Fantôme Printemps

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

One of the more herbal fantome beers I have had. The bitterness was a bit much at first, i’m not sure if it was just the herbalness of this beer that really made the bitterness stand out. Peppery and light hints of citrus in the finish. My only dislike to this beer is even an hour after drinking it I kinda felt like i’d been chomping on some weird leaves, a bitter plant like taste left behind. Still a very tasty brew though.

This is a fairly typical saison, except imagine it spicier and more bitter than normal and you have Printemps. How spicy is it? I’d say it’s halfway to being like Pipaix (which is, IMHO, too spicy for comfort), and so it should be considered fairly aggressive in flavor. Its 8% abv is well-concealed - no small task. Yeasty and moderately bitter.

750. corked and capped. gotta love fantome. pours a hazy, coppery medium amber. thick creamy white head and dense wooly sheets of lace. big fragrant nose of sweet grass and pencil shavings. creamy medium body with firm bold carb. sweet delicious creamy grass, wildflowers, pencil shavings, and some early, pretty touches of funk. probably be even more delectable when it dries out. nice saison as usual.

Bottle. Orangey amber colour, with a fierce head that disappeared completely. Cloudy. Aroma is spicy, ice tea has been mentioned, at least lemon can be detected. Tastes of spices, and among them pepper and coriander are prominent. Noticeable alcohol. Orange flavours. Easily drinkable and complex.

Cloudy and medium golden; fluffy white head. Soft and smooth; light and creamy carbonation. Malty (cookies, bread dough) and yeasty throughout. Very balancing bitterness. Spicy aroma. Finish is kind of drying and lingers with quite a few flavors (sweet orange, zesty lemon, big pepper, gentle clove, and some other spices I can’t seem to define). Pleasant beer. Fairly easy to drink, but it still kept my interest through the whole bottle.

750ml Bottle: Aroma of light wood, grass, hops, yeast, slight lemon, slight herbs, and slight spices. Poured yellow/gold/tan/blond in color with a very tiny head that lasted 2 seconds. Cloudy. Not sparkling. Flavor is slightly sweet. Tastes of yeast, light menthol, light wood, light citrus, and dust. Light to medium body. Watery texture is really thin. Soft carbonation. Lemon, dust, and yeast, finish. 8%ABV is well hidden, but otherwise quite disappointing.

The aroma is very yeasty with the wild yeast funk. There is also a wooden element that is not unlike cedar and cork. Also present is a tart fruitiness and pepper. The appearance is deep amber with a small than average head. The flavor is just like the aroma. The palate is typical for the style. The finish is dry. It’s interesting but not one of my favorites.

Pours a murky amber with an off-white head. Has a tart fruity scent & a hint of barnyard. Somewhat grainy and dry for a saison. Upfront tart berry flavors with a gritty bitter finish, almost coffe like. Different.