Fantome Hiver

FWIW, I shared this year's Hiver the other night and it was super fine. More pepper than I expected, but not remotely a drainpour. Another fascinating and complex beer from Fantome.

 

Multi-part question: Everyone always speaks of Fantome as having "bottle variation". Is it really bottle variation, or is it batch variation - and if it's bottle variation, how does that happen?

I'm not sure I understand how two different bottles coming off the same batch of beer could be different relatively fresh or even aged under the same storage conditions, except maybe in this case something to do with the cork - but even so, in the case of these Fantome bottles, they're all also capped.

Corollary: I've only ever had good bottles of Fantome - but I've only ever had Hiver and Printemps, so this is not a huge sample. However, I've had more than a few bottles of Hiver, and they've all been great. Is it possible that since I bought these around the same time/stores/locations that I've just gotten a bunch of bottles from a good batch?

This is probably a total n00b question, but this just really confuses me.

 

Phew! I am so glad to read these reviews/experiences! I opened my first-ever bottle of Fantome (the Hiver) last night, and could not finish ONE glass! I like unusual beers, but I too found the "smoke" component overwhelming, and it had a very chemically aspect to it. A friend described it as spray-paint. To me, it was a kind of electrical-burning smell... The glass gave me a headache, and I am gonna dump the bottle (something I have NEVER done).

 

Apparently, the brewer has been known to be a bit lax about the beers he puts in bottles. People have mentioned that the beer that gets put in bottles may not be the beer that is on the label.

 

I haven't had any problems with an "off" Fantome, and I had this year's Hiver and it was delish.