Fantôme Brise-BonBons!

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

Pours a clear golden amber, like a light apple juice color, topped by a couple inches of sudsy white foam. Good head retention, decent webby lacing. Fairly effervescent beer. Candy apple fruit and caramel malt in the aroma. From a Fantome? Oh goodness... Mild tartness, not as funky as a normal Fantome (as if there is such a thing), and balanced by sweet caramel malt. The tartness wins out in the finish, where it is accompanied by dark honey and a hint of peppery spice. Spicy and grassy hop presence - this is nicely bitter. Medium body, softly carbonated, very soft mouthfeel.

750 ml bottle from Sam’s in Chicago. Hazy golden yellow colour with a mostly lasting thick, creamy, and fizzy off-white head. Very pleasant floral, toasty, lightly spicy, farmy, candyish, and yeasty aroma. Fruity, yeasty, tart, and citric tangy flavours balanced with a pleasant lingering dry floral bitterness. Light to medium bodied, dry and refreshing mouthfeel. Incredibly drinkable, much like Pissenlit. I didn’t find this to be all that bitter, as per the description, just another wonderful adventure in a bottle from Fantome. Does that make me a Brise-BonBons?

Pours bright gold into a tulip. Bright white head recedes to skim rim. Earth and biscuit aromas. Hops front to back.

A light saison colour with little white head. A saison aroma bit also cidry. Higher carbonation than I am used to from Fantome. Bitter, sour, acidic, coriander. Drinkable but not as good nor common as I have come to expect from fantome. Bold in your face as always though. Drying finish.Thanks Viggo.

The front label on this green bomber of this Fantôme did not feature the signature ghost. Instead a Sumo wrestler speaking French was shown. The back label did feature the ghost beside the product description. he beer pored out clear, golden, and only had a medium sized head despite using a Duvel tulip. The lacing however was quite good. The smell was classic Saison with a mingling of the aromas of funky brettanomyces, earthy yeast, and biscuity malt. However there was also a faint whiff of hops in the air. The taste was smooth and mellow, and seemed simple at first, until I tried to peel apart the layers. The cohesive flavor was comprised of sweet, sour, bitter, and earthy elements in a delicate balance. Farmhouse origins were clear in the rough hewn oak flavor and bracing sourness. Unlike most other Saisons, there was little spiciness here. Instead of that the balance was achieved by muted but noticeable hop presence. Not as bracingly hoppy as the American interpretation of the style, but a lot drier than those beers, so the hops were more noticeable here that they otherwise would have been. Not quite a ball-breaker the label promised, but a fantastic beer anyway. Only downside was the thin body. A couple of more percent ABV would have made this that much more memorable.

Hazed pale orange, brobdignagian bone-white froth, slowly settling. Funky fresh aroma. Tart. Fruity. Lemons and apricots. Ginger and pepper. Smooth entry on the palate, though the taste is entirely an odd animal here, utterly quixotic. A crazychop blend of spices and fruits, tart and sweet, zesty and tangy, and altogether refreshing. Bracing bitterness, who knows how much hops, swirling into the combined effect of all these other flavors. Taste again: sweet, then sour, then mellow, fading, but citrus kick hanging on and lessening some...taste again: soft, sour, spicy, orange, mellow, cool, yum... Taste again: lemon and spice, and super smooth. A masterful, flavoful brew. A nice time spent with a bottle of Belgian beer.

Lemon, earthy, and flowery aroma. The appearance is cloudy-yellow/orange witha medium head. Medium palate. Their is a citrus flavor in the back of your mouth surrounded by some nice light earthy flavors. Very easy to drink.

Bottle: Clear golden color with a white head. Aroma, funky, some lemon, yeast. Flavor, tart with some light mustiness, a little bready. Pretty solid stuff.