Fantôme Saison

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

Re-rate 2008. Now I can better appreciate the complexity of this beauty. Orange with a white head. Very complex aroma of citrus and exotic fruits and a bunch of spices from the wonderful Fantome yeast. Sweet and fruity flavour with a little tartness. Like grapefruit juice with some subtle spices, good sweetness and a touch of alcohol presence.

Hazy gold with a thick white head. Aroma of citrus, acetic acid and yeast. Pleasant dry malt with coriander and light citrus. Medium bodied. Mondiale 2005.

Head is initially large, frothy, white, mostly lasting. Body is hazy dark yellow, bottle conditioned. Aroma is moderately yeasty (barnyard, cobwebs), moderately hoppy (flowers, grass, herbs), moderately malty (toasted grain), with notes of lemon zest, white pepper. Flavor is moderately sweet, moderately acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is lightly sweet, moderately acidic, moderately bitter. Medium body, velvety texture, lively carbonation. There was a "magic" batch of this a year or so ago that was 4.7 level, but I haven’t had such a phenomenal Fantome before or since. Rating with a somewhat more recent batch, which is a fairly standard saison without so much fruit character. Still wonderful, though...awesome balance, attractive aroma, etc.

Bottle. Creamy white good mostly lasting head. Yellow colour. Moderate hoppy and slightly sour aroma. Very acetic flavor. Average moderate sour finish. Oily palate. Disapointing and not my kind of saison. Lacks spices.

750 ml bottle. Unlike most Fantomes, this one didn’t gush, nor did I have any trouble with the cork...nice not to have to work sometimes. It pours with a simply beautiful, bright mostly clear gold with just a hint of haze (much more at the bottom of the bottle) and fluffy diminishing snow-cap. The nose: spicy-sour, lemongrass, lime and dogwood, a touch of pepper and alcohol. The body: sour, peppery, very dry and sour to begin with but honey sweetness oozes in, peppery and earthy qualities remain to the finish. Quite rough to begin with, softens lovely and becomes almost creamy when warm...not the best from this brewery, but still excellent.

Aroma of citrus, grass, spice and perhaps other fruits. Hazy light orange gold color with a decent white head that tried to stay. Medium body with sharpish carbonation. Flavor is yeast, orange oil, light stone fruits (apricot, peach?), slightly acetic, lightly woody. Finish is quite dry. It is freshly fruity in a sour way. Very nice drink.

couldn’t taste much other than kiwi fruit. it was obviously good stuff, soft and tangy but i didn’t get much out of it

Tried this again in the bottle. Even more impressive than on tap. I noticed more sweaty funky cheese in the aroma. The taste was also more tart and in your face with fresh summery citrus. On tap at the Maproom in Chicago. A foamy white head with a cloudy gold color. The aroma is apples and cider with a hint of clove. The taste is a dry cider with a little bite of black pepper. The finish is dry and very pleasurable. Another great one from Fantome. I tried this again in the bottle. Slightly more sour with some hay character. There was also some funky cheese. I definitely enjoyed this more on tap.