Fantôme Brise-BonBons!

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

Bottle, courtesy of boboski. Pours a hazy golden/amber with a fuzzy smallish white head, leaves tons of streaks of lacing down the glass. On the nose, there is apples, some toasty malt, spicy/earthy hops, that minty Fantome funk. Flavor has some apples, a nice underlying earthy bitterness, funky and slightly tart, a bit dusty and spicy. Nicely dry, nice bitter crisp finish, lush carbonation, just a gorgeous finish to wonderful glass. Probably from the age on this bottle, the hops aren’t over-the-top in the aroma, but the solid drying bitterness plus the lush carb from the brett really round this beer out nicely.

after talking with one of the fellas at knightly spirits orlando, they revealed one remaining bottle of this stuff, aged 1-2 years in their cellar. color leans more toward clouded burnt orange then the expected yellow. scent is sharp enough to clear my nasal passages. flavor is heavenly! mellow bitterness, with only bare bones yeast. not a total dry finish, my tounge remains slightly coated with sizzling goodness. nearly reminscent of blood oranges or other bitter citrus in aftertaste

750ml Bottle: Aroma of spices, yeast, cardboard, and some Brett. Poured amber/brown/orange in color with a tiny, fizzy, off-white head that disappeared immediately. Opaque. Sparkling. Full of small particles. Lightly sweet flavor. Tastes of acid, spices, citrus, and dust. Light to medium body. Thin, watery texture. Soft to average carbonation. Lightly dry, spiced finish.

750 ml. into wine glass for lack of tulip. Nice hazy golden/orange color with a minimal (1/4 inch) white head that actually lasted and laced better than I expected. Light aroma of citrus lemon and yeast. The flavor is bitter and sour and lemony and yeast and flowery with great balance. The finish has lots of cereal notes too. Not overly funky just to be funky but with a nice funky sour backbone. Alcohol is hidden unbelievably well. It is light bodied but with a somewhat thick and coating consistency that lingers after the swallow, and yet the finish is still pretty dry... its hard to explain but undoubtedly unique.

A straw-dandelion yellow pour; lightly misty. Spicy, pungent ginger aroma and a flaky, soft pastry-like sweetness. Citrus rinds, lemon pepper and some salt; a mexican style farmhouse aroma. Pretty wild at that turn, but oppositely biscuit-soft and somewhat tame in sweetness, if nuanced. Lemon curd. Soft honey. And a dusty bed of flowers. Powdered wheat. Almost flour-like. The signature craziness of the fantome aroma is only lightly engraved, and it is otherwise cleanly marked by pure pale malts and crispy wheat; it works, with invigorating freshness.

Bitterness is minerals and citrus zests in the flavor; again, soft and pillowy, seemingly never even considering the astringency of a light, green-hop driven beer, which was somewhat anticipated here. The characteristic herbal bitterness is smooth and muted, though sparkling with flavor; chamomile, tarragon, lime rind, cilantro; and it’s all wrapped up seamlessly in the cleanness of the pale malts. A plucky, sweet mid palate of white wine and honey, that gathers an imposing white peppery spiciness; farmlike and with a musty springtime dirtiness; it tastes like the sweetness of new flowers pushing through the old soils. Perfumey and again salty near the finish, pushing a waft of pungent, lightly tart vegetable spiciness up the nose. It’s hard to describe, but that’s close.

Medium-full palate, sprightly, and very dry, especially at the end; sourdough, leafiness, asian spices, and citrus rinds puckering with clean acidity. The intense hay and herb-like bitterness that distantly extends, blending with the pungency of tart-salty spices, and with the creamy tempering of the yeast, conjures a somewhat avante garde vision of the expectant qualities of this style. And it paints it carefully. Awesome.

pours a hazy light amber with a tight creamy white head. Aroma is fruity, white grape juice, soft orange peel, spicy yeast presence and a slightly woody hop aroma. Bitter flavour but a soft mouthfeel. a slightly dry white wine tone. Low key earthy spice. Some sourness in the finish but not overpowering or lingering..no hint of alc either. Very interesting.

I’m wondering if my bottle was starting to go bad....? Orange pour, nice head and lacing. Spicy nose. This beer was bold citrus orange malty tartness and a punch packing sour finish. I don’t see so much sour mentioning in the other reviews. Even so (?), I enjoyed it, my dad enjoyed it. I’m going to have to try to come back to this someday, though.

Pours cloudy with sweet apple, light yeast aroma and flavors. Dry yet smooth finish.