Fantome Saison: Slimy?

yes, they sometimes DO date their bottles. well over 50% of the time, there is also a "notching"/batch numbering scheme on the label itself, albeit only utilized maybe 20-50% of the time within that original 50%. that said, you can still get a general sense of the age because the range of years listed is usually only 5 or 6 years. (a range of '10 - '14 for example at least means that such a bottle today isn't more than 4 years old.)

bottle variation is very high, and no 100% guarantee by any means, but good enough as a rough rule of thumb that i can characterize certain batches as fruiter or funkier (or less so) than others.

 

Fair enough, while I am well aware of these articles, one question always comes to mind: do we sometimes take this shit too seriously. I mean come on, what are we supposed to do aside from can/keg everything (keep our beer in a box in the fridge and then drink it in the dark? What if I pour a beer in a glass and sit outside on a sunny day, should I be hiding it from the sunlight? (The reason I ask these questions is because I have thought about this before, and then think, jeez its just a fucking beer).

So, as a thought to keep me sane and stop worrying so damn much about these things, I drew the line with hoppy beers. Those I try to keep out of light and in a cool place...

 

Just missed the time limit for editing; wanted to include that I understand brown bottles help with the problem, but are still subject to the same problems given certain circumstances.

 

brown glass actually does a pretty good job most of the time. beer in very dark brown glass can withstand quite a bit of direct sunlight even. i've tried it myself. you should keep in mind that glass has only been commonly available for less than two centuries. before this, beer was consumed in opaque containers. 200 years is the blink of an eye in the scale of human history.

 

I was listening to this again the other day. I believe he was talking about Supplication at one point and mentioned that the first time he bottled it, it got ropey again in the bottle because he blended in some 'sweet' (un-soured) beer and that the rope cleared over a period of weeks. I'm not suggesting this is directly applicable to what's happening with Fantome, just looking to clarify the above post as I just listened to the presentation again a few days ago.

 

I've had this happen before with Fantome... I forgot which beer it was but the general consensus for mouth feel was "boogery".

 

Seems to be a constant concern with fantome. I had a noel that was the same way. I have heard though that if you open it and let it sit or pour it and let it sit, just for a few minutes, that it peetty much goes away. Hope this helps

 

I had the saison last week. My first Fantome, and the flavors were insanely good. No problems with mine. I have another bottle, so we will see how much it varies.

 

Are you talking about the first Extra Sour or the Extra Sour Dark? Not familiar with dates.

Had 4 different bottles of the first Extra Sour and never had a hint of smoke FWIW

 

Do these particular off beers look different in the bottle or is this something that can only be detected from tasting?

 

Could you tell in the bottle? i have an unopened bottle and am wondering if i should sit on it awhile

 

Extra Sour Dark :-)

 

They have started to label notch on the side. Sometimes.

 

Yes. The rope phenomena could, and probably will, clear up over time in the bottle. I have heard the example you are talking about along with other examples from quality professional brewers.