Fantôme Forest Ghost (Dark)
Brasserie Fantôme

No batch or bb date which is odd. Purchased and consumed 8/21 in France. Shelton import label.

Bottle has shook from the car ride so a murky brown color with a large khaki head. No cork in this one which is also odd.

At first, this was a no. As I drank more it grew on me. Not my favorite tome, but still drinkable. Lots of mint and herbal tea flavor. Some orange citrus and then a lot of spice. Brown sugar, caramel, fig. Very carbonated and bubbly.

Interesting, per usual.

A 750ml corked and capped bottle with no clear bottled on or best before date. Poured into a Holy Mountain tulip glass.

Appearance: A lightly hazy amber copper colour with a two finger beige head that had decent retention while leaving some nice lacing.

Aroma: Fruity berries, a strong herbal kick, apple, damp wood, and black pepper.

Taste: Apple peel, herbal bitterness, straw, hay, earthy, orange pith, black pepper.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.

Overall: In one word, ‘strange’. Aroma was strange but it definitely grew on me. Taste was weird, but while it improved slightly with more sips, it didn’t improve enough for me to enjoy.

Mahogany brown body, huge beige head. Right away I get lavender, potpourri, flowers, orange zest, tree root, earth and belgian yeast. Perfumey and airy, very odd. Taste is a disaster, as if perfume got dumped on my tongue with the flavors from the smell. Undrinkable, frothy, savory, and yeasty, completely overwhelms the palate. Over carbonated as well. Drain pour

 

About 80% of this exploded on open all over my kitchen. And it was cellar temp. What was left was a turbid brown with lots of flavors. There is a sweetness too it, like m0ascarpone, but it is also spicy, yeasty and oxidized. There acrid bitterness that lingers past a quick nutty finish. Toasted coconuts maybe by taste and the label.

 

If I could rate this zero stars I would. Opened two of these bottles. The first exploded all over the kitchen and coated every surface with beer. The little amount left tasted pretty terrible. We opened a second bottle outdoors and it also exploded sending beer 25 feet in all directions.

not nearly as active and explosive as the light version, but side by side, i reckon its the better of the two beers in this neat pair of releases. it has the same strange nutty and earthy notes as the other beer, and definitely a similar oxidation meets mature weird belgian saison yeast that the light one has, but this is a little more substantial on the malt side, slightly sweeter, or rather just less dry, and extremely rustic and old world tasting to me. i dont mind the oxidation, its not as damning to this particular beer as it is to some of the other fantome offerings (chocolat for example). bitter in the end here, a neat change of direction from the amber malty middle of it, and an almost rye spice taste to this thats great with the yeast. complex and nuanced and subtle, very well carbonated, and earthy, mineral forward, and sort of rich in a cool way. lots going on here, and even the fish food looking sediment in the bottom doesnt bother me, this feels sort of raw, but also expert at the same time. i wish i knew more about whatever additives they have used for these, its almost like chestnut and a weird wood of some sort, but we may never know. expedient finish, yeasty at the end, sturdy for its abv, and lots of texture. fun stuff, but overpriced in my opinion at 20 bucks a bottle. i dont recall their beers usually costing quite this much...

 

 

 

Opened this one in the sink after hearing reports of gushers. As soon as the cork was pulled this one started foaming but I was able to get it all in the glass. You have been warned.

A: Poured into a Duvel tulip to a deep orange topped by a dense and rocky four finger head that retains well and leaves decent lacing
S: Smells of spices, some orchard fruit, and doughy malt.
T: Taste is doughy malt and orchard fruits with a lot of spice. Swallow is some sweet honey, more orchard fruit and some additional lingering spice. There's some earthiness and some slight funk at times too
M: This beer is medium in body with carbonation that is a little more lively than I'd prefer with a slightly drying finish
O: Overall this one is pretty good. The flavors are really nice and the beer has some solid complexity. If the carbonation was in check this would be a lot better but even in its overcarbed state it's really good. It probably has some aging potential too.

 

 

 

 

750ml corked and capped bottle presentation. The brew appears mahogany in color with a rich khaki cap that holds well fading leaving stringy lace.

Aroma is fruity almost like strawberry then has a earthy, husky grain aspect to the back mingled with a mild bretty character.

Taste is bitter and earthy with a husky grain feel blending to fruit flavors that are pithy/pulpy and with a mild tropical fruit faintly in the aftertaste like pineapple.

This is medium in body with modest carbonation. A really unique fantome offering but a little more bitter than I typically enjoy in them. Some pleasant nuance and overall interesting.

750 ml bottle, no bottled on date present. Acquired this bottle from the local bottle shop as part of a small selection of Fantôme and other Shelton Brothers stuff. Again, the friendly phantom is depicted on the beach with palm trees. "Product of Belgium" printed on the back of the bottle big as hell.

Poured into a mini tulip.

A - A little bit of a gusher gets some spillage going. Body is a dark ambery orange body with a thin weak watery looking beige head that settles in as a nice foam, leaving some okay fluffy lacing behind. Appears aptly carbonated. Looks okay.

S - Aroma is yeasty, and strongly of overripe / fallen fruits - pears, green apple, damp wood, must.

T - Taste follows: apples, pears, hay / straw, yeast. Earthy & rustic tasting, definitely unique. Some kind of peppery spice makes an appearance.

M - The feel is strange. Dry, scratchy, & yeasty, with fallen fruit flavors lingering on the end. Not quenching or particularly easy-drinking for that matter.

Overall, a strange beer from Fantôme. Definitely preferred the regular Forest Ghost to this one.

Fantôme Dark Forest Ghost -----3.5/5

 

PACKAGING: 1 pint 9.4 fl oz bottle. Green glass. Fun label art depicting the Fantome ghost and a beach set up for volleyball. An unbranded pry-off crown cap is sealed over an internally-housed cork.

No style designation on the label aside from "ale." 6% ABV. Imported by the Shelton Bastards.

HEAD: Occupies easily 90% of the glass, indicating aggressive overcarbonation (a common problem in many Fantome beers). Foam continues spewing out of the bottle after opening, confirming my suspicion of overcarbonation. It's thin and cobwebby, lacking a robust consistency - but it kind of works for this brew. Retention is good - about 6-8 minutes.

BODY: Murky glowing orange of average vibrance. Nontransparent. No yeast/lees particulate is visible within.

AROMA: Suggests a dry slightly starchy beer. A hint of cedar wood, attic must, barnyard funkiness (brettanomyces bruxellensis, no doubt), straw/hay, faint apple, white pepper, coriander, clove, applewood, rustic spice, and subtle earthiness. Funkiness is subdued. Restrained grassy hop character.

Aromatic intensity is average.

TASTE & TEXTURE: Dry and coarse, dragging across the palate to the extent it's somewhat parching. The scratchy mouthfeel is slightly irritating, but the light bodied feel of the beer is apt. Unrefreshing. Not soft, creamy, oily, hot, or boozy. It is somewhat gushed, though...

Earthier than is ideal, with the usual intricate spice profile found in Fantome farmhouse ales taking a backseat to the dry earthy notes. The spices are shallower than is usual in a Fantome beer, but I do pick out vague rustic spice like white pepper. Hints of cedar and applewood emerge in the second act. It's musty throughout, with plenty of barnyard character like hay/straw, earth, grassiness (probably from the hops), and starch coming through.

A hint of green apple - coupled with a dry taste of cut grass - signals acetaldehyde off-flavour.

Balance is uneven, and the build is rough around the edges, lacking the masterful cohesion and unity of flavour found in Fantome's best expressions of the farmhouse ale style. This isn't as well layered or harmonious a saison as many other Fantome beers, and its complexity and depth of flavour are wanting at best.

OVERALL: I adore Fantome saisons when they're on. This isn't on. Some may give Fantome a pass; the brewery's old school brewing setup has the benefit of helping them attain an old-world rustic saison flavour, but that seems to come at the expense of batch consistency and quality control issues that would be unacceptable in a German or American brewhouse. The acetaldehyde flavour ruins this for me, and at over $18 USD per bottle, this beer is tough to justify buying as a result. I don't doubt there may be excellent bottles out there, but I won't be seeking them out if the bottles I see in the future are offered at the same price.

C- (2.65) / BELOW AVERAGE