Fantôme Saison

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

Serve in Tulip

Original review date 7/9/2008... Thin, wispy head with a slight pinkish hue. Marginally cloudy honey-colored body. Nice carbonation. Aromatic, yeasty ester with slightly funky citrus. Very dry and austere. Slight tone of dry wine sweetness. Not expected altogether but quite interesting nonetheless. More dry white wine character with a fair amount of fruit...almost like a pinot grigio (no really, a good one) or an extra-dry pinot noir-based sparkling wine. Bubbly funk proivdes the sour kick to the ultra-austere malt/yeast backbone. Opens with a moderate level of warmth. Mouthfeel is very sour and puckering from tartness. Finish is slightly moldy - a little strange at first, but as it warms, the offering is putting it together a bit more and becomes quite pleasant. Nawt f’nuttin’, but I expected a great deal out of this and can appreciate the workmanship and classic style involved but it wasn’t what I was looking for at first. With warmth it definitely improved as the unexpected funk burned off and became quite drinkable and enjoyable.

Bottle. Hazy yellow body, with a large cremy white head. Aroma is fruit, citrus, elderflower and sourish. Flavor is about the same. Alcohol is well hidden.

In the 750 mL green glass bottle. Pours a cloudy flaxen gold with a poofy white head. Pears, peaches and oranges to the aroma. Yeasty bready flavor and a mild lemon taste that seems less like citrus and more like flowers. A sustained measure of candy flavoring without the overt sweetness. This just has a lot going on in there.

75cl bottle shared with larryLSB, pre-grad. Bright, hazy gold with a big white head. The flavor has bursting fruit and funky yeast with tropical and peach standing out. The flavor has the same intense fruitiness, with a funky, lightly tart edge, and a nice hop balance. Dry and refreshing on the tongue. Medium bodied with perfect carbonation that livens up the palate. This was just beautiful stuff that I’m already craving more of.

Really really good. Funky and lambicy, but with oodles of flavour and character. It was a dark orange unfiltered pour.Taste is of a myraid of fruit, spicy and sour. Full body for the style. A great summer thirst quencher (at 8.5%!). Left a lovely hoppy note on the way down that I could still taste, even after drinking an imperial stout. Pure class.

Appearance - A hazy golden brown. Nice bubbling, and it looks like sediment. Upon first pour, it looks like piss yellow, but once it’s in the glass, you can see the nice deep gold come through. A nice head on this one, whitish yellow, lasts for awhile. Smell - Almost fruity. It smells kinda sweet, actually, but you can tell there’s a little bite to it....a little spicy smell...pepper, maybe (I’m not good at discerning the individual scents...) Taste - Almost perfect. Perfect balance of sorta fruity sweetness with a delicious aftertaste. It’s a little spicy at first, but that fades and leaves a smooth, sweet flavor with a no offputting aftertaste like some beers. Mouthfeel - Crisp...nice aftertaste...not sure what else to say here. Overall: I’d definitely recommend this, and I WILL buy it again. Next time I do buy it though, I’ll have to age it....I only held this one for 2 weeks before drinking. Note: first time drinking this beer, this review on a different site as well, same writer

Popped the cork and released the mist. Poured a solid pumpkin Halloween orange with no residue and a white sudsy soapy head. Smell was faint but could get some apricot, orange peel, dishwater. I really like the mouthfeel of this beer...feels thick, low carbonation, and almost has a custardy appeal to it. Taste echoed more of that apricot smell along with some lemonade, apple, flower petal and sour cherry. Finish was smooth, well-rounded and a bit dry. This pleasantly surprised me as I was expecting more grass and funk. I had been eyeing bottle of this at Tanakaya for years now and glad that I finally took the plunge. Want more of this brewer’s fine goods.

Bottle: Golden with a light haze. Modest beige head. Aroma is lightly floral, with some citrus and Belgian spices. Taste is crisp, yet very balanced. Orange peel, coriander, cloves. Light amount of yeast. Nice finish of citrus and vinous fruits. Smooth. Very tasty.