Stakem
Tômester
2012
Fantôme
- Thread starter Stakem
- Start date
Stakem
Tômester
Original bottling of Boo from 2012.
To the best of my knowledge this release was right at the beginning of the kettle malfunction tire fire rubber bandaid plastic massacre.
But this has really aged into something special...
Carb level is minimal but the nose on this is 100% Fantome house character that I adore. It smells like strawberries mixed with brett and something almost oaked.
Taste is somewhat tart with a hint of ginger then goes towards caramel malt and some vegetal aspect. There is a noticeable alcohol warmth to it and the faintest smoked aspect is still present when searching for it but if you wernt aware it was previously there you might not even notice, its that faint now.
Wow, I almost wish I segregated all my 2012 bottles from the mishap era so I could revisit another one to see if its just this bottle/batch or if others from that time period are taking a turn for being awesome also.
Most recent batch, bottles June 2019. First Fantome I’ve opened in a LONG time with zero carb. Nose is apple cider vinegar, black pepper, and flowers. Taste thankfully isn’t vinegar, but being dead flat it’s just flabby and watery. Dry, bitter and not much yeast characteristics. Tastes like if you left an ipa out all night.
Hoping this is just an off bottle since I was excited for a new batch. It’s been what, 5 years since this has been made?
White cap w overlapping labels saison. No BBD.
While it certainly tastes older and is sweeter there’s also a bright fruit juice tartness. Like apple cider and maybe orange juice. Fruity candi sugar and some of those nice (but also restrained) peppery spices tômes used to have. Low carbonation but creamy. I love finding dusty old Fantome bottles around. Always exciting.
Picked this up tonight at a local store
How old is this?
Lot dm13 best before end 2016
How old is this?
Lot dm13 best before end 2016
Stakem
Tômester
Most likely the 2013 batch.Picked this up tonight at a local store
How old is this?
Lot dm13 best before end 2016
But ya know its always possible that labels were reused and not updated with that BB info.
Anybody else try? Thoughts?
Straight West Ghostin’ - a collab with Polymath Brewing. I believe it’s a citra hopper classic saison.
My impression was positive. It’s very dry with classic Belgian spice and bitterness. No juicy hip characteristics one might expect if they hear it has Citra in it. Yeast was clean, herbal and biscuit-y. Not much ester but there’s definitely a booziness to it.
Straight West Ghostin’ - a collab with Polymath Brewing. I believe it’s a citra hopper classic saison.
My impression was positive. It’s very dry with classic Belgian spice and bitterness. No juicy hip characteristics one might expect if they hear it has Citra in it. Yeast was clean, herbal and biscuit-y. Not much ester but there’s definitely a booziness to it.
Gold cap. Lot B2 A 2012. BB 2016.
Aroma of rubber glove. Tasteful black pepper and cooling spices. Tons of tropical fruit flavored candi sugar? A bit of an acidic edge and a pronounced maltiness. Lower carb but that’s ok. Killer bottle of Pissenlit.
Stakem
Tômester
Most recent batch, bottles June 2019. First Fantome I’ve opened in a LONG time with zero carb. Nose is apple cider vinegar, black pepper, and flowers. Taste thankfully isn’t vinegar, but being dead flat it’s just flabby and watery. Dry, bitter and not much yeast characteristics. Tastes like if you left an ipa out all night.
Hoping this is just an off bottle since I was excited for a new batch. It’s been what, 5 years since this has been made?
Arrived yesterday and was immediately placed into the fridge for consumption last night.
As you can see, mine was adequately carbonated and taste was much different from what you described.
This had some hints of fruited quality I really enjoy in Fantome and then it got excessively bitter and clashing with the young yeasty “typical belgian character” I dont like in Fantomes. Very much a belgian ipa that tasted like grapefruit juice/pith was added to it and was in no way, shape or form reminiscent of any batch of Ete ive had from the past.
Stakem
Tômester
Anybody else try? Thoughts?
Straight West Ghostin’ - a collab with Polymath Brewing. I believe it’s a citra hopper classic saison.
My impression was positive. It’s very dry with classic Belgian spice and bitterness. No juicy hip characteristics one might expect if they hear it has Citra in it. Yeast was clean, herbal and biscuit-y. Not much ester but there’s definitely a booziness to it.
Similar overall taste descriptors as yours but I have nothing positive to say about it. The trend of over-hopped, excessively bitter and typical belgian “clean” yeastiness continues.
Stakem
Tômester
Points awarded here for it not following suit of being yeasty and excessively bitter.
It smells like chai tea and oregano. The taste was ummmm vegetal, malty and pine-like.
I shared this beer with 2 friends whom I have never seen drain pour a beer, they both contemplated doing so with this one.
I dug into some couple year old bottles last night in the form of Ghost Turtle and Gunpowder Mild. I remember thinking Ghost Turtle was super lavender-y when it was fresh, but this bottle was straight limeade with maybe the tiniest hint of lavender if I really looked for it. Really tasty. Gunpowder gushed a tiny bit, and tasted like bretty rooibos tea with tons of berry flavor. Also very enjoyable. Didn't bother to take pictures, no regrets.
Points awarded here for it not following suit of being yeasty and excessively bitter.
It smells like chai tea and oregano. The taste was ummmm vegetal, malty and pine-like.
I shared this beer with 2 friends whom I have never seen drain pour a beer, they both contemplated doing so with this one.
I'm kind of intrigued by this one. The others sound like a bummer, but I'll probably bite the bullet and get one of each sooner or later.
Got in to this over the Christmas holiday. The smell was not the best but the taste was amazing - strawberry, pineapple, grapefruit, lime, feta cheese, barnyard funk. The carb was phenomenal too. Just a fantastic experience.
BigFrank
Forbidden Chicharron
Keep hearing criticism about the last couple years of Tomes. Has Dany ever responded or explained recent changes?It’s like Dany, or more likely his assistant, just learned about the IBU wars from a decade ago and is now determined to win. Hopslam is Sarah Conner, and this is the Terminator:
Stakem
Tômester
A few of us have tried to tactfully question him and Mike as to why things are so different. Communication with Dany is tricky but Mike’s communication is excellent.
I firmly believe things have changed drastically since they replaced brewing equipment and did a “deep cleaning” of the brewery. Whatever the new system is, I think it is either more efficient at utilizing hops or isnt as efficient at malt extraction which is whats making it seem like they are adding a ton more bittering hops then ever before. Additionally, the yeast strain they have been favoring lately is really drying out the beer leaving nothing behind but yeast derived phenolics and the hop bitterness. In years past, Fantomes never tasted like the typical “belgian yeast” profile and now seemingly all of them do. The Fantome “house character” of brett/other wild critters is absent save for 1 or 2 offerings out of dozens of batches.
I dont want to point fingers and blame Mike but it seems the beers that he has “taken the wheel on and brewed” have been atypical of anything Dany has released in 30 years. (Single hopped, dry hopped, cherry porter, gruit and now a friggen imperial stout - all within a year or 2.)
Almost a decade ago, I told Dany that some batches of surlie, Ete, Sante 15, Blanche (at that time as all versions since have been mutated) and Sante 3 were amongst my favorite beers I have ever drank. They all were so light, refreshing and tart that it was almost as if he did a Fantasmic version of a berliner weisse. He told me Fantome would never brew a berliner weisse, Fantome is saison.
My how things have changed.