Fantôme Saison

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

Bottle - dusty, spicy yeasty aroma. Beautiful. A faint, cloudy, pale gold. As white a head of tiny white bubbles (bizillions of them) as you’ll ever see. Tons of floaties and extremely effervescent. Fruity, yeasty, a touch of sourness. I’m not sure what I expected, but this is not it, but it is still amazing! Softly fizzy, almost creamy mouthfeel. This is a terrific beer!

duvel tulip / delicious! nose consists of sugary pears, fresh bread. hazy golden yellow body with some floaties, but a nice lingering sparkly white head says, "dip your nose in me." anyway, the palate is so smooth. it’s cremey, but not thick, and it’s a bit fizzy. i sense more in the flavor than in the aroma--more fruits, but of the tropical variety; spices, not hot like pepper, but it adds such a nice sense of zip. as it warms the palate becomes creamier and the flavor becomes more citric, lemony. complex, but all of it is so stitched well together; refreshing, and warming... this is quality, buddy!

Straw colored slightly hazy. Very little head. Aroma is sour, floral and like many of the Fantomes it has musty quality about it. Not overly sweet like some saisons. The bottle I’m drinking from is 3 or 4 years old and I can’t believe that aging it has hurt it one bit. Slight amount on the finish, balances the friutiness with the proper amount of tartiness to make this a vary enjoyable beer.

750 ml bottle. Unlike most Fantomes, this one didn’t gush, nor did I have any trouble with the cork...nice not to have to work sometimes. It pours with a simply beautiful, bright mostly clear gold with just a hint of haze (much more at the bottom of the bottle) and fluffy diminishing snow-cap. The nose: spicy-sour, lemongrass, lime and dogwood, a touch of pepper and alcohol. The body: sour, peppery, very dry and sour to begin with but honey sweetness oozes in, peppery and earthy qualities remain to the finish. Quite rough to begin with, softens lovely and becomes almost creamy when warm...not the best from this brewery, but still excellent.

Opaque orange. Thin head collects around the edges. Fresh, yeasty nose has a hint of barn. Lively, crispish mouthfeel creams up the closer to the finish it gets. Very fruity throughout (orange, lemon, pineapple, pear, granny smith apples). Bready and doughy malts, intertwined by yeast notes that surface here and there, especially in the burps. Spices were mild, but they were omnipresent. Refreshing and hearty at the same time.

Cloudy golden color with a white head that would not go away. Fruity and fairly spicy aroma, very light funkiness. Lots of odd fruits like kiwi, banana and pineapple. Flavor was nice, fruity and a little spicy with some duller bitterness towards the end. Medium bodied, creamy, yet refreshing. I did enjoy this.

I was a bit lit when I had this. Had been drinking at the Great Lakes Brewery and when we left we noticed a new wine tasting bar (new to me anyhow). At any rate, turns out they serve some nice beers there too (and the bar tender gave me a bottle of Hitachino Nest New Year Celebration Ale to take with me!) Anyhow, on with the rating. Hazy and lite gold. Very lite and enjoyable aroma. Flowery, lite lemon, strawberry spice and grain. Taste was very very lite and mild (as was the mouth feel). Was refreshing with great summer style beer and spice, fruit and mineral tastes. I think this would be great with any heavy meal!

Pours with a thin head. Cloudy off-orange color. Aroma is earthy, yeasty, rich with bananna esters, and just a little bit dry. Body is malty and very, very smooth. Flavors of yeast, hops, and subtle dry spices with earthiness in a great finish. Well done.