Fantôme Saison

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

750ml bottle (Pikkulintu, Helsinki) - shared by Mirjukka and Janne - thanks!
Chalky sweet aroma - US smarties or EU refreshers. Orange, small head. Massively crisp citrus taste. Finish is rubbery. Aroma develops toffee as it warms, or even fudge, vanilla fudge at that. Carbonation was crisp. Taste definitely combines both crisp citrussy elements and sweet toffeeness - very nice. There are even some honey retronasals a few times. Slightly acidic, and very nice. And I need to say fudge at lease once more.

750, corked and baled. Cracked October 09, with every reason to believe it’s the absolute most recent recipe available at this moment. Pours a cloudy toffeeish medium amber with a dense but ultra-thin whitish head.
Tons of sudsy fizz erupts on the pour, and the carbonation if no figment of the imagination, but the head and the lace are really pretty minimal. Delicious orange, lemon, and honey nose.
This bottle is a great example of the Fantome/Dupont schools of saison theory. This beer shows a lot of sun-drenched fruit, where the Dupont VPs hang back and show you dry grass and spices. I could spend a great spring cracking bottle after bottle trying to decide which one I like better, but, even with my sweet tooth, I have to lean to the Duponts I think. The body on this one comes on very tangy and fizzy, the orange and lemon notes combine to a nice blend of, or mid point between, acidic fruit juices and tongue-loving pie filling. The fizz is intense, for sure. It’s fruity through the mid-palate and into the finish.
You can so picture two different french farmhouses with buckets in the basement, probably covered by hunks of wood, making beers as different as this one and the Dupont VPs. It’s fun trying them both.

750ml bottle. Pours a light cloudy orange color with a pillowy white head that settles nicely leaving thick lacing on the glass. Smell is a funky mix of tangy fruit and earthy wheat all in a slight sourness. Taste has a very clean toasted malt that lays underneath the tangy, sour, tart citric flavors. This was a very good and interesting beer with a lot of stuff going on.

Sample from bottle. Cloudy orange with a white head. Fruity inviting aroma. Dry and nice with fruity elements. Good beer!

Bottle courtesy of peter. Hazy yellow orange pour. Lots of sediment and yeast in the appearance. Smells strong of sweet fruit and hot spice. Taste has citrus and orange right up front that turns back of the tongue sweet/sour. Finishing is fading but the sweet remains. Very solid and very good.

Pours a cloudy golden yellow color with a thick frothy, pillowy white head that leaves sporadic chunks of soapy lacing on it’s way down. Slight funky earthy aroma with hints of light crisp fruits like apple, pear and banana. There is also a nice spicy peppery presence that goes well with the earthy notes. Soft carbonation and very crisp up front with some nice light fruit notes such as apple, pear and banana that blend really well with the slightly tart funky earthy notes. Subtle clove spice with some citrus peel, grass and straw. Slightly sour/funky with a dry finish. Very refreshing.

75 cl bottle. Big, fragrant, estery, fruity aroma. Citrus, lots of green apples, a bit of honey-like sweetness. Very cloudy, deep golden color with a low, lacy head. Flavor of sweet apples, honey, grapes, citrus, biscuity malts. Sweet, with hop aroma and a bit of bitterness in the mid-palate, but more of a sour balance at the finish. Amazingly fruity, with a good dose of green apple lingering on, along with some alcohol heat. No where near the hops or perfect balance of Dupont, but strong sweet-and-sour character makes it unique. I like it, but would prefer it a little less sweet. The rush of fruit, particularly sour fruits, is very interesting, though.

The aroma is strong, slightly sweet and zesty with a deep blonde appearance. So clean and thick for a saison, but still a nice amount of sediment. This beer is absolutely delicious, one of my favorite saisons.