Fantome Saison Review

Fantome is a true tradition farmhouse brewery located in Belgium. The brewer, Dany Prignon, pushes the envelope and creates some truly wonderful, but very small batch, beers all inspired by the Saison style. No two batches are ever the same from Fantome, which is both the blessing and the curse of this brewery. You can have the most delicious Saison you've ever had and the next bottle you buy may be completely different. It's all part of the fun, and risk, of Fantome.

Appearance: Fantome Saison pours a light golden straw that is hazy and impossible to see through. This isn't just a little hazy, we're talking hazy like a Hefeweizen! There's an anemic white head on top that looks precarious and vanishes too fast to even get a picture of it.

Smell: Upon pouring the first drop, the entire room smelled like Saison! It was funky, earthy and slightly tart smelling. When you stick your nose in the glass there is a touch of vinegar and some lemon, as well... almost like a Gueuze (Lambic). This beer smells amazing for a hot day. Dry and mildly tart, it just smells refreshing! Also, at 8% abv you don't pick up any alcohol. That's pretty impressive.

Taste: Bone dry. Let us repeat this for emphasis. This beer is bone dry. It's slightly tart, which is emphasized by the dryness (which is wonderful). There's a bit of tartness here, as indicated by the smell, and a great lemon aftertaste. There is no lemon added to this beer, so that's all from the yeast and is definitely a super natural flavor. This brew has a lot going on in it, and we're trying to capture as much as we can. There's a nice wheatyness, it's almost chalky but in a really good way. This would be a great beer for a hot summer day, especially after doing some yard work or playing some basketball... but watch out! At 8% abv the alcohol is imperceptible and will definitely sneak up on you. It's so dry and refreshing, and even the carbonation is just spot on! It's not too bubbly, just light and effervescent enough to be refreshing.

This is definitely a beer to seek out if you like the Saison style. Pour yourself a glass, sit back and be whisked to the Belgian countryside. Just keep in mind, Fantome is a very small farmhouse brewery, so every once in a while there are some bad bottles. We've probably bought at least 50 bottles over the years and ran into our first flat bottle the other day. But, that said, the variety is part of the charm and the risk is well worth the reward.