Fantôme Saison

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

Poured from a corked 750ml bottle (hard to read, but I believe the label says best by Sept. ’10) and served in a tulip. This poured a golden orange hue with a light haze and a thin layer of fizz that quickly settled into a lasting cap. Almost no lacing. The aroma consisted of fresh grass, lemon zest, orange peel, and spicy yeast esters. Musty and lightly funky. The nose gave the impression that this would be mostly dry, but there were actually quite a few notes of fresh, sweetened citrus. Oranges, pears, lemon, sourdough, and a touch of pepper and coriander round out the flavor. The mouthfeel was medium-bodied and had moderate carbonation. Slightly dry at the finish. Sweet and tart. Quite tasty!

Bright orange and cloudy with a large white head.Aroma is of wheat, coriander, orange and lemon zest. Taste is of sour apples, citrus, spices and yeast.

2006 750 bottle. Hazy yellow-bright spicy nose. Funky, tart, a bit faded, very mild and smooth. Better fresh.

Cork was completely soaked. Pours a unclear murky orange/golden with some black specs floating around and a super dense thick frothy creamy white head. Oops even after pouring out a third a column of foam is crawling over the top of the bottle. Smells spicy and sour, vanilla and orange peel, funky, lemon and lime citrus, coriander. Tart and fairly dry first taste, a bit metallic then comes the onslaught of lots of sweet lemon, lightly spiced, no quite as sour/funky/spiced as I was hoping for... I wonder how young my bottle is. Odd mouthful, thin and watery yet gritty and unfiltered with softer but very active tingly fluffy carbonation, unique.

Bottle. Cloudy orange with a bubbly white head. Aroma of fruits, yeast, some spicy notes and hints of funk. Mostly bitter flavor with some sweet notes of honey and with earth, some barnyard, a certain citric tartness and nice hoppy bitterness. Medium-bodied. Nothing amazing, but very tasty and refreshing.

Dégusté avec french tickler le 29 juin 2007. Hazy golden poor with lots of small but heavy deposits and a small tanned head. Aromas of grapefruit, rhubarb, avocado, tangerine peelings and a little acid..... Just smelling ths beer makes me thirsty. Definitely weird ... odd mouthfeel. First time i can honestly say i’m unable to detect any bitterness at all. Slightly sweet and very acid. Aromas weirdly reflects nicely the flavors. Nicely added lime and salt? Very awkward yet somewhat enjoyable.

750ml at Stone World Bistro. Why have I not rated this yet I don’t know. I knew I hadn’t but thats not the point. Pours gold with a bright white head. Nose is big spicey and full of flavor. The taste is quite nice, full of citrus, spice and very tart, love the tartness here.

I usually hold the Saison’s off until the summer, but this is the first time I’ve found this beer at a retail store so had to give it a go. And it’s a good thing I did. Light colored pour, with some fruit aroma on the nose. I definitely consider this one of my favorites in its class.