Fantôme Saison

pours a hazy, golden yellow with a thick, pale head. aroma is very interesting with notes of earthy funk, spice, citrus and tropical fruits. flavor is sweet and candylike, with hints of musty spices and fresh tropical fruits. probably one of the best beers I’ve had in awhile. looking forward to trying more beers from this funky brewery.

2007 Release to the US; Sampled February 2008
As I pour this a distinct, interesting, loud, tropical fruit note comes through. The beer is pretty well carbonated as a careful pour easily produces a three-finger thick, pale tan colored head. The beer is a honey color, but shows a lightly hazy, yellow-gold color when held up to the light. Upon closer inspection the amped up tropical fruit note continues; it is perhaps a mix of mango, pineapple and papaya notes. Underneath the dominant tropical fruit note is a dusty, cracker like grain character, some toasty grain notes, a touch of spicy pepper, piquant young ginger, notes of citrus honey and a green, herbal-lemon note with touches of nettle and a substantial lemon character that becomes more noticeable as the beer warms up.

Soft up front, but a fizzy, yet somehow light carbonated froth kicks in towards the middle; strangely this is well carbonated, but the bubble size seems fine enough that it does not make this seem excessively foamy. Only lightly sweet, which seems to reduce the amped up tropical fruit notes from the aroma to an almost equal billing with the rest of the flavor components. This has a very light body to it; it is quite the quaffable brew and drinks way easier than its 8%. This has quite a bit of spiciness to it at times, it can be much more piquant, like black pepper, than is contributed by the carbonation, this note especially lingers in the long finish were it lingers on as a spicy tickle at that back of the throat. There is a very light herbal note here that is slightly green, with an astringency to it as well as a light bitterness and a grassy note, these flavors balance out the noticed tropical fruit flavors that lightly dance around the flavor profile here. A touch of cracker like malt and grassy grain character comes through just a touch towards the finish.

As the beer loses its carbonation the tropical fruit note becomes a bit softer. The second pour of the bottle restores the carbonation and the accompanying tropical fruitiness though. This really is fantastically intriguing; the interplay between tropical fruit, spice and funky herbal notes is quite engaging; somehow, despite the light body and quaffable character, this beer is actually quite contemplative. Apart from the characterful, single yeast strain that is purposefully use in this beer, this is pretty clean. It has not picked up any funkiness yet, but it is still young. As usual, this is a fantastic brew; I am really digging the interplay between tropical fruit and spice found in the flavor.

Sampled May, 2004
Pours a hazy straw color with lots of carbonation that generates a cream colored thick head. A lightly sour/ acidic aroma wafts from my glass, mixed with notes of apple, strawberry, flowers, and a certain mustiness. The taste is lightly sour as well, with some interesting tropical fruit notes, that are picked up by a light sweetness, and some unspecified spicy notes. Typically light bodied, which is just perfect. A soft wonderful beer this time around.

Sampled Sept 7, 2003.
The cork explode from this bottle like a champagne. This beer aroma is one of cider and sweetness, there is a bit of mustyness in the nose as well. A very cloudy straw colored beer that is well carbonated and has a thick off white head. The taste is very complex with competing flavors all over the place; cider, off dry sweetness, an acidity, and yeast character up the wazoo. This beer is just world class, and I love it.

I had this beer with a cheese platter that included some Stilton, and aged funky Brie, a young Brie, a mushroom brie, sharp Irish cheddar, and edam. This beer was able to hold its own with each of these cheeses (though perhaps overpowering the edam). It acted as a nice contrast to each, a palate cleanser so to speak.

This beer can have wildly different flavors depending on the year that one tries it, in the past it has been much more acidic and lacking in the fruit character, but still world class.

Purchased: <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowPlace.asp?PlaceID=698>Plaza Liquors, Tucson AZ

Corked and capped bottle pours a cloudy amber body with a large beige head that leaves generous lacing. Funky aroma is earthy, spicy, lemony, fruity melon, herbal, and peppery. Nice touch of caramel underneath. Medium body with sparkling carbonation. Taste is complex. Fruity sweetness balances a lemony dryness, complimented by notes of earthy funk, spicy pepper and coriander, and herbal hops. Nice pastoral feel. This would be one of my desert island beers.

Bottle. Strong gueuzey pineapple lemon, grapefruit, warm. Punchy. Mouth is pineappley warm, juicy and fizzy. Finishes slightly dry and sharp, never escaping that under-ripe pineapple. Excellent beer if a bit odd.

I really like Belgian style, but I wasted $15 on this bottle. Cloudy amber appearance. Winey aroma. Taste was totally unexpected. Taste was more like a wine vinegar, and left a vinegary after taste. I guess the "Gods" have different taste buds than this mere mortal.

Straw color, beautiful huge head. Aroma was fruity with a touch of barnyard funk. Flavor had really just a tinge of barnyard funk but dominated by a peach/apricot fruity flavor with maybe a touch of pear. A touch of hop bitterness kept the very sweet nature from being overpowering. Not "crisp" and maybe a tad thin, but excellent nonetheless.

Dull haze in a rich golden pour. Bubbly and bursting with life. Aroma lets out a lot of impressively outhouse oriented stink; this doesn’t come off with the pleasant, juicy funk of other examples but suggests tanks that never got the vermin excrement cleaned out of them. Beneath the rancidness there’s a sweet perfume of almond, pancake batter and caramelized sugar bringing it back to something forgiveable, and this seems to blanket in the uncomfortable beginning with continuous pours from the unsettled bottle, giving rich waves of golden fruit and sticky, sweet rice. Tastes very sweet and musty, a bit bland, but lit up with a lot of zesty mineral and spice; pear, apple, old pineapple, honey and champagne are cut through with mint, chlorine, and pistachio, while the sweetness becomes oily and earthy. Browned apple and mushy banana begin to creep in, souring the freshness of the fruit flavors with a musty attic effect that arrives with the right degree of spontaneity. Palate is spritzy and medium bodied; in perfect balance for a saison both refreshing and fulfilling. Brett starts to kick in with lemon juice, though mildly, conceding a bit of vanilla extract sweetness and caramel before pulsing with an intense, spicy dryness. Tart, but never sour. Alive and weird. A true start to finish experience.

750 I got 1 1/2 years ago from Belgian Shop! Nose very much tart apples and horseblanket with some light spices; hazy gold with a medium glass-lacing yellow-tinged head;flavor repeats the aplliness with only minor tartness, along with spiciness and some very minor hop notes! From the growth down the bottleside from the cork to the surface I frigured major brett! Probably my new favorite saison!