Amèr iGhost
Brasserie Fantôme

Standard Saison smell plus a good amount of complex Funk

Hits you with a good amount of bitterness upfront and lingers for quite a while and has a hint of astringency.

Very high carbonation which results in a luxurious body.

Personallf I find it a very complex Saison which is a tad too bitter for my tastes but this definitely has its place in the Saison pantheon

Bottle pour into a tulip glass.
Amber color with off white head. Spicy floral bready nose. Bitter and spicy on the palate. Thick mouthfeel, high carbonation.

Best by 2025 - poured from a capped-and-corked 750mL bottle into my Troubadour tulip.

Coral/burnt sienna gradient with a fist of papaya whip foam. Rocky tendrils of lace; excellent retention.

Funky and floral with wild grass and orchard notes as well.

Phenolic, peppery, herbaceous, malty, moderately bitter palate entry. Rapid yeast-forward finish with a lingering complex minerality. Quite dry with hints of pressed white tea or raw pu-erh. Strange, subtle, and wonderful.

Brisk, slightly fizzy, medium body; slightly tannic with forward (but not fusel) alcohol.

Rustic, unique, piquant.

Purchased my bottle about 6 months before opening; who knows how old it was at the time. Stored at cellar temps until 48 hours before serving. Thankfully, not a geyser!

Opened with a hearty POP! It’s a foamer, pouring a light amber-tea color. The aroma is zesty, funky, and slightly floral, with some grapefruit peel and aromatic bitters coming through along with some phenolic alcohol on the retronasal. The sip is grapefruit-forward, with a prominent almost-medicinal note. Intense bitterness, which I enjoyed although I recognize it’s not for everyone. Lively and effervescent. Yes, this is a difficult yet rewarding beer. I want another. I’m curious now to see how this might have aged for a much longer period of time.

Reddish brown somewhat cloudy body with a huge mushroom colored head. SO. MUCH. FOAM! And lacing though. Huge herbal and hop spice notes in both smell and taste. Basil? Mint? Something herbal in these is speaking to my palate for a brief moment. Dry earth, belgian yeast with slight ester in the nose. Feel is sharp, dry, yeasty, and bitter. Classic fantome in this one is unique yet has classic trappings

oh god, i love fantome, a top brewery for me, so sourcing new beers from them, however challenging and expensive at times, is always something that stokes me up. hard to find information about their beers specifically, the ghost and his secrets and all, but this is done with green, white, and black peppercorns, and based on the nose i would say limes or lime leaf, its so fragrant and citrusy, although i dont think thats actually an ingredient, it sure presents like it is. are these little lsd tabs on the label? anyway, the beer is incredible, an amber saison base, super heady from the bottle, almost hard to control, but clearish for what it is and not too much sediment. the nose is spectacular, herbal and bitter like a tea or something, the slight olive character of the green peppercorn, and the more intense black pepper, which is spicy, bitter, and distinctive. i also get the classic rustic saison yeast of fantome, and what seems like a lot of hops, clean citrus, and slightly nutty malt. the flavor is banging, less of the lime thing, tons and tons of pepper, not subtle, more of the dusty white pepper now, awesome with this yeast, which seems a little restrained, less estery than it sometimes is in their beer, and with the black pepper dominating the finish, decisively bitter at the swallow. i think the richer malt base is critical here for balance, there is also some candy sugar sweetness late to try to make this more neutral, which is mostly successful, and i love the bottle conditioned effervescence, pretty much always on point for these guys. fantome just slays, and this was a treat to drink, my wife loved it too, so wildly interesting while also being obviously a fantome beer, some green glass character sneaking in as it warms up. adored this, and am pleased to see a new importer is bringing them in, was worried with shelton going away, hoping to see a whole lot more from them start coming through...

Bottle. Lot 05 c 21.

Cloudy caramel color. Khaki head. Big pop, lots of foam.

Too bitter. Earthy, floral. Caramel, some sweetness, orange citrus, herbs and spices. Not the best tome. Don’t pick up on the candy sugar.

Bright orange, sturdy and billowing meringue foam, chunky lace all the way down. Racing carb trails, looks like champagne. Lasting head, looks majestic.

Aromas are subtle, tea and herbal notes, earthy hops, some malt sweetness.

Bitter and resiny first-off, grapefruit and grapefruit peels. Fruity and a light malt sweetness that slightly offsets the huge resiny bitterness. Medium bodied and effervescent, hop forward. Minor spices, resiny hops dominate though.

This is like a C-hop version of Brise Bon-Bons. There’s a clear, classic American IPA inspirational thread running through this beer, while it also hits some classic Fantome hallmarks. Really enjoyed it as a departure from the mixed fermentation stuff, but classic Fantome in it’s experimental nature. Never change, Dany.

Poured into a Gulden Draak tulip. Pours a lightly hazy, medium to dark brownish orange with a massive, Fantome sized white head. Slowly dissipated to chunks with thick lacing. Aroma of grainy malt, saison yeast, pepper, earthy summer spices, a touch of pine and faint mixed stone fruit. Flavor is grainy malt, saison yeast, a touch of funk, vague mixed fruit, lots of earthy spice; thyme, sage, pepper; building in spiciness to an almost medicinal summer spice and licorice. Bitter hoppy finish with almost no hop herbal flavors. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess and sharp carbonation. A very complex and spicy saison. I was prepared for a gusher but although this produced a massive head of 2/3 the glass, it was well behaved. The aroma prepared me for the flavor, with noteable savory herbs, many of which are also in the taste. A sneaky flavor progression, starting a little tame with light spicing and fairly typical grainy malts and saison yeast, but various herbal elements develop into a complex herbal and spicy finish, reminiscent of a digestive bitters. It all almost seems too well spiced, but the flavors are quite appealing and some of the more bitter ones take the place of hop flavors (or are there some hop flavors here I don't recognize?). The finish is at a pale ale or moderate IPA level of bitterness, but once again the flavor and bitterness is more of spices than hops. The finish, although with a moderate medicinal note, is very interesting and flavorful and kept drawing me back for more tastes. I've enjoyed the few Fantomes I've had, but his could be my favorite. I really wanted to know more about this one, but the Fantome website is remarkably spartan, the better to support the mystery of the fantome, guess.