Fantôme Printemps

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

Cloudy pale orangey amber hue, excellent carbonation and thick head formation. Sweet nectarine aroma with dry, grassy, lemony hops. Sweet nectarine palate with biting bitter hoppiness. Pretty tastey stuff but could have had a little more depth for its style.

750 ml bottle. Vivid bright orange, dark yeast clouds lurk at the center, slowly swirling...thick white slowly diminishing head...sour, briney herbs sting the nostrils, fresh earthy tones and vanilla follow...very sour at first, somewhat bitter with notes of rusty iron and sour wine...interesting but somewhat difficult to drink..luscious, full body at first with low-to-moderate carbonation becomes rather watery and dry/hard at the finish. Definitely much more drinkable near room temp, and a fascinating effort, but not my fave...I suspect this bottle could be a little off.

Bottle. Fruity (apple,pineapple) aroma, light metallic yeast. Cloudy orange yellow, nice golden creamy head. Medium body, fruity base (tropical, clementine, apple), light bready notes, a hint salt. Pleasant.

As soon as I took off the cap, the cork started slowly coming out on its own. With a little help, the cork came out with extreme force. It pours a hazy caramel color with a fluffy white head that quickly disappeared. The aroma is full of all varieties of spices and herbs. Rather bitter, with plenty of grasses, flowers and plants to go with cinnamon and an odd cheese element. This is a bit too weird for me. The least enjoyable of the Fantome's that I've had.

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.

cloudy brown and frothy on top..aroma of leather, apple, and yeast..flavors started subtly with overripe browning green apples and apple skins, fresh bread yeastiness and a nice creamy mouthfeel..

This is a good Saison light and not overpowering. Malty, yeasty, and sweet flavors. Finishes rich, creamy, and smooth.

Pale, hazy gold. Slight white head. Strangely behaving yeast (floats!). Herbal nose, and aroma of (Belgian) vegetable deepfrying oil. Yeasty, malt, grain. Overly bitter taste – dandelion-flavour, definitely, “bitter salad”, not hoppy. Malty underbuild. Medium bodied. Good carbonation. Fiery bitter from main taste is medium longlasting, no new aftertaste. Dany P. has used dandelion (pissenlit) often in his beers. I’m not a fan of this addition, and I’m afraid it shows in the rating. A “Saison” of 8% ABV, indeed!