Fantôme La Dalmatienne

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Thankfully a beer named Dalmatian doesn't pour out white with black spots. A nice reddish-brown beer with an earthy musky aroma as well as grains. Flavour is quite funky...a good deal of yeast is present as well as some acidic notes

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 6

Shared bottle at RBNAG 2011. Murky brown colour, large off-white head. Special aroma, notes of farmhouse, wood and ripe berries. The flavour has the same elements as the aroma.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Bottled (from Cracked Kettle). Ambery golden colour with big white fluffy head that vanishes into a mediumsized creamy/bubbly thing. Some lace. Aroma is orange, peach, spices (a.o. pepper) as well as quite earthy. Flavour is fruityness, some barnyard, toffee, cream and mild notes of yeast and spices. Very well balanced brew. Long aftertaste of yeast, fruits and mild notes of spices.

Aroma: 10 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Bottle: Poured a deep cloudy orangey color ale with a huge foamy head with perfect retention and great lacing. Aroma is lightly sour with typical funkyness from Fantome. Mix of orange and fruity ester with a light spicy yeast and a tart aftertaste. Full body with limited filtration and great carbonation with no signs of alcohol showing up. Quite unique like so many beer from this brewery and somewhat indescribable but still lacking a little something to makes it truly great.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

This saison pours an orange gold color from a 750ml bottle. Small to medium sized white foamy head. The aroma is fruity, yeasty and sweet. Lots of orange and peach. A medium bodied saison. The malts are fruity (peaches and orange) and sweet. Spicy and yeasty. The spices balance the sweetness nicely. Mouthfeel is full. Finish is clean and crisp. Aftertaste is slightly sweet and yeasty.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Pours with a slightly cloudy, brownish-orange body topped by a thick lasting head with some lacing left behind. It’s sweet, malty and grassy with a nice spiciness and good honey notes. Light bodied, dry and crisp.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 9

Served at about 58°F, the beer is a slow gusher that I was able to get into my glass before I lost any beer. The head, despite a very careful pour, slowly rises to five-finger in height and is a tan color with specs of dark yeast / particulates on it. The beer is quite clear, at least the liquid portions of it, which shows a pale reddish color when held up to the light, but there is also a ton of chunks floating around in the brew. This has quite a spicy nose to it and this mixes in well with interesting malt notes. Aromatic notes of clove, corn tortillas, spicy ginger, crushed caramel malts, oregano, a touch of sage, black pepper, some cardamom, milkweed, and a green vegetal note towards the end as well as some warming alcohol aromatics. Malt aromatics of soda crackers, fruity caramel notes and grassy grain are all noticeable. There is also a fair amount of fruit aromatics noticeable; I get notes of pears, apples, figs and some berry notes. As usual with a Fantôme brew, this has a very complex, layered aroma to it.

The carbonation has died down quite a bit and the beer now has a creamy texture to it that goes along with a fruit laden sweetness. Fruit notes of ripe plums, star fruit (that is at times striking), brandy soaked raisins and apple butter are all quite noticeable. The up front fruit notes are offset somewhat (but never really suppressed) by a spicy middle and finish that brings to mind flavors of white pepper, cloves, . Herbal notes of milkweed, perhaps a touch of green grass and a touch of sharp basil also add some sharpness and balance to the brew as does some sharp higher alcohol notes.

Towards the end of my first glass a sip gets a little chunky, but does not seem to effect the flavor all that much. The second pour is a bit more yeasty, both with a murky appearance and a yeast-like flavor to it. A touch more bready, but also a touch more herbal / vegetal in the finish, but on the other hand it has softened overall.

Another fantastic creation by Brasserie Fantôme. The texture of this brew is quite exquisite, despite being on the heavy side for a Saison and the distinct green, weed-like herbal note in the finish provides a nice balancing note to the heft and fruit sweetness. If this one starts to go sour it could reach phenomenal heights; even still, this is another home run, a fantastic creation, one which I will most definitely have to age a few of. One thing that does leave me wanting; what is the story behind this brew? I would really like to know why / what / how this brew came into being.

Purchased From: Plaza Liquors, Tucson AZ