Fantôme La Dalmatienne

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

Original review date 1/21/2009...I must’ve got this at Premier in Buffalo just before Thanksgiving. 750 corked & caged into St. Bernie’s chalice. There’s a single-finger head that dissipates quickly but leaves nice tight lacing. Quite a few floaties slipped through the goalie’s careful pour - woops! Tried to be gentle with it. Body is the color of bleached copper. Absolutely electric on the palate. Slight Brett horse-blanket funk with extra-dry Champagne tones. Sour citrus goodness blends with balsa wood and hop pine to create perfect austerity. Wow. What happened? This gets to be a lot more perfumy than what I would expect. The sour nose doesn’t really translate - I hate t say it but I’m getting some Andre Cold Duck here! It’s stronger than the now-mild Brett funk. Perhaps a little too much candi sugar sweetness. This finally dissipates with warmth for the most part but definitely leaves a trace. Still, wel-crafted overall. Take out the excess candi sugar and this is great. Alas, it’s there so it’s merely very good. Balanced in Beautiful Chemistry with understated Brett, good core Saison yeast electricity, hop pine and dry light oak, this treats the palate nicely. This drinks well but would do even better without the residual sweetness. Nicely done nonetheless in the "Old World" tradition.

Pours with a murky amber hue with a medium off white head that is mostly diminishing. Aroma is of barnyard skunk, yeast, bread, citrus, some leather, and floral spices. Beginning flavor is yeasty with a light sour citrus ending. Medium - full texture with lively carbonation.

Bottle. Pours with a huge, fluffy, off-white head over a hazed amber orange body with some particles. Good retention and lace. Aroma of orange, spice, stickiness, florals, honey, pepper, barnyard, jasmine and something tangy. Taste is full of citrus with light tartness, metallic noted finish, with orange, lavender, apricot, tea, and a sweet citrus fruit melody. Some hay and wild flowers too. Very weird with too many odd aromas and flavors too list; i.e. this is a typical Fantome beer. Very lively carbonation. and a fruity finish.

Bottle generously shared by Shyam. Great label on this one -- too bad the beer gushed all over it. Pours amber in color with yeast floating everywhere in the glass. It looks like someone poured sand into a gelatin mold. Smells like a woman coming out of Bath & Body Works - jasmine, green tea, and lotion. Tastes of candied sugar and I want to say tamarind, so I will. Also features tart green apples and cinnamon toward the finish. A champion saison if you apparently win the Fantome bottle lottery like we did.

Shared by Shyam. This one bottle of this stuff was fantastic. I am told that due to variation, it will be very lucky if it ever tastes like this again. Nose was right up my alley: thick aromatic jasmine, thick green and gray teas, light lavender, hint of anise, hop and wheat. Flavor is all those plus yeast and Taro. Color is a beautifully glowing brown with smattered yeast speckled and floating in the glass. Very full Saison etheral/ephemeral finish with only light soil. Unbelievable bottle.

Floral, herbal, aromatic amber saison. Less funk than most Fantomes. Lavender? Chamomile? There is some kind of sweet floral in here that is similar to those two. Good, a bit unexpected.

Bouteille verte de 750 ml partagée lors d’une dégustation Ratebeer Montréal chez MartinT. Arôme: Odeur d’agrumes et d’épices. Apparence: La couleur est orangée voilée. Présence d’un mince col mousseux et d’une fine dentelle sur le verre. Saveur: Goût d’agrumes, d’épices et de levures. Durée moyenne de l’arrière goût. Palette: Le corps est moyen avec une texture légèrement huileuse. Moyenne effervescence en bouche. Arrière goût fruité. (Rating #2418)

My Bottom Line:
This coherent union of orange and honey flavors seems to grow out of an earth-covered basement in this lightly tart and always entertaining Saison.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A slice of foam decorates the cloudy dark amber.
-I find the mouthfeel is a bit rounder than the usual Fantôme ale.
-Tiny bubbles tickle the tastebuds.
-The tartness is balanced out by the honeyed sweetness.

Bottle.