Fantôme Vertignasse
Brasserie Fantôme

Bottled 2021 - best before end 2025 - enjoyed on 2/18/2023. Poured from a capped-and-corked 750mL bottle into my Brasseurs de Garde flute.

Ectoplasmic appearance! Clear apple green liquid with an active magnolia cap. Soapy/sticky lacing; fair retention.

Funky nose suffused with barnyard and botanical qualities. Floral/herbal and slightly cheesy.

Tart, intensely earthy/grassy with a lasting bitterness. Hints of sorrel and wormwood. White pepper emerges with a touch of funk and unripe pear. Long, dry finish with a crackery malt base. Quite unusual.

Light-bodied, silky, and somewhat tannic.

Weird and refreshing table beer - less complex than I expected, though the recipe is quite a mystery!

Pale murky yellow with a big foamy white sticky head that sticks around. Spice, horse blanket, lemon, belgian yeast, barn wood. Full body, crisp, moderate carbonation.

 

Pale greenish yellow, thin cap of fluffy foam. Aroma is herbal and botanical, lots of spices. Mildly tart, moderately phenolic and bitter. Tastes like an herbal bitter with lime peel, white pepper, and Thai basil. Coarse and intense carbonation. Overall, a novelty worth a try, especially if you like herbal bitters. If not, the drinkability is lower.

 

 

Poured into a Gulden Draak tulip. Pours a hazy, medium lime green with a two finger light green head with great retention and thick lacing. Aroma of saison yeast, brett, lemon/lime, grainy malt, sage and other bitters spices. Flavor is grainy malt, brett and saison yeast, lime, bitter herbs like a complex digestive bitters, clove. Finishes with bitter medicinal herbs, brett and light lime. Medium bodied with light creaminess. A truly unique saison, from its odd limeade color (with matching head) to its completely unparseable herb component. The basic saison malt base is like many Fantome saisons, but this is much more intensely herbal and medicinal. The herbs start with an intensity that signals warnings ahead, but end up very pleasant and intriguing and the lime notes are subtle enough to fit in. A very different saison that adds up to much more than its odd components. Also has a flavor density belying its modest 4.5 ABV. Don't know how Fantome pulled this one off.

 

Sort of a pale lime green in color, bit of haze but thankful avoids murk given the color. Little green flecks floating around. Lots of peppers and citrus in the aroma and flavor. Carbonation and body are perfect, refreshing and fluffy. Didn't know anything about this before I popped it, so the color definitely caught me off guard. Really solid beer though, hitting the spot on a hot summer evening.

 

 

Lot c 8 a BB 2021

Bottle. Not as green as I was hoping. Piss yellow. White head with some lace.

Lots of spices and bubbly. Coriander, black pepper, herbal, Belgian yeast, faint citrus. Very earthy, very hoppy, fairly bitter.

 

Very interesting, and strange beer. This saison has been brewed with a melange of herbs that give it a strange green color in the glass reminiscent of a good absinthe. The smell and taste are bitter and grassy, with the slightly sour saison underpinning it all. Although it looks like absinthe, it doesn't have that licorice note, nor is the bitterness really intense like an amaro- just a nice herbal note. Quite good!

 

Consumed 8/18/18

A: Yellow green - yes, this beer is actually a green hue - some haze - pours with a medium sized, off white head, fades to virtually nothing

S: Typical Fantome saison aromas and some extra citrus and spice - earthy, damp cellar and some Belgian funk, distinct Fantome weirdness - some citrus, hints of orange juice and lime - floral spices - some light sweetness, pale malt notes - some additional sweetness, and a vaguely buttery aroma

T: Perhaps a bit sweeter than the "average" Fantome - really nice lemon-lime flavors as well as some hints of tropical fruit - Fantome dusty, damp cellar funk - lots of Belgian funk, with some clove, pepper, and spice - some additional spices as well - medium level of sweetness, with some soft malts and some residual sugar - despite all the notes of sweetness I have mentioned, this is still fairly light and attenuated - finishes clean

M: Medium to light body, medium carbonation, clean finish

O: I want the apple drink, it's green!

I was wondering if this beer would actually have a green tinge to it. Well, after months of waiting, I am pleasantly surprised that it is green. The beer itself is rather charming as well. It has that Fantome charm with an additional level of fruit and spice. Apparently this was only brewed once, but it's worth trying if you have a chance.

 

Nobody knows why this is green and what the secret ingredients are. Its spicy and some lime, and malt. Herbal, not too herbal. Like a sumac peppery. Unique and for experienced saison drinkers. Very nice. Private buying club