Hermine
Brasserie Fantôme

another from the animals friends project, which is cool. this is solid witbier, funky and saison-esque, not as good as their blanche, which is gold standard level, but a fun one to ring the new year in with, and a bottle ive been looking forward to for a little while now, cool art on this one. loud pop when the cork comes out, real high headed and well conditioned, super carbonated and kind of hard to tame even, light hazy, starchy pale yellow straw colored, real lively and airy and inviting. the nose is cool, so fantome, but with a little more spice and citrus to the ferment, saison adjacent to my nose with some white pepper and those fruity esters, but here also some almost lime zest character adding a pop of acidity to me, and a whole lot of wheat underneath for a beer this effortless to drink, nice earthiness from it, dry the whole way, lemon lime soda, lemongrass, chamomile, white tea, hay, and pear, rustic and interesting, lightly funky without being bretty, very unique, and so is the flavor, lime again in the center, light tartness to it without it being bacterial, generic citrus too, raw wheat, high minerality, subtle almost woodiness, meadow flowers in late summer, trace coriander, black pepper, and cumin seed or something, warms up great, takes on some white wine character, stays fermentation forward, bergamot and jasmine at the end, juicy in a way, quenching and fascinating at the same time, and my bottle is gone way way way too fast, they always seem to be. insane effervescence to this, a wonderful feature for something wit-like, and with some green glass character creeping in, but this is not yet oxidized past its brightness. excellent.

Rooted in much of the most rustic saisons on the market, yet built like a witbier, Fantome brewers look toward warmer weather with the other farmhouse ale of agrarian Belgium.

Pouring a foggy and pale lemon hue, Hermine carries its bleached cloudiness under a racy white cap. As the perfume of coriander and bitter orange carry a fresh and fragrant scent over a musty character of weathered woods, cellar-like funk and damp burlap. Those racy bubbles bounce on the tongue with a brief introduction of cookie dough maltiness before bouncing into a dry cereal character. Mild fruitiness of grapefruit, orange and lemon are soon superseded with a bold spice profile of coriander, white pepper, vinous woods, grassy hops and an earthy cumin blend. Dry, crisp and refreshingly rustic, the ale may start with a witbier but finishes very much saison-like.

As a premiere and most traditional farmhouse ale maker, Fantome continues to show imagination without losing their identity. Another stellar beer by the brewery.