Fantôme Coffee Ruby
Brasserie Fantôme

Best before end 2024. Poured from a capped-and-corked 750mL bottle into my Brasseurs de Garde tulip/flute.

Dark kobicha body, glowing auburn when held up to the light. Highly active almond cap recedes to naught but a furious buzz of bubbles never quite sustaining a collar. Vague lacing; poor retention. [EDIT - the final pour yielded a fine cap with good retention - odd!]

Initial complex funk gives way to brown bread, fruity mellow coffee, low herbal notes, and peppery yeast in the nose.

Tart almost vegetal palate entry with first crack coffee notes, some low yeast complexity and moderate persistent bitterness. Not quite smooth, medium-dry finish with chicory, limestone, and nut skins. Restrained acidity, low tannins. Odd, but balanced.

Medium-light bodied, slightly soda-like carbonation, a little thin.

Snubs its nose at the conventions of the style more than most - has almost as much in common with an English mild than a Saison - makes it quite difficult to rate, though not to enjoy!

Coffee/copper color with a modest relaxed dense light beige head, quickly receding to a thin surface with a collar, but long lasting for aroma. Roasty coffee tones, with competing spicy, bitter, and cracker notes. Moderate to full body and carbonation.

(750 ml bottle; recent purchase from State Line in Elkton... shared between two Chimay goblets)

Interesting beer?... Pours with a copious cap of tight, silken, off-white foam atop a dark garnet liquid... rather dry and light-bodied on the palate, plenty of carbonation lending a lifting effect... not much spicy or funky 'saison' character sits forward; it mostly highlights the mildly acidic, bitter coffee tones dominant in its core... Yes, and interesting beer I had to try, but my brother and I couldn't wait to move on to something else... arguably much to be desired here with its depth of flavors (1885)

First things first, this is marked as best by end of 2018, but it’s something I got for free. This is my first Fantôme. I had never actually heard of them until listening to the Don’t Drink Beer podcast, then I got this shortly after. Coffee Saison? Sounds super weird, but I’m always down for something weird

Pours a cloudy reddish brown with 2 fingers of off white head that slowly fades to a thin cap and leaves minimal lacing

It is certainly pretty strange in the nose, though I’m not sure how much it has to do with age. I’m picking up on aromas of light roast coffee, lactic acid, lemon rind, peppercorn, dark bread, amd straw. More unique than bad I suppose

Weird, taste-wise, would be an understatement. This is beyond strange, but I’m kinda enjoying it. On the front end of the sip I’m tasting lemon rind, old leather, white pepper, coffee bean, bready malt, toast, and apple skin. The swallow brings notes of earthy hops, peppercorn, toast, light coffee, apple skin, hay, and light mint

A light medium body pairs with moderate carbonation, resulting in a brisk beer. Finishes mostly dry and slightly fruity

This one is really strange but I likevit. Perhaps a bit more than I should. Wholly unique

Lot number 25 ja0821

Large khaki head. Copper brown color.

I have no idea what I’m tasting. Very herbal and medicinal. Malty. Peppercorn, sage, and mint. Such an odd combo of spices.

This isn’t one of my favorite tomes. 5 oz of this one is plenty.

750 ml capped and corked green bottle. ABV is 8%. Cloudy golden brown colour, large head, slightly off-white. The label warns of "very bitter taste". Strong aroma of Belgian ale yeast and hops. The flavour is not "very bitter" in my book, but certainly bitter enough to be interesting. Base notes of fruit and medium sweet malts make the beer very drinkable. Warming mouthfeel from the spices used.

 

A 750ml green glass bottle with a BB of End 2016, so this is well out of date. Purchased from the Brewdog webshop ages ago and stored in a box. The label says it all really - I presume this is a coffee saison (with a bitter taste).

A: Sealed with a crown and cork. Poured into a tulip (twice). Bottle conditioned. A rich coppery-marmalade hue with good carbonation. Yields a large head of creamy white foam that lasts for a few minutes before slowly subsiding to a patchy surface layer.

S: Aroma of vinous sourness with hints of bright roasted coffee, tart berries, subtle funk, mustiness, earthy yeast and faint blue cheese. Pretty good coffee character and nice balance - undimmed by age.

T: Tastes of rich, fruity coffee with notes of roasted coffee beans, mustiness, earthy yeast, mild funk, faint sourness and a touch of blue cheese. Very dry, followed by a substantial coffee-driven bitterness upon swallowing.

M: Mouthfeel is smooth, tingly and dry, with spritzy carbonation and good body. Quite astringent; dries the palate. Aftertaste of bitter roasted coffee, earthy yeast, mild funk/mustiness and a twinge of sourness.

O: An interesting effort, though I'm not sure coffee and saison yeast were meant to be combined. Looks good, while the aroma and flavour are an intriguing blend of coffee notes, earthiness, light funk and a subtle tart quality. Nice body. Drinkable but strictly for those who love coffee. Also, there were some interesting gelatinous blobs in my glass but I probably swallowed them. An unusual beer that is worth sampling.

 

 

This beer pours black with an enormous slightly off-white head that doesn't seem to want to quit (and doesn't...it stayed the entire time I was drinking it). The smell is roasted coffee, and then I am picking up some elements of the base saison, some spices and a touch of grassy funk. The taste is almost entirely coffee. What little else I did pick up was some grassyness. Feel was not the best, it was an extremely active carbonation that detracts from other elements of the beer. If you could get past that, the beer was on the thinner side and perhaps a little watery.

This one was a bit of a disappointment, but then again, a coffee saison seemed a little improbable from the start.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

i wanted to like this a lot more than i did, a paler colored coffee saison, looks like a murky light brown ale, with some sediment in there and less head than many of their others i have had. just a patchy thin white layer on top. it smells real bitter, but as much from hops it seems as coffee, which aside from a little earthiness in there, is pretty well covered up by malt, funky bread yeast, and green bottle skunk. at first its harsh on the palate and not just bitter but also sharp, tastes old but i dont see a bottle date here. tons of gunky yeast, tastes totally spent like cleaning out a fermenter, and the coffee just really doesnt add much except bitterness and acidity. despite all that negative feedback, there is somehow a fruity flavor that develops in here that i really like, and in the end, like all fantome beers, its somehow justifiable to spend the money on it for me because it forces me to consider something unique. the beers i have had from them lately havent been very tasty to me at all, but they have certainly been original. im not sure thats always an okay stand in for something i actually want to drink, but for now its keeping me entertained well enough...

Pours a deep red that lives up to its name. Well, part of it at least. Not getting much coffee on the nose or on the palate. I'm guessing that it is adding more bitterness than actual coffee flavor. Pretty good. Different but very drinkable.

 

 

 

A mix of typical saison notes (yeast, spice, bread) and some bitter coffee. The coffee, although present, did not overpower the saison flavours, which was nice, however the flavours didn't come together well at all and it was difficult to drink more than a few ounces. An interesting style to attempt, but probably not worth revisiting IMO.

 

 

 

 

Bottle: Poured a nice amber/copper color ale with a huge foamy head with excellent retention and some very good amount of lacing. Aroma of Belgian malt base with nice caramelized notes is quite enticing. Taste is a nice mix between some Belgian malt base, some residual candi sugar with caramelized notes and alight bitter finish. I don’t get the coffee name since I could not detect any coffee notes. Body is full for style with good carbonation. Nice mix of drinkability and complexity but maybe a bit clean for Fantome.

Preliminarily, I have to admit that I am prejudice towards Fantome. I love Dany; I love the what he does and I love the inconsistencies and quirks of these beers. Now, having said that, I'm not even sure how to grade this one!

Pours an amber with a super fast fading head. Medium carbonation but a decent mouth feel, highlighted by what I think is a perfect balance for the the beer purports to be, and is.

Nose is weird English bitter, carmel, hints of coffee but a bit more like a light bitter chocolate or cocoa, roasted grains and layers of smells that are bitter, burned and earthy. There is even sweet character that comes and goes.

Flavor profile is simply not very saison like - at least to me. Label warns that the beer is bitter. Believe the label - it is. Not so much a hop bitter as a coffee or chocolate bitter. And, like the nose, a hint of sweet with the bitter. Strange one this.

Finish is all very strong English bitter tones.

This is not typical Fantome. However, in the lexicon of beers, this is worth trying.

750ml Poured into generic tulip glass.

A: Beautiful crisp and transparent amber color with a slight off white head with a combination of medium sized bubbles around the rim with small creamy ones in the center. Decent lacing and it seems like medium carbonation as well, which dissipated after a few minutes to a thin sheet of fine bubbles.

S: Sweetness comes to mind immediately. There’s a touch of caramel and crystal malts with a very faint toastiness. There is no yeast or Fantome funk, no hop or coffee character either.

T: Nice and malty, slight fruity sweetness and a very gentle Fantome yeast character. Definitely needs some age to really shine and come through as a Fantome funky weird beer. Too clean at this moment but still an amazingly great beer. There is a gentle (I’m being ambitious here) coffee note but note sure. Its mainly just a slight berry fruit character mixed with malt sweetness. I get no coffee… But it’s a nice dry amber-ish fruity kinda-saison… yeah… I like it but it feels like a confused beer…

M: The beer finishes with a slight bitterness but also a little sweet and fruity. The late aftertaste kinda reminds me of a slight roast character but mainly darker crystal malts…

O: An interesting but too clean beer from Fantome. I bought this ‘fresh’ and will buy another and try with some age. Typically Fantome brews have much more character with some age if they seem to neutral/clean at first. But we’ll see. Again, not a bad beer at all but I just expect the Ghost to be Strange, that’s all. This is a very well made beer but unfortunately I don’t get any coffee… I do, however get the ‘Ruby” part of the name. This beer is a beautiful amber color with a nice malt character. If you’re a Fantome fan boy/girl like I am, it’s definitely worth a try.

Almost totally flat. Medium brown color. Smells like cocoa oil; not roasty like coffee. Taste is very dry, surprisingly pleasant. Bordering on tart and bitter, but neither of those words really fit it. Very chocolatey. Wouldn't buy again for the price, but not the worst Fantome experience I've had.
(Can this guy learn to make properly carbonated beer, already?)

 

Picked up a 750ml at Olive Tree Market for $20. and poured it into a stemmed goblet.

Pours a hazed unfiltered ruby/brown with a two inch tan head, lingers for a few sips, leaving a ring of foam with milld lacing from start to finish. Aroma is fresh brewed coffee, burnt candy sugar, fruity esters, big malt presence and faint hop on the finish. Aroma carries over into the flavor - bitter coffee and hops are noticeable throughout, with spicy notes from the yeast, and a big sweet malt bill to balance everything out. Full bodied, mellow carbonation and tons of pleasant bitterness stick to the palate.

Such a solid coffee beer - nice work Dany!

Lot: JC215. Best before end 2018.

Pours a murky dark orange-brown with a foamy dark khaki head that settles to wisps of film on top of the beer. Tiny dots of lace form around the glass on the drink down. Smell is of toasted malt, earth, peppercorn, coffee bean, and burnt brewed coffee aromas. Taste is much the same with toast, fruit, earth, black pepper, whole peppercorn, and slight coffee ground flavors on the finish. There is a mild amount of roast and earth bitterness on the palate with each sip. This beer has a low level of carbonation with an almost flat mouthfeel. Overall, this is an above average beer that has some distinct coffee aspects, but I am getting more earth and pepper qualities in both the smell and taste.

Serving type: bottle.

I haven't reviewed a beer in awhile, but this one deserves a description.

L- Dark amber, close to ruby in color. Initially it looks flat, but the carbonation becomes visible a few seconds later. It looks nearly perfect a few minutes later.

S-I don't smell too much coffee. It smells like a belgian pale ale, more or less.

T- Surprising amount of coffee up front. But then taste the taste evolves to saison yeast, hops a little funk and fairly sweet and fruity. There is a lot going on. Very unique and enjoyable.

M- There is a good amount of carbonation with a viscous finish. As many of his beers exhibit; great mouthfeel.

O- I'll chalk it up to another win for Dany. This was pretty much exactly what I hoped for based off the name. Great job per usual!