Fantôme Saison
Brasserie Fantôme

Fantôme SaisonFantôme Saison
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From:
Brasserie Fantôme
 
Belgium
Style:
Saison
Ranked #93
ABV:
8%
Score:
95
Ranked #1,781
Avg:
4.26 | pDev: 12.91%
Reviews:
860
Ratings:
2,070
Status:
Active
Rated:
Feb 24, 2024
Added:
Jul 24, 2002
Wants:
  527
Gots:
  265
This is a delicious, textural, and fizzy county ale. It is bright gold in colour with citrus notes. It is reminiscent of a good champagne or lambic but in a class all its own.
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Ratings by magictacosinus:
Photo of magictacosinus
Reviewed by magictacosinus from California

4.36/5  rDev +2.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
When I bought this over a year ago at Provisions, I learned about a month later that it was part of a batch that had been severely infected - indeed, it seemed that 1 in 3 bottles were suffering quite badly (according to Dany, it was apparently due to a problem with his mash tank). I had the Saison D'Erezée - Printemps some time later (also part of said batch), and while it wasn't horrible, it was ridiculously smoky and grassy and didn't embody any of the world-class flavors that I've heard Dany's beers contain. I decided to take a risk and banished this to my cellar for over a year, and decided it was time to open it tonight. Poured out of a 750ml bottle into a teku glass.

Opens with a light pop, with no gushing problems. Whew. Still, poured quite beautifully - a deep amber orange with bronze streaks, clear as you could imagine, with a fizzy white head that rises quite gracefully yet eventually dissipates into a ring. No bubbles show. A secondary pour produces a head that's even more caustic, and eventually this leaves behind nothing but minuscule bubbles and no head to speak of. Not my favorite, but all right overall.

Holy shit! This thankfully isn't infected, and I've heard astonishing things about Fantôme's saison aroma profile - and this, my friends, defies all expectations I had. This smells so fruity and luscious, with an absolute perfection in bringing together stone fruit, tropical fruit, light spices, earth, and sweet malt aromas all together. Predominantly, this smells a lot like sweet canned peaches, but it gets better the more I dig in - white nectarines, cantaloupe, green melon, guava, lychee, pineapple, mango, and then some apple and pear no doubt from the yeast strain. So. Delicious. Smelling. With the added elements of vanilla, sugar cream, and toffee, as well as some light white pepper, this smells like the most vivid peach cream crusted pie or peach sorbet ever put into a glass. Unbelievable stuff - lives up to the hype and is easily the greatest aroma I've ever smelled on a saison.

Well, as for the taste... Not as mind blowing, but still definitely delicious. This is where the rustic qualities that Dany's brewing techniques are known for seep through. It has been over a year since I purchased this, so it's no surprise that some of these flavors have taken over the beer at this point. (However, how the hell are they not present in the aroma?) At first, the palate is blasted with a brief grainy smokiness, light lemon grass, as well as dry, yet not coarse, texture resembling toasted tobacco and light leather. Luckily, it finishes with immense stone and tropical fruit, ranging from cantaloupe (this is seriously a melon bomb at this point) to guava, to mango to extremely ripe peaches. Finishes with a wonderful lingering sweetness from the fruity phenols (pears at the end!) with the toasted tobacco note that accentuates the vanilla, toffee, and light honeysuckle - again, creating the pie sensation that really makes this the star of the show. I actually enjoy all of the notes this beer offers, but I seriously do not understand why I feel a gritty smoky flavor assault at the back of the throat after each sip in spite of the beer's apparent lack of bubbles or any infection issues, for that matter. Regardless, this is really memorable stuff - really sticks it to you on what a saison can be.

Wow, this really did deliver - it's as strange and inconsistent as you'd expect a Fantôme beer to be, but it still was very delicious. I will forever remember the aroma on this beer - it's very astonishing and transcends the style as a whole. I wish I could have bought more from this batch, but I was too afraid at the time of any inconsistencies. Regardless, I will definitely make a question to buy more from Dany the next chance I get if I feel confident enough to do so. Salut !
Apr 05, 2014
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 4.67 by rangerred from Tennessee

Feb 24, 2024
 
Rated: 4.35 by BalancingBrooms from California

Jan 15, 2024
 
Rated: 4.19 by not2quick from Missouri

Nov 23, 2023
 
Rated: 4.41 by TheRatCage from Connecticut

Sep 17, 2023
 
Rated: 4.23 by Bartleby91 from Wisconsin

Jul 01, 2023
 
Rated: 3.75 by rare_bird from Michigan

Jun 09, 2023
 
Rated: 4.38 by MGibbons from Maryland

May 26, 2023
 
Rated: 4.51 by Buthrukaur

May 06, 2023
Photo of highdesertdrinker
Reviewed by highdesertdrinker from Arizona

4.25/5  rDev -0.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Pours gold with an average amount of head. Smells musty and funky and strong and you know this is gonna be bold for the style. The taste is sour, dry, and a little bitter at first and then it opens up and you can taste lemon, must, a little grassy, but a prominent, distinctive flavor profile. As saisons go this skews a little towards a sour but it has a few things going on that make it interesting and worth a try, cheers!
Apr 10, 2023
Photo of Orca
Reviewed by Orca from Washington

4.16/5  rDev -2.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
Re-reviewing this one after 12 years since I last had it.

750mL bottle (best before end of 2025) into a tulip. Pours a clear golden color with a clean bright head, lively carbonation

Wow, the funky aroma on this is pungent! All the usual descriptors—barnyard, wet hay, maybe even dank weed—come immediately to mind. Super strong but not off-putting at all. Just a precursor to the unique flavor in store.

Taste is, not surprisingly, funky and strong. Super dry, kind of like Orval on steroids. Grassy, acidic, with a subtle crushed-aspirin finish. The pale malt and unique yeast strain compete for dominance, unified by bitter Old World hops (Noble? Hallertauer? Saaz? No idea).

Mouthfeel is dominated by the lively carbonation that bites at the palate but gives each sip (or gulp) a crisp, clean finish. Maybe mouthfeel is where this beer excels most—it’s just so refreshing, like champagne.

Overall this is just a unique, special beer. Maybe not one I’d go for every day (and at about $23, IIRC, I couldn’t afford to) but this one is different from any other saison out there—it’s simply the most saison-y saison on the market.
_____________________

Previous review (preserved for posterity)
7/22/2011

4.44/5 rDev +4.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
750mL bottle (lot no. b-c, best before Jan. 2013) - thanks tai4ji2x! - poured into a Hennepin glass. Watching a replay of le Tour de France from earlier today, Col du Galibier and Alpe d'Huez - happy belated Belgian Independence Day!

Slightly hazy straw color with a 1-finger head, very minimal carbonation - like almost zero. Huh.

Aroma is typical saison funk, apples, pears, grass, and pepper. Nice and bright.

Taste is very dry and clean - almost like a white wine. Lots of fresh fruit, especially white grapes. Not picking up any Belgian yeasty mustiness, just a dry champagne sweetness, with a lot fewer bubbles.

Mouthfeel is slick, oily, just great.

Now as I get toward the bottom of the second full glass, I'm picking up a Bretty tartness - maybe if I'd cellared this for a year or so there would be more of this.

This saison is extremely drinkable. The only disappointment is the near total lack of carbonation, but even that does not significantly detract from the experience.

It's hard to believe this beer was made with barley and not grapes. It really blurs the line between beer and wine like nothing else I've tried.
Mar 08, 2023
Photo of MikeWard
Rated by MikeWard from Pennsylvania

3.89/5  rDev -8.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
More of a dry sour saison. Not bad, but a little sweeter would have pleased this palate more.
Feb 05, 2023
Photo of LiquidAmber
Reviewed by LiquidAmber from Washington

4.35/5  rDev +2.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Poured into a Gulden Draak tulip. Pours a lightly hazy, medium orange/gold with a four finger white head with great retention and thick lacing; looks nice. Aroma of grainy malt, saison yeast, coriander, lemon and mild summer herbs. Flavor follows with grainy malt, saison yeast with a little funk, coriander, lemon, a touch of honey, apple, hints of light stone fruit; some moderate farmhouse funk in the finish. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess. A great, full flavored saison. Hits all the basics of the style in yeast, light fruit, grain and yeast funk. In addition there are wisps of interesting dried fruit and citrus. Great flavor progression with coriander and grain up front and fruit developing over time, finishing with a drier farmhouse funky bite. Dupont saisons are my benchmark for this style and this is as fine or better. This is a really great brewery. So glad they are available again (sporadically) in our area.
Jan 23, 2023
 
Rated: 4.43 by adosen01 from Minnesota

Jan 21, 2023
Photo of flagmantho
Reviewed by flagmantho from Washington

4.45/5  rDev +4.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
Poured from 750mL corked & capped green bottle into my BeerAdvocate teku. Bottle says best by end of 2025 -- I should be good.

Appearance: medium golden hue with a bit of haze to the body and a huge effervescence. Head is three thick fingers of frothy eggshell foam that leave a nice lace on the glass. I'm kind of surprised the bottle didn't gush at all, given the huge effervescence and persistent head!

Smell: funky malt with a bit of a spicy character and even just a hint of sourness. Classic, refined, and subtle -- good stuff.

Taste: nice light malt, a little fruity-phenolic character (but not too much!), a little bite, some good bitterness ... this is a damn fine saison. Damn fine indeed.

Mouthfeel: medium body with a big carbonation and just massive creaminess. I love it -- with just a little more body it might be perfect, but it's very, very good as it is.

Overall: I knew this beer was going to be above-average, for sure. But I've had Fantôme beers in a green bottle before, and was underwhelmed. Thankfully this one appears to have been treated right, and it is a treat indeed.
Jan 12, 2023
Photo of puck1225
Reviewed by puck1225 from Texas

4.49/5  rDev +5.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
I am so happy I finally got to have this beer! Wonderful beer! So smooth and full bodied. Funky and sweet, great taste! Nice hoppy bitterness. Lemony and spicy. Poured from a bottle into a tumbler. Beautiful foamy, creamy head atop a hazy golden yellow body. Excellent curtain lacing. Hope to get more!
Sep 24, 2022
 
Rated: 4 by GeorgeAKeim from Oregon

Aug 29, 2022
 
Rated: 4.2 by _Adam_ from Maryland

Aug 25, 2022
Photo of MonDak_Joe1953
Reviewed by MonDak_Joe1953 from Minnesota

4.28/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
750ml green bottle. Corked and capped.
Mostly clear, pale gold colored body. Lots of pillowy white head; it takes a few pours to get a full glass. Keeps the foam as the beer is consumed.
Aroma is clear with Belgian yeast, with green apple and citrus.
Taste is similar to a champagne but with more yeast (slightly sour, but in a good way). Citrus and pear. Long fade out in the aftertaste.
Medium mouth feel with some effervescence. Hints at dryness, but this is from the yeast. Very expressive carbonation.
Thirst quenching, and has that yeast bite. Yummy.
Aug 20, 2022
Photo of larryi86
Reviewed by larryi86 from Delaware

4.31/5  rDev +1.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
750 ml bottle poured into a tulip

A- A hazy golden copper with a large fluffy white head.

S- Wonderfully funky, apricots, pears, some oak, musty, cloves, earthy spices, some lemon zest, touch of wheat.

T- Funky, musty, pears, some wheat, hints of apricots, cloves, earthy spices, touch of lemon zest.

M- Smooth, lively carbonation, light body.

O- Best Fantôme bottle I’ve gotten so far, taste doesn’t live up to the nose but still a great saison that gets better as you drink it.
Jun 17, 2022
Fantôme Saison from Brasserie Fantôme
Beer rating: 95 out of 100 with 2070 ratings