Fantôme Printemps

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

Serve in Tulip

UPDATED: APR 28, 2009 750mL Bottle. (Approximately a 2006). Brett dry pear nose. Dusty hay and barn. Plums right on the tree. Some indication of wildness. Subdued. Breezy. Pours a crystal clear gold, with a soapy white rim. Nice look. Good carbonation at this age. Crazy flavor! This is so complex and light. There’s vibrant, forward Tellicherry black peppercorns, Myrrh and ginger. Spicing is right up there, but melds beautifully with the yeast and the malt. There’s light Fantome funk, a signature. Spice shapeshifts into some more complex, perfume-like incense notes. So well integrated with the beers. There’s no way this is 8%! It’s so light, airy, refreshing and crisp. The nip of funk and yeast add a rounded edge of character to the beer. A long, dry lemony hop presence rounds out the long smack on this beer. This is fucking amazing stuff. Thanks Sean for the hookup!

After another June day in Charleston without AC this is certainly the beer equivilant of morphine. Beneath the satiny foam cape tiny beads of CO2 can be seen gliding to the top. Fresh, ripe, bartlett pear on the nose with a grassy hop spice and crisp minerality. Champagne-like? This gives underripe pinot noir a run for it’s money. Soft malt roundness, almost a super Kolsch like fruitiness gives way to a dry white-wine finish leaving a touch of pinot blanc fruit. Critisism is two fold: Not enough made, and too damn drinkable for 8%! The fact that the recipe changes and the brewery has consistency issues drives up the points on this beer for me. I like suprises. 95

In short: A very wild and rather tart blonde Saison. Complex and mega-refreshing
How: Bottle 750ml. Age unknown (but tasted fresh and lively). Sent to me by ygtbsm94, thanks a lot Brad
The look: Cloudy yellow body topped by a medium white head
In long: The nose is barnyard, flower petals and cheese. Oh man I’m in for a treat!!! Taste of bubbles gum, green apples, white cheese, apricots, mangos, flower petals juice, super nice tartness. Very wild. Full body. Chewy doughy mouthfeel. This bottle really tasted like a cross between a good batch of Fantôme Saison and a good batch of Fantôme Pissenlit. The type of quality batches Fantôme were putting out 3-4 years ago. Either this bottle was old or Fantôme Printemps is the new Fantôme Pissenlit. Given Fantôme less-than-inconsistent releases I’m not sure that my next Printemps bottle will be half as good as this one. One thing for it wont’t be twice as good, because if it is I’ll have to hack the site to enter my rating.

A new Fantome for me! Pours a cloudy hay like color with a frothy, dense bubbled head. The head died down to a thin lacing after about a minute. Aromas of lemon juice, pine sol, sourdough, and lovely saison yeast . Lovely bright acidic lemon-lime taste with lots of wheatlike bread characteristics. Clean dry finish with phenomenal refreshment. High drinkability and hides the 8% alc. very well. Pretty amazing stuff!

2011 vintage pours brilliant clear gold with dense creamy head that stays for the whole glass. Aroma is very light and floral with pilsner malt sweetness to complement the floral sweetness. Taste is light bubblegum, clean malt, honey, herbal grassiness, slight spice, marshmallow, bathwater, spruce, serious umami, but mostly tastes like a bouquet of flowers. Chamomile maybe? Body is light, frothy, velvety, softly but firmly carbonated, intensely floral bone dry finish. Overall, this beer is absolutely indescribable. Part pilsner, part saison, part.... who the f knows. Basically, if you’ve ever smelled a meadow of flowers after a heavy rain in April, that is what this beer is like. Ethereal. Fantome continues to dazzle me!

Corked and capped bottle pours a cloudy and hazy bright golden-orange with a huge frothy clingy off white head that leaves a sticky lacing in the glass that lasts, fruity lemon, grass and funky yeasty aromas. Fruity sour apple, pear and spicy flavors, peppery and dry finish. Medium bodied with a crisp, carbonated mouthfeel, I love it.

Bottle. Pours cloudy light golden with a 1 inch white head. Aroma: citrus, lemon, sweetness, hay. Taste: crisp, light, refreshing, dry, peppery, lemon. slightly bitter dry grapefruit finish. light bodied. An extremely unique beer. Hope i can find more bottles because its delicious!

Don’t know how old this is, bought it about 16 months ago, and it looked like it had been on the shelf awhile. Cork is removed with a promising pop. Clear amber. Two fingers of dense, frothy, off white carbonation. Aroma: grainy barn funk with a tinge of sourness, toasty caramel malt, crisp aromatic hops, some dark fruits, candi sugar? - smells like a cross between a belgian strong and a saison, a bit of pepper, and subtle alcohol. Flavor: crisp hops, grains, and musty barn funk up front - followed by smooth, roasty caramel, dark fruits, and candi sugar in the middle - dry, sour, spicy, peppery, yeasty and slightly alcoholic finish. Overcooked sourdough bread aftertaste, with the crust. Palate: rather light for all that’s going on - medium, balanced body. I’ve yet to have a beer of theirs I didn’t like. More Fantome on the way to Knightly very soon. Be careful when you see me.