Fantôme Magic Ghost - Brasserie Fantôme

lanbewardin

Belgium

3.95/5  rDev -6.4%
look: 5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

This beer is a trip!
I thought I was buying just a seasonal fantome saison and ended up with this pea green liquid haha.

Looks: Pea green , a bit of off green head, kind of gimmicky, feels like its st patricks day, but I like it.

Smell: grassy, bananas, floral, some cherry maybe

Taste: I can taste the green tea a bit, floral, some cough syrup, sorta sour, I think the green tea is the predominant flavor, been a while since Ive had green tea though,

Mouthfeel: low-medium carbonation, very smooth, very drinkable, surprised that it was 8%, feels much lower

Overall: its very good, Probably will restock this weekend. I prefer a couple other of the fantomes over this, but this is pretty interesting and I would love to have it again.

Serving type: bottle

07-29-2011 17:25:48 | More by lanbewardin

dsgolovin

California

4.22/5  rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

App- Pours with a good amount of carbonation and leaves nice lacing

Smell- Funky saison with green tea

Taste- The green tea really enhanced this saison, rounding out flavors. It's sweet without being cloying. Barnyard, but in a good way. Would be fantastic on a hot day.

Mouthfeel- Well carbonated and goes down easy

Overall- Really enjoyed this beer. Think i'll pick up a few more bottles before it disappears, no pun intended.

Serving type: bottle

07-27-2011 22:33:59 | More by dsgolovin

Trilogy31

California

3.85/5  rDev -8.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Hard to rate as its a one of a kind. Pours completely a hazy green vegetable puree with a white finger of foam leaving little lacing. The nose follows the taste with heavy vegetal/herbal notes, grenadine and wild flower/weedy notes. The taste and mouthfeel is more of the samd and almost comes across as a sour. Nicely done but not to be tried again at $16 per bottle.

Serving type: bottle

07-27-2011 05:33:22 | More by Trilogy31

FosterJM

California

4.25/5  rDev +0.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

686th Review on BA
Bottle to Flute
750 ML

Thanks to jbtice0315 @ Clusterfork #6

App- Holy hell batman, It's green! Pours like a unripe pear with a nice little one finger head and a bunch of cling on the glass.

Smell- Its a saison all right, classic scents with a bit of dampness and a special belgian yeast. A little sugary as well with some grassy/floral notes.

Taste- A lot like a base Fantome but kicked a notch with the addition of some tea leaves. A nice balanced flavor with some floral notes and that lovely yeast strand.

Mouth- Light to medium bodied and almost high carbonted. Leaves a faint yeast.

Drink- As always Fantome comes out in spades. A nice beer with a lot going on and is quite different. I didnt see this around in So. Cal. Maybe I just didnt look hard enough.

Serving type: bottle

07-26-2011 03:29:29 | More by FosterJM

illidurit

California

3.68/5  rDev -12.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

750 mL bottle shared at the July Santa Cruz tasting. Pours an absurd unnatural green - fluorescent lime/ecto cooler to be exact - with a small white head. Aroma is lemons and limes, or lemon-lime soda, with some coriander and clove. Flavor is key lime, green tea, lemon candy, ginger, orange peel. A ludicrous beer.

Serving type: bottle

07-24-2011 08:21:42 | More by illidurit

claytong

Vermont

4.55/5  rDev +7.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

appearance - lime green with small fizzly head that dissipates pretty quickly leaving some lacing.

smell - pear dominates and green tea comes in with a bit of other herbs and spices

taste - where is the pear? getting green tea in strong, citrus is a nice edition, just not what i expected after the nose. quite a bit of lemongrass as well.

mouthfeel - champagne. dry finish, crisp and well carbonated, light bodied and beautiful.

Serving type: bottle

07-24-2011 07:02:19 | More by claytong

gford217

Georgia

3.8/5  rDev -10%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

750ml bottle.

Holy shit, I had no idea it was going to pour like this...lime green with a off-white/green head that leaves some lime-colored lacing and a small cap. I have never seen a beer like this...ever.

Aroma brings me back to reality and expectations a bit. It's got the nice earthy, grassy Fantome character with some green tea and light herbs and spices. There is also an overall grainy character to the nose.

The taste has more of a zing than the aroma would suggest. The green tea is more pronounced, as is the Belgian yeast with the grassy notes taking on a bit of acidity which definitely didn't come through in the nose. The finish is green tea and light sweet fruits and malts.

The mouthfeel is light and effervescent and pleasantly prickly.

This is another curveball saison thrown by Fantome. The color is shocking, which the nose is a little more subtle. The taste brings back some shock value with the green tea coming through. Overall, it's not my favorite from Fantome, but it's still better than most.

Serving type: bottle

07-24-2011 02:43:06 | More by gford217

Beerenauslese

California

4.85/5  rDev +14.9%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Body is a hazy, light pastel green. The only green beer I've ever seen without adding woodruff syrup or green food coloring. A perfect pastel green color for Easter but it would work well for St. Patrick's Day too. Head poured to a half inch lasts quite awhile, and is regenerated with swirling, leaving lots of little clouds of lacing.

Smells of green tea, malt, candi sweetness (as in a lollipop), and spices--probably coriander and ginger.

Tastes delightful. On the front palate, malt and green tea--which go together delightfully--midpalate is delightfully lemony acidic, with a little backdrop of malt sugar, back palate is a little dry and just slightly tannic from the green tea with a bit of a spice burn on the tongue. Just a delightful taste experience. Yet this definitely has the saison profile, especially the Fantôme yeast.

Body is medium as is the carbonation, and produces a nice substantial creamy mouthfeel as a saison should.

Overall, it is the weirdest saison I've ever set eyes or mouth to, but another splendid contribution from Fantôme. How many ways can Fantôme spell saison? This is a very good beer to pair with food. I had this with a dinner of grilled steelhead trout and gingered carrots, and I was very pleased how it all went together. The acid cuts through the fish fats while the ginger blended well with the sweet gingered carrots, held in balance by the lemon acidity of the beer. I wouldn't drink a whole 750 ml bottle of this all by itself without some food pairing, but you could twist my arm.

Serving type: bottle

07-22-2011 04:39:25 | More by Beerenauslese

DaveHS

California

4.47/5  rDev +5.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

A- Hazy aloe vera green with about an inch of brilliant white head. Reduces over a minute or so, leaving no lacing.

S-Similar to the regular Fantome Saison, but a little less herbaceous. I don't specifically smell green tea, but there is a faint whiff of leafy, vegetal something or other in there.

T/M-Appropriately bizarre for Fantome, and yet it all comes together in such a harmonious way.The green tea, though understated, comes through just enough to provide a fascinating counterflavor to the signature funk of the Fantome saison yeast. There's also a lemony tartness that comes in mid-palate, providing a temporary change of tone from the earthy funk, but that lasts only a moment. The finish is yeasty and slick, with the most subtle hint of tea bitterness and aloe.

O-Wow. Another winner from Fantome. Don't be turned off by the appearance, this stuff is serious business.

Serving type: bottle

07-16-2011 03:45:45 | More by DaveHS

womencantsail

California

4.13/5  rDev -2.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Thanks to Richard for sharing this interesting beer.

A: The pour on this beer is an alluring bright yet hazy green with a small, light green/white head.

S: Some tea is certainly noticeable on the nose, which is quite interesting. A fairly heavy hand on the spice notes and a mild which consists of mostly funk and straw. A light floral note as well as some cracker and bready malts.

T: I was sort of surprised by the amount of green tea flavor this has. There is a mild sweetness or bread and malt. A sort of unexpected acidity comes through on the back end and give some apple and lemon zest flavors.

M: The body is medium with carbonation on the higher side of medium.

O: With the amount of unknowns that go into drinking a Fantome beer, I was hesitant to get excited about this. Luckily, it really impressed me and I found it to be a great beer.

Serving type: bottle

07-11-2011 18:17:06 | More by womencantsail

GRG1313

California

4.8/5  rDev +13.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

I picked up two bottles of Fantome Magic Ghost. Big mistake...I should have picked up as many as I could! I'm not reviewing many beers here, only the really great and perhaps the really bad.

This one may well be my favorite Fantome. My favorite,....not the best since I don't even know what that means when talking about beer...it is, however, my favorite.

I also suspect it's my favorite since it's relatively new, I'm told, and just full of fresh, full, floral, assertive and wonderful character in all respects.

Color is the only crazy thing about it. Green. Yes, it's made with green tea. And, it's green. I heard that food color was added but I don't know if it's true or urban legend at this point. Suffice it to say it's green. No head.

Nose is pure floral, elegant and fruity green tea and sweet pepper/tea elegance. The fruit tones and sweet floral quality are just really inviting and full of perfume.

Mouthfeel is medium but fresh and with light carbonation. The mouthfeel has one of my favorite characteristics in that it feels "bright" and fresh in the mouth. It is uplifting and exciting in the mouth, almost inviting one to gulp.

Flavors profile is sensational. I've only just learned that the proper way to make green tea is to use only warm water - not hot water. I'm told that in Japan those in the know actually use water that is only as hot as body temperature. In that way, one gets the fresh, elegant, sweet, floral and perfumy character of green tea. I've learned that the tannic bitterness characteristic in some green tea is that the tea is actually burned by the hot water.

Well, Fantome makes great green tea! Clearly. This beer demonstrates a flavor profile of "properly brewed" green tea. The green tea flavors are just bursting and fresh. There is a floral, perfume sweet green tea character all around with none of the bitter or tannic character.

Finish is likewise elegant, fruity albeit short.

A complete winner. One of the few brews where I'm really regretting not getting more bottles when I had the chance. One left and it will be consumed soon, fresh, at an upcoming beer tasting. Aging will only take this wonderful fresh, sweet, elegant perfume out of the beer. I'll not age this one. I'll drink as many bottles as I can find.

Serving type: bottle

06-29-2011 05:05:40 | More by GRG1313

muttyd

Massachusetts

4.03/5  rDev -4.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Picked up 2x 750 ml bottles today. Aging one, drinking one today. As mentioned by the other reviewers, this beer pours a hazy lime green with a massive soapy white head. Sticks all over the glass as I swirl it around.

Aroma consists of yeast funk, pepper, lemon, and green tea. Some other earthy, spicy characters in the nose as well, but not easily described. Flavor has a sweet malty/grainy backbone with other flavors following the nose; lemon zest, orange, ginger and green tea. Finish is rather tart and dry. Bubbly on the tongue with a rather light, refreshing body. Very different but enjoyable brew.

Serving type: bottle

06-19-2011 01:23:48 | More by muttyd

Phyl21ca

Quebec (Canada)

4/5  rDev -5.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Bottle: Poured a bright clear green (?) color ale with a huge bubbly pure white foamy head with good retention and minimal lacing. Aroma consists of light green tea notes and loads of ginger – very reminiscent of ginger ale. Taste is also a very unique mix of ginger and green tea with semi-sweet Belgian malt base. Body is quite full with a very spritzy-like carbonation and no apparent alcohol. This one is quite unique (like a few other beers form this brewer) and something I would like to have occasionally again.

Serving type: bottle

04-26-2011 02:40:31 | More by Phyl21ca

Mora2000

Texas

4.22/5  rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

First one to rate this beer, interesting. Always happy to try a new Fantome beer.

Tried from a 750 ml bottle that was recently shared by bu11zeye. The beer pours a hazy green color with a white head. One of the few beers that is truly green colored, I guess this comes from the green tea that the beer is brewed with.

The aroma is very nice. I get a lot of wheat and lemon notes, as I expected, but I also get some green tea. Very interesting.

The flavor is more of the same. Green tea and oranges dominate the flavor with some wheat hiding in the background. There are also some pepper and tannin (from the green tea) notes and the beer is slightly sour with a little bit of funk.

Medium mouthfeel and medium carbonation.

Serving type: bottle

04-24-2011 02:11:15 | More by Mora2000