Fantôme BBB Babillard

Lustrous hazy tangerine. Thick, creamy, and pasty, dusty-white head. Alluring soft aroma of musty cellar and herbs. There’s plenty of peachy esters to go along with the soil, rose petals, lemon and that addictive chalky Fantôme yeast backbone. Very faint wood and sweet malt wafts. Tight, yet explosive carbonation sharpens the soft body. Opens with a tart and chalky attack, which gains support from an airy underlay and gives way to dried apricot and a glimpse of cookieish malt sweetness. Grassy, herbal bitterness commences at mid-stage, while subtle phenols arise to complement the dryness, tangerine notes, and flowery hops. Peach-tart and musty yeast return to balance the mustiness and tartness long after the swallow. Yeast poor adds more mustiness and amplifies the herbal tones and peachy esters. Just another Fantôme beauty.

Beautiful copper hue with large frothy white head and excellent lace. The aroma hints of sourdough, hayfield, earthy and barnyard yeast esters, apple and pears, cinnamon and white pepper, and oak wood. The taste starts malty and yeasty, chalky and dry. The sour apple and spicecake undertone. The touch of bitterness and wood about the finish. The mouthfeel is light and lively, but has a fullness about the finish, strange but cool. Astringent upon completion of drinking. Nice depth of character, no one thing stands out. Balance is very good for style, very quaffable indeed. Thanks MattA for the bottle many moons ago. Highly recommended!

75cl Capped and corked bottle no date Cork really popped on this one. Poured a slightly hazy tangerine orange color with a thick head which died rapidly leaving a thin white layer floating atop. Fantastic aroma is spicy whith clove in the foreground and offering notes of sweet bready malt and belgian yeast. Has a slight mustiness also which adds to the complexity. This is one of those special ales that can really stimulate your senses. The yeast is really coming to the nose at it warms. Medium bodied and the mouthfeel is smooth with an airy like quality as if it's floating in your mouth. Finishes crisp with no aftertase. Flavor is a bit tart with yeast and malt practically in sync with each other. Some sour fruit, green apples, pepper and caramel also come to mind. Overall a great Saison.

Pours a slightly hazy copper orange with a fluffy bone-colored lacey head. Wonderful floral, Belgian malty, estery, yeasty, and semi-tart aroma. Body is full and sweet, with some musty yeast character, caramel, and sour cherries. Good crisp, clean warming finish. An excellent saison, thanks BierBauch!

Beautiful appearance, ruby gold color with lots of thick head and thin silky lacing, just the right amount of carbonation for the style too. The aroma is very mild, but with notes of green apples, yeast, and lightly tart with yeast. The flavor is very well rounded with some nice citrus notes and a light fruity/yeast finish. This is a good saison, but there's something missing here that makes it an average saison for me.

Hazy amber with reddish tints. Huge foamy white head and nice lacing. Big aroma. Yeast/bread. Sour fruit, maybe apples or pears. Floral aroma of hops. Some spices, hard to tell. Complex flavors flood the mouth. Tart flavors of fruit again. Smaller yeast than in the aroma. Just a bit of earthiness there at the end. Some malt in there as well. Fairly big body, a bit sticky of a palate, but not a detriment to the beer. Finishes tart and dry. Very nice. Thanks Matt!

Peach sunset. Thick, fluffy white head provides full sheets of lace. The aroma is sweet, fruity and spicy. Oh yeah, and its crazy as all hell. I have determined that my favorite puzzles in the world right now are Fantome beers. Just trying to decipher these beers is crazy fun. The fruitiness of the beer seems to be provide via Strawberry rhubarb pie and blood oranges. Cinnamon, ginger, dried flowers, alcohol, dough and countless other ingredients seem to be omnipresent. The beer warms with its strength, but does not offend. Subsequent pours add a yeasty darkness so thick, the beer actually absorbs light. The result seems to add more yeasty flavor, but also intensifies everything else. Wild berries, vanilla, slight hop bitterness. WIth only a few more of these, I might be convinced that there is no reason for me to start brewing beer unless I can learn from one Dany Prignon. Well, or at least visit his place and encounter his genius first-hand.

Peachy amber color with attractive white foam. Gentle kriek aroma, malty too, suggesting raisin, barleywine, and still-frozen french fries. Up-front there is the hint of a liquor, with a fruity base, warming alcohol, and a hint of grapefruit. Early on the finish had a citrus peel bitterness going on especially hard, but that mellowed quickly. And then the lambic musty quality emerged as it warmed. The palate remained good throughout while the sweetness built. Good, unsettling carbonation. All told, a confusing, weird, exciting beer. (on tap, Monk's, Philadelphia)