Fantôme Pissenlit

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

French countryside dandelion home remedies, including dandelion meads and dandelion wines, have traditionally been called ’pissenlit’ or ’wet the bed’ for their diuretic properties. So why not a Wallonian dandelion beer? Time to wet the bed... Bottle dated ’Printemps 2004,’ and served at cellar temp in a Belgian goblet. Pours a clear copper red with about half an inch of white foam. Mild caramel in the aroma, a little floral, but not in a dandelion way. Caramel and sherry flavors, with some sweetness but leaning towards dry. Dry earthy spice and floral hops in the finish. Medium body, great carbonation, very smooth, clean, and easy to drink. I adore the mild dry sherry in the aftertaste. I have to admit, this beer is not what I expected. No Fantome funk at all. And then I expected grassy, honey, and even bitter herbal character from the dandelion. Apart from a floral aroma and hopping, which are common enough anyway, I found nothing even remotely resembling dandelion. I don’t know what the dandelion does for this beer’s flavor, but I must say that it... excuse me a moment while I, um... I’ll be right back. Ah, much better. And so, would I try this beer again? Depends. (Get it? Depends?) Ha ha ha...

Bottled. Reddish amber, brief lively head. The nose has less of that interesting winegum than some other Fantôme brews, and instead a vague dryish herbal touch. It’s medium sweet with dense, clean mouthfeel. Estery flavuor with notes of seville orange marmelade and a salty edge. Dangerously drinkable. Though not as directly appealing as the best Fantôme beers, it still is a fascinating, complex and yet refreshing brew.

The aroma is light and fruity with some concentrated floral and sharp sugary candy notes. The body is a caramel/orane color and holds a diminishing thumb thick, bubbly, tan head. Caramel is large in the fore with some bready undertones. Bitter citrus peel and muted spice notes appear mid range. Feels sharp and biting on the tongue. Slighly herbal note in the finish balances the sweet caraml that runs long into the aftertaste.

2004 bottle: I got a good sized "pop" when I pulled the cork, and then a small overflow. Fortunately, not much beer was lost. Needless to say, there is a quite large almost tan head on this one. The beer itself is a murky, lighter mahogany shade. The aroma is a tad lighter than I would have expected, but still quite nice. Notes of breadiness as well as some floral notes. Suprisingly tart taste, yet no fruitiness that you would usually expect with a tart beer. I’m trying to come up with a good description of the taste, other than pleasant. It is very complex and difficult to discern individual tastes. A very good brew.

2004. yeasty aroma. cloudy orange with small yellow head. apricot and citrus dominate aroma. not sour like most fantomes. smooth almost creamy mouthfeel. herbal finish. i don’t really notice anything like dandelions except the slight herbalness in the finish. a pleasure to drink and urinate.

Thanks to Joel for sharing this one. (Note: Definitely the end of the bottle) Pours a very hazy copper bronze color, aroma is very floral. Flavor is sweet bitter and dry, crisp finish with a myriad of flavors and tones to it.

Bottled. Cloudy orange body with a low white head. Floral, herby and a bit sugary aroma of yeast, butter and yellow plums. Yeasty flavour of yellow fruit, spices, cane sugar, butter and flowers. Herbal, floral, and yeasty long finsihs with noted of butter. A lot of interesting flavours going on here....

Cloudy copper with a large white head. Surprising funky aroma. This thing smells like something hairy and spices I’m not used to get in a beer (steak spices!?!). Very yeasty beer, full of hay, some lemon skin, lilacs and other flowers. Full body. Very complex. After drinking this Fantôme Dandelion I thought dandelions were the greatest flowers so I gave a full bouquet of it to my girlfriend. I’m single now.