Fantôme Printemps

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

Thanks to whoever brought this out at the RBSG 08 Grand Tasting. Sample size pour into my Chouffe goblet. Clear gold color with a wet white head that leaves decent lacing. Aroma is predictably odd and mysterious. There’s a note or a spice I can’t put my finger on. It’s a bit fruity and a bit vegetal. The rest of the aroma is standard saison fare, with crisp citrus and grass. Flavor is quite spicy, with freshly cut grass, watermelon seeds, and earthy yeast. Another off the wall beer from Fantome that somehow works.

Poured opaque orange with yellow yeast sediment floating around. Huge off white head. Aroma is sour fruits, orange peel, belgian yeast, with some vacuum like odors. Flavor is dried fruit, some lemon, orange, and pear. Slightly sour and bitter with a flat dry finish that leaves a apricot hoppiness behind.

Bottle. Pours a cloudy golden amber color with a huge, rocky white head, decent lacing. Aroma is tart fruit, yeast, grass. Flavor is floral, oranges, honey, yeast, spices. Palate is medium-light, highly carbonated, tart, super dry finish! Nice!

750ml bottle shared with BeerGestapo. Pours hazy gold with a large but quickly diminishing head. Smells of oranges, floral, hay, and a slight amount of skunkiness. The flavor was bread, lemon, and orange with a slight sour edge to it. Has a bit of sweetness to the finish with some lingering orange tones. Very nice and super refreshing despite the 8% abv.

Bottle. Pours a lightly hazy golden color with a slight copper hue and a fluffy, thick white head that stuck around for a while. Lightly tart, fruity aroma with some lemon zest, orange, and a hint of pear, along with some light wheat-like malt, some floral, spicy hops, and a bit of funky yeast. Semi-sweet, lightly tart entry with some nice fruitiness, including some lemon, orange, apple, and even a bit of grape, lead into a crisp, lightly funky/spicy yeastiness that transitions into a moderately floral, herbal, dry hoppiness in the finish. Another nice beer from Fantome.

A nice saison but, then again, everything from Fantome seems to be pretty nice. Very earthy flavors in this one along with some good spice notes and a GREAT color and head. A very nice brew.

Abso-fucking-lutely, beautiful beer. Tons of lemon, funk, fusty brett. That’s about it. Taste is slightly sweet, tart lemon, brett, spices, and barnyard and a touch of piny-bitter hops. Finish is slightly sweet, a bit of a hop bite on the finish that melds with the sweetness of the malt and the crisp lemon of the beer. Tastes a bit like a ginger-lemon beer without the ginger and a bit of hops and larger, more complex malt backbone. In other words, a completely different beer than the one I mentioned. Palate is a bit cloying, but at 8 percent what can you expect? Also very well carbonated, fizzy and slightly dry. Yum

Quite interesting. Citrus, almost minty aroma. This one is hard for me to define, which had a lot to do withmy liking it. It was just very complex, a bit sour, some fruityness, some malts, and yeast. I’d like to see what else this brewery has to offer.