Fantôme de Noël

Brewed By: Brasserie Fantôme in Soy-Erezée, Belgium   

Purchased: 750ml bottle bought at Binny's in Naperville, IL; 201??? (pre-2013)

Style/ABV: Saison/Farmhouse Ale, 10.0%

Reported IBUs: ?

The best part about Fantôme is definitely the part where they don't date their beer bottles, so you have no idea what vintage you are drinking. I'm not even being sarcastic, it's all part of the mystery and intrigue. About Fantôme: 

Fantôme is a brewery based out of Soy, Wallonia, Belgium, that was founded in 1988 by the mad man and mastermind, Dany Prignon. The brewery is located in a crumbling farmhouse in the Marche-en-Famenne district of Luxembourg province, and Fantôme's beer just might be more popular in the United States than it is in Belgium. Dany brews one type of beer: Saisons/Farmhouse Ales. Each of his Saisons have a unique twist, and he often brews his beers using herbs, spices, juices, and other off-beat ingredients. Their website is so hardcore it only comes in French, but check it out anyway. 

The Fantôme de Noël is Dany's Christmas Ale, brewed with all sorts of weird spices and who knows what. This one has been sitting in my cellar for a few years now, so it has some age. This was also a beer that I picked up circa 2012, I think. The beer was on clearance at Binny's for a discount price, so this may be a 2011 Vintage or older.

Fantôme de Noël (after cleaning up the spilled beer on the counter)

At any rate, opening this bottle resulted in a gushing explosion that continued for quite some time. Nothing to see here, as the beer settles into a dark red body. There are a few fingers of dense, web-like head, and the head soaks up some of the reddish and amber tones. This beer is unfiltered with obvious yeast sediment floating around. The rising carbonation from the gushing bottle is impressive, as I had to pour quite a bit off to get it to stay in the bottle.

The aroma on this beer is magical barnyard and farmland like nothing I have smelled. This reminds me of some of Jolly Pumpkin's stuff, only much better. There is hay, grass, horse blanket, complex caramel notes, pineapple, sweet lemon, tropical fruit, light tartness, and tons of funk. Honestly, the aroma is divine.

This is impressively light, especially for 10%. It doesn't really conjure up images of Christmas, but it does taste like the Belgian countryside. Actually, this is pretty nuanced, with Orval-like Brett funk, pineapple, lemon funk, and notes of raisins and deeply melded caramel. As this warms up a bit, the funk gets all lemony, with wheat notes, intense Brett funk ala Orval, and some notes that suggest dry hops but at this age and time are probably Brett. The Brett notes in here are surprisingly friendly, with nice tropical-fruit and wheat and dry hop-like funk. This never goes full band-aids or butcher shop or leather. 

At 10.0%, this is dangerous stuff since it drinks like a 4.0% Farmhouse Ale. This is legit stuff...what all Saisons should strive to be. People give Jolly Pumpkin a lot of hate and shit, but their beers really do remind me of Fantôme at times, which is my shout out to the Midwest. At any rate, this is a medium-bodied, highly carbonated, refreshing beer. Palate depth is fantastic, with tons of body from what I assume are wheat malts, and tons of interesting funk from the dry hops and Brett. I can't confirm the dry hopping, but it tastes like a dry hopped Brett beer. Complexity might be the only knock against this beer....it's definitely simple in some respects. But isn't simple good? Sometimes, you just want a really well done Saison, and there is nothing quite like Fantôme on a good day.  

Rating: Above-Average (4.5/5.0 Untappd)

This is a Strong Above-Average. The complexity holds it back from busting out into that true divine beer status, but otherwise I have no complaints with this beer or this vintage at this time. This is one of the best Saisons I have had in a while, and I have to tip my fedora to Fantôme for being relatively available and awesome....even if their bottles gush and they are hit or miss. You could definitely pair this beer with your typical Saison pairings....chicken, squab, turkey, peppered potatoes, and rustic dishes...if you go more modern think of a leafy burger with cheese, or maybe some pickled things. Honestly though, if you are cracking a vintage 'tome, you should probably just kick back and enjoy the ride.

Random Thought: I think I paid like...10 bucks for this beer?

5 Rabbit Yodo Con Leche

Brewed By: 5 Rabbit Cerveceria in Bedford Park, IL  

Purchased: 750ml bottle bought at West Lakeview Liquors in Chicago, IL; 2014

Style/ABV: Spice/Herb/Vegetable Beer, 8.2%

Reported IBUs: 38

These Summer nights and running [X miles] followed by drinking [Y Imperial Stout] is apparently becoming a thing. And I'm okay with it. It's not like I just mowed a lawn. I swear...I still love wheat beers. About 5 Rabbit Cerveceria: 

5 Rabbit Cerveceria is an Illinois-based craft brewery launched in 2011. The brewery has a unique perspective, focusing on Latin-themed craft beer. The company is lead by CEO Andrés Araya, Creative Director Randy Mosher, and brewmaster (and former Goose Island employee) John J. Hall. For more info about the brewery, check out their Facebook or their website. 

The Yodo Con Leche is an "Imperial Porter brewed with milk caramel and Costa Rican Coffee" The bottle reads: 

"A Costa Rican slang term for coffee, "Yodo" means something rich, dark and intense-a perfect name for this distinctive beer. We use "Finca Agrícola Cafetal" coffee beans from Lourdes de Cirrí de Naranjo, Costa Rica, custom roasted by Gaslight Coffee Roasters for the freshest, smoothest flavor. We combine this with Argentine dulce de leche (milk caramel), three caramel malts, three dark malts including chocolate rye, and finally oatmeal, creating several layers of creamy chocolatey roasted character.""

Yeah, you read that right...this is a malt bomb, brewed with Costa Rican coffee. The exact malt bill includes 2-Row, Caramel, Roasted Wheat and Rye malts, and Patagonia C-120. This also has the Dulce de Leche (milk caramel) and Costa Rican coffee. The hops here include Pilgrim and Summit, and this one is finished with dem English yeasts. It sounds like the coffee is a late addition, post-fermentation, steeped in some of the beer and then blended into the final result. I'm excited, are you?

5 Rabbit Yodo Con Leche

In true Porter-but-not-Imperial-Stout fashion, this one pours into a mostly black and mostly opaque body, but in reality you catch some brown tones and this is slightly transparent around the edges. The beer kicks up a finger or two of mocha-brown, coffee-infused head. The beer generally looks the same in bright or low light. Head retention here is nice...courtesy of all the proteins and malts. Swirling the beer kicks up sex in the glass, and there's nice lacing and alcohol legs. It's a good looking beer...I say that rarely, so prepare your fap chamber.

Damn...I really love coffee beers. I can't emphasize that enough. Really, really, love coffee beers. This has sweet aromatics and with rich coffee overtones. It smells more like a coffee bean shop than a Starbucks, with sweet and earthy coffee beans emerging as the dominating aroma. I'm getting sweet, earthy coffee beans, mocha, huge espresso and coffee creamer (like the canned energy drink espresso), ash, and earthy hazelnut. This plays up the hazelnut as you sink into the aroma, and I'm getting a ton of vanilla and caramel sugars too. I'd say this aroma leans towards the sweeter, earthy, unprocessed side of coffee...and that's not a bad thing.

This is blissfully drinkable, and the flavors mirror the aroma with huge hazelnut, caramel, vanilla sweetness, earthy ash and ground coffee, raw coffee beans, and big espresso with creamer. At times this reminds me of chewing on a chocolate-dipped coffee bean, with hints of chocolate-caramel and caramel-vanilla sweetness. You have to wonder how this beer would taste aged in a barrel; preferably a bourbon barrel. Probably well, as I answer my own question. For whatever reason, this one avoids the lactose sugar notes...I'm getting a lot of sweetness here, but it's well balanced by measured levels of roast. This is truly a balanced, well-made beer.

I'm really surprised by the lack of love, hype, and reviews for this beer. Apparently no one gives a fuck about Randy Mosher's epic brewery thing, but whatever. This is a medium-bodied beer, but it is creamy and smooth...so smooth. This drinks like a Milk Stout in every way possible, and sort of rides the line between medium and full. I'm not getting any of the 8.2%, which is a good thing. Palate depth is great, especially for a Porter. And this is very complex. Really, this is one of the most memorable Porters I have had in recent memory. Up front: caramel sugars, sweet coffee, espresso, vanilla, creamer, mocha, hazelnut; the mids roll into huge hazelnut, with earthy and ashy coffee, caramel-vanilla, some roast; the back end trails with roast, more ashy/earthy coffee and coffee beans, and tons of lingering residual sugars. This is sticky and unashamed about it. It's basically a coffee Sweet Stout dubbed an Imperial Porter. Pretty good.

Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Strong Above-Average here...almost reaching that divine brew plateau. I'd have to revisit this to commit to a divine brew rating, but this is clearly one of the best things that 5 Rabbit has made. I do recommend seeking this out if you can find it on the shelves. There's not much else to say...I think you could pair this with burgers, coffee-braised beef or pork, pork chops, gamy meets, and maybe even some Thai or Indian food. The sweeter notes in this beer seem like they'd compliment a curry dish. Obviously this would work with chocolate desserts, vanilla ice cream, or breakfast as well.

Random Thought: I should probably mention that I will be going to graduate school soon...within the next two months. How that will effect my blogging or beer purchasing remains to be seen, but what is for sure is that I'll be on a tighter budget. It may be back to 6-packs and the occasional bomber. I can't say I'm thrilled about that, but I'm not even 1000 beers into my beer-drinking journey. I have so much to learn, still. So much to see. I doubt I am going to be bored with beer anytime soon...even boring shelf turds. But stay tuned, I guess.