Fantôme Brise-BonBons!

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

Nice golden yellow color with a frothy white head, great retention and lacing. Aroma was slightly tart with some lemon zest to it, but don’t you worry, there’s more, you better believe there’s more. Aroma is simply remarkable, cracked peppercorn, fresh bread, hay, some kind of flower I can’t name, and beyond those, I’m not sure if I’m able to put into words what I notice. Taste has some tartness to it, just the right amount of it too. Many of the aromas are echoed in the taste with just a slightly spicier finish. Less than medium bodied, but not thin, carbonation was on the high side. Amazing beer. I need more.

750 ml split in Duvel glass. Pale straw with lasting head and lace. Lemon bread and spice aroma. Medium lemon tart yeasty sweet fruitiness with citrus bitterness and very dry finish. Medium-light body, especially for abv, medium carbo. Complex refreshing and delicious. I had never tried it before and I absolutely love it. One of my favorite beers in one of my favorite styles.

Bottle from Union Jack’s, Boyertown. Pours turbid copper/dark straw colored, with medium, white head. Complex aroma of Brett, female taint, fruit, hopcit. Tastes citrusy, hoppy, Bretty, with some earthy peat esters and cobwebby malt in the finish. The palate is very velvety, with a solid heft and great balance. This one is outstanding.

Pours a hazy orange color with a gorgeous fluffy white head that eventually sits on top of the beer like a dollop of whipped cream. Extremely hoppy nose, almost IPA like with hints of citrus along with the usual Fantome funkiness that we all love. Flavor is heavily bitter at the start before giving way to a creamier earthy finish. Absolutely spectacular.

What a great name for a beer "ball-breakers." A quality, well balanced saison....beautiful cloudy golden, yeasty, a little citrus, great carbonation, easy drinking like a good saison should be. Get some.

Head is initially average sized, frothy, off-white, mostly diminishing. Body is hazy light amber, bottle conditioned. Aroma is moderately hoppy (herbs), lightly malty (toasted grain), lightly yeasty (cobwebs), with notes of herbal tea, chamomile, grass, hay, etc. Flavor is moderately sweet, moderately acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is lighlty sweet, moderately acidic, moderately bitter. Medium body, velvety texture, lively carbonation, lighlty alcoholic. Whew, what can I say? Another winner from Dany. Very tea-like in an herbal way, awesome balance, etc. Love it, love it, love it.

Orange colour, very hazy. Dense head. Hoppy aroma with notes of orange peels. Dry, citric with a long hoppy, pine needle bitterness. A wonderful beer, but could some French-speaking person please explain the label!

Bottle, Spuyten Duyvil (one of the 12!! Fantôme available at Spuyten these days) Amusing very artisanal label. Immense rocky white head raises above the delicious golden and hazy body. A gentle, soft malt background supports a surprisingly big hop bite for Fantôme. But what a marvellous hop bite.. Parsley laden herbal/grassy character with the typical Belgian floweriness, leafy and lemony, spicy and fieldish. The yeast brings a definite farmhouse character through its heavily white peppery and barnyardy covers. Very spicy, algae and oregano reminiscent, plus the usual inexplicable that, that day, made the difference between 8’s and 9’s. Medium bodied, naturally airy, expanding mouthfeel with perfect carbonation. Surprisingly restricted acidity despite the hoppy leanings. Very attenuated and saisonish in its sheer essence. A real frontrunner this one, might even be an opus, I’ll definitely have to try it again, it doesn’t feel right that I rate it this high (comparing to the other beers I gave such scores), but there is just nothing I dislike in there, it takes what I like about beer and throws it in a bottle. Its looks and mouthfeel are far beyond criticism while the rest is just Dany Prignon playing with hops… sounds simple if you don’t know the man’s magic background, but those who do can imagine the results.