Fantôme Brise-BonBons!

Brewed by Brasserie Fantôme
Style: Saison
Soy-Erezée, Belgium

bottle. murky orange color. large head. lots of grain and bitterness in aroma as well as taste.

Bottled. Hazy orange golden in colour with a small white head. Kinda confusing with notes of dust, spices, mold, fruit and yeasts. Also some sour notes.

Bottle (Sune). Unclear orange - white head. Citrus, dusty, pepper, mould, fruity, yeast, very nice. Soft carbonated.

Thanx to Axilla for trading me this one. Pours a murky orange with a white head. Mellow smells of earth and alcohol. Slightly sour with dusty flavors of the old garret. Lively carbonation. Some sweetness in the back of the throat. Also hints of resin. Light to medium bodied. Very interesting.

Dense, very cloudy golden pour with heavy sedimentary particles and thick linear lacing reaching to the top of the glass. The head is tall and steadfast, porous and audibly fizzy. Looks like a lemon cream milkshake. Aroma is redolent with the unmistakable blast of Fantome yeast, funky and musty. Heavy earthy hoppiness is seemlessly blended with a towering measurement of citric and herbal sourness. My mouth is puckering before it ever crosses my lips. Peppery and mild berry esters are noted. Grassy tinges are present too, with the dominant note of hay sending this aroma right back around to the funkiness it started with; completion satisfactory. Flavor is yeasty, spicy and hoppy as well. Typical Fantome funk is turned up two notches in this offering. Additions of lemon zest and orange peel, white pepper in heavier amounts, grassiness that seems to smooth things out and slick, oily must. Flavor is very bitter, moderately spicy but never too much so, funky as can be imagined and penetrating with bold yeastiness. Finishes mildly sour, very full flavored and highly acidic, leaving faint bitter traces in the corners of my cheeks. . Palate is medium to medium-full, lively and remarkably balanced. A stellar offering from Fantome. As close as Dany has gotten to merging his unmistakable tasting saisons with the allure of the prickly lambics that share the same brewing region. Near genius.

1 year old bottle (mid 2006 import). Pours with a big head that fades fast, in a color (without the yeast) closer to gold than any beer I’ve yet seen. Fantomes famous yeast, of course, makes this the ugliest beer imaginable, which is always a site to behold. At first the hop aroma in this beer is intrusive and out of place, but as this warms and breathes it becomes very mellow and a wonderful compliment to the beer. Spices are present, in the form of black pepper, coriander, lemon zest. Very mellow flavor, balanced spiciness and warm, chewy malts, incredibly drinkable at 8%. I wouldn’t have guessed a spec over 6. Slight sour fruit notes are noticable, but overall this is a big, chewy saison, hardly delicate but not a brick, either. Another winner from Fantome.

Courtesy of Moejuck. Pours amber with a thin white head. Smells of grapes, lots of grass, hay, wildflowers, some peaches. Tastes of peaches, pepper, grass and very wheaty with some underlying smokiness.

Drank in a tulip. Cloudy orange poor very muddy like with a very persistant beige head. Aromas of humidity, ashes, very acidic (green apples), old gym socks with an odd sweet rhubarb twist. That WOW factor when you taste it. Not sure about its category but it tastes and smells somewhat like a good lambic. Flavors are like very wet gym socks (dongt ask me why i know this), ashes and a nice sweet twist, somewhat like the aromas. This is very unique and quite an experince to drink!