Fantôme Printemps

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

Serve in Tulip

Very large light orange colored head of medium sized bubbles. Dense and creamy on top. Awesome carbonation. Spicy grassy aroma. Lots of pepper and straw. Color is a dark orangish brown. Spicy and dry and a little tart. Fizzy in the mouth. Little dandelion greens and some other bitter green leafy stuff. Dry and lingering spicy aftertaste. Some bitter hops presence also. Little noticable alcohol and warming. Palate is a little thicker that most saisons. More malts that most. A decent saison.

UPDATED: APR 11, 2005 Hazy yellow-ish. Nice head and lace. Sweet, lemonade, spice (ginger, orange peel, coriander...), citrus, dry, light bitter.

75 cL bottle, tulip glass. Average, creamy white head. Hazy, light yellow body. Bread and hay malt (M); flower and perfume hops (M); doughy yeast (L); banana, clove, pear aromas. Moderately sweet, lightly acidic flavor becomes a lightly sweet, moderately acidic, lightly bitter finish. Medium body, watery/oily texture, lively carbonation, building bitter finish. The bottom line is: very tasty!!! Tart and refreshing just like lemonade.

Bottle pours a murky yellow with fizzy white head.   Lots and lots of carbonation.   Lacing is slick, not wanting to stick to the glass.   Head has dissapated now.   Initial aroma is champagne like with some yeasty like qualities.   Perhaps a bit of a citrusy smell as well.   Taste is wonderful, spicey/citrusy/yeasty flavor.   Definate grapefruit flavor.   Mouthfeel is full, however a bit overly fizzy.   Finish is flowery, a bit sour.   Very enjoyable!   Would be nicer if it wasn't as carbonated.

Bottle pours a straw yellow color with a big head and decent lace. The aroma has big hints of lime, funky yeast wet leather, and damp spring forest vegetation (including old growth forest floor moss). The flavor starts out sweet and malty, has some understated funky notes (almost too little), spices are there, but seems quite hoppy – and more hopped than I ever thought a Fantôme would be. I’m not sure where to put this one. This is not as wild as this brewer tends to be with the other offerings. Perhaps I’ve never had such fresh Fantôme? This is very refreshing, lively, and almost too tame. It is tasty, and very drinkable, but I want to be more challenged with this brewer.

Cloudy golden amber color, big full head. A little sour, kind of cidery as well. I was picking up some sugar as well. It was a little funky. Palate was very nice, very smooth and soft. It was pretty good but it lacked the punch I’ve come to expect from a Fantome.

2001 vintage. Secret Santa beer #11, kindly sent by Jason (Dorwart) and brought to MrFacto’s ’Tosa tasting. Hazy orange body with a big off-white head. Classic Fantome aroma of flower petals, slightly earthy sourness, leaves and pollen. Biscuity, toasty body with flower petals and earthy hops, peppery with some yarrow-like perfumey flavors. A bit toasty. This was a 3+ year old sample, but I suspect a fresh sample would be very similar; this is nothing like the difference between fresh Fantome Saison and the 1998 vintage I tried in November. Pretty standard for Fantome overall; I prefer their (well...his) edgier offerings.

UPDATED: MAY 16, 2005 Rerate from a 3 y.o. bottle at Mikes: The sharp flowery and fruit notes combined with with belgian yeast funk to make this much more enjoyable than the first time I had it. The feel is more tart and Saison like. I improved my rating .3 after this tasting------Origina review: Thanks Mabdoney for the brew, you did get me this one, right? Had with Mike and Ann: Hazy golden hue with light head and some lace. Aroma hints of chocolate infused pipe tobacco, heavy spice, earthy and barnyard yeast, dusty, and grassy. The taste is yeasty and slightly fruity. Spicy and biscuit undertones are found throughout. Chalky and woody dry mouthfeel, lively in the glass, still didn’t quite feel right on the palate. Alcohol was well hidden. Disappointing, but hey, I got to try it once, so that’s cool. Disclaimer: Maybe too old or maybe my palate was trashed by the La Folie I had earlier?