Fantôme Saison

Largely smeared and hazy straw gold color with a medium yet firm whitish cap. Keeps a great looking thin skim and thickly set collar once the cap fades from the pour.Very intricate lacing in cobwebbed sheeting. Yeast poured out thick at the finishing of the bottle and completely turned the color opaque resembling pear mush and ochre paint. Quite a peppy aroma upon first hit to the nose. Highly fruity with a white grape/lemon candy/berry zip and a nicely rounded but fevered little notion of pepper, spicy, grassy, dry yeast. Taste is immaculate. Airy but firm with flavor and hold. Slow and intriguing front end with mild sweet berry-like malts and wheat bread. Middle stays sweet and a bit sugary with dried peach, melon, and apricot. Floral tones rise to the surface behind the berry fruit then some herbal spice and citric zest spring into action as it flys into the finish with a big recoil back into the berryness and a lovely soft touch of pale wood. Every area is always filled with the finely placed and active berry flavor. Mildly complexing, nice, and very fun to let dance and play on the palate. Feel is kinda two-sided with a soft airy front and has that same kind of texture throughout yet holds an interestingly bold, somewhat mild/full carbonation that tends to keep it reaching further and further as it continues to sift through the flavors and finish with a lovely light drying notion of berries, wood, and spice. Nice! The drinkability is about right. Sessionable to a point as its ABV and carbonation catches up to ya. Nice berry burps. A tender, mild treat thats got lots of things going for it. Complicated yet simple and delicately natured. A fun beer. Don’t pass it up. Recommended.

This bottle had been in the cellar for at least a year. I did not notice any evolution: good or bad. Ooohhh that smell, that smell of saison around you. The aroma is exactly what I’ve come to expect froma top-notch saison: yeasty, orange, herbs, strawberry. This beer poured an average, frothy head with excellent lacing. The body was murky with lots of small yeast particles (emptied the entire bottle). The body was amber. The initial flavor is sweet and heavy with a moderately sweet, average length finished. Mouthfeel was lively and dry. One of my favorite saisons.

Nice, light and refreshing. Taste is a little sour and tingles the tongue. The alcohol content is apparent and a little too pronounced and overbalanced against the subtle flavors.

I could rate this beer at different temperatures or at the beginning, middle, or end of the bottle. Exceptionally complex, and changes while I drink it. A cloudy orange beer with sediment. Aroma is barnyard yeast. Flavor has lots of orange but it is very light, if that makes any sense. Also weird, spicy undertones. Minimal dry hops, and a dry finish. Not as in your face as it might be, but a beer to spend some time with and drink slowly for an evolving experience.

Pours a hazy carbonated yellow with a white head. Sharp and spicy barnyard aroma with some cardboard and juniper. Spritzy and light on the tongue but with a good body also. Fruity with some pineapple and pear notes. Refreshing with some bitterness in the finish, lingering citrus flavors and no noticable alcohol. A slightly dirty note at the end detracts a bit. Very good though.

Bottle. Lemon and musty hay/grass aroma. Orange yellow color - cloudy with moderate head and effervescence. Slighty sweet cider flavor with mild citric bitterness and mustiness at the finish. Moderate carbonation. Unbelievable that this is 8%.

This is an odd saison. There is a definate fruity and spice character to the flavor, but I have a hard time figuring out exactly what the flavors are. There is also a slightly roasted flaver mixed in, which is very unusual for the style. Finish is dry. I personally prefer a more traditional saison, but this was still pretty good. Not quite worth the $9.00 a bottle my local shop is charging.

Sour citrus and strange indeciferable spiciness...seems like a strange cross between saison and gueuze. Lively tart carbonation and ending on a very dry note.