a hop wallop by Feral stds. Integrated and complex as per aromas. Dialectal everywhere. A hint of soft liquorice on back plate. Malt mid palate shines.

Mouthfeel is light for ABV, carbonation low.

Overall more of a malt dialectal monster than an IPA.
Jan 13, 2013
 
Rated: 4.75 by serapheus from Australia

Jun 15, 2012
 
Rated: 4.5 by MordeciaFunk from Australia

Mar 06, 2012
 
Rated: 4.5 by danieelol from Australia

Nov 28, 2011
Photo of ADZA
Reviewed by ADZA from Australia

4.07/5  rDev -1.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
A-Pours a hazy mandarin hue which leaves a one finger head and average lacing.

S-Grapefruit,piney resiny hops,stonefruit and boiled candy.

T-Grapefruit,candied citrus,blood oranges,piney hops,toffee and finished with a mix of boiled candy and piney citrusy hops.

M-Light bodied and a touch sticky.

O-Very drinkable and at the price i would buy again cheers.
Nov 15, 2011
Photo of dansmcd
Reviewed by dansmcd from Australia

4.18/5  rDev +1.5%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
A - Very handsome beer this one. Golden, red gum/jarrah body, beautiful dense, creamy head (a Feral standard) and a myriad of lace all the way down.

S - Hops up front. Passionfruit and peach. Caramel backing.

T - At 53 IBUs its hoppier than their Hop Hog. The fruity, floral hop flavours are there in force, but the biscuity, nutty malts are not overawed.

M - Moderate in body and carbonation. Hop bitterness lingers.

O - Really sessionable for the 7.4% abv it is. Nicely balanced, bitter-sweet, quality brew from a great little microbrewery.
Oct 08, 2011
Photo of laituegonflable
Reviewed by laituegonflable from Australia

3.56/5  rDev -13.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Tried at Local Taphouse Ale Stars 07/12/10.

Pours a rich ruby red, with enormous off-white head; nice and dense, retaining very well but sinks slowly, leaving some quite phenomenal lace on there, tight and dense. Clear body; looks amazing.

Intense American and NZ hop character on the nose. Huge citrus with passionfruit seed, pine needle resin together with some caramel notes at the back. Largely just huge hoppy aroma, fruit and wood resin. It's nice, but I would like more complexity, it's just a wallop in the olfactory with hops and a bit unnuanced.

Taste is quite malty on the front - toffee with hints of pine needle coming through immediately after the first assault. Then a slight fusel alcohol burns through the mid-palate which is cut off nicely by the intense hop flavours -resiny and piney but with a spice to it and an asparagus vegetation edge to the bitterness. Nice flavours, but a bit short on the finish, like the intensity exhausts itself early.

Texture is a bit lacking; not as full as I would like. Texture is OK but I would like more gravity to the feel.

Yeah, a nice bitter beer but could have been better. It strikes me as a sort of Leeroy Jenkins brew; all power and needs more finesse.
Dec 14, 2010
Photo of lacqueredmouse
Reviewed by lacqueredmouse from Australia

3.68/5  rDev -10.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
On tap as part of the Feral AleStars night at the Local Taphouse in Sydney.

Pours a deep and vibrant cherry-red/amber hue. Head varies between huge and frothy to filmy and soft. Light beige colour to it. Decent static carbonation when swirled. Good body, lovely colour. It's a great looking brew.

Nose is redolent with citric hops, with nuances of other tropical fruits, peach stone and a little pine. Bit of nuttiness as well, but not a lot. Decent enough.

Sharp and bitter on the palate, with the bitterness just opening up enough at the end to let that light nutty character come through. Sharp apricot notes and plenty of hop bitterness throughout. Unfortunately, that waft of nut is the only red character coming through. Not a lot of roasted character, burned toffee or the like. In the end, the palate is nice, but feels a bit mismatched. Feel is full enough.

This is a lovely style of beer, but this one is missing the point a little. The bitterness is pronounced as it should be, but it's not balanced and matched with malt or roasted notes as much as I feel a red ale should be.

There are better American examples out there, for example Bear Republic's Red Rocket, or Ninkasi's Believer. The fact that I'm comparing this beer to those beers though must mean it's doing something right.
Dec 13, 2010
Photo of markhobbs1
Reviewed by markhobbs1 from California

4.12/5  rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
This is an excellent red IPA. Not too hoppy, one can taste the alcohol on the back end, nice citrus overtones, carbonation is perfect. These guys from down under really know how to make a tasty beer. I also drank the hop head IPA and it was terrific. Kudos to this brewery in Western Australia. They are experts at making great, small batch craft beer! If you visit Perth, make the drive to Swan Valley. It is worth the drive!
Sep 08, 2010
Photo of jbowers56
Reviewed by jbowers56 from Australia

4.5/5  rDev +9.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Red-copper colour. Lots of lacing. Good head retention from a relatively small head, perhas a tiny bit more than a finger.

Loads of passionfruit and pineapple hops on the nose. A tiny bit of sweetness from the malts, but mostly a fruity hop nose. tiny bit of pine.

Taste was very hoppy up front, but not bitterly so. Heaps of flavour hops giving a lot of tropical/citrus fruits. malt steps in with caramel sweetness/body to balance it out. Great flavour. Bold but not over the top. Dont know why they would call it offensively bitter, the hop hog was about as bitter, with the malt taken in to account.

Medium carbonation, not too heavy a mouthfeel.

Drinkability was fantastic, had quite a few of these :)

Probably better than some of the other red ale offerings I have tried from american breweries.
Nov 26, 2009
Photo of brendan13
Reviewed by brendan13 from Australia

4.47/5  rDev +8.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
On tap at The Local Taphouse 23/11/09.

A - Pours an orange hued light copper colour with a persistant 2cm off white head. A bit of lace is left down the glass.
S - Did someone say hops? Pungent piney, tropical fruit hoppy goodness. Hint of caramel maltiness.
T - Again very hop forward with big piney, fruity and floral qualities dominating but then balanced by a nice caramel malt presence.
M - Medium bodied, medium carbonation with a strong yet pleasent lingering bitterness.
D - At 7.4% probably not a sessioner but a very tasty beer that I'll be drinking as much as possible while it's available. Hope it becomes a regular. Great to see a hoppy red ale from an Australian micro finally!
Nov 24, 2009
Fantapants from Feral Brewing Co.
Beer rating: 90 out of 100 with 14 ratings