Fantôme Santé 16! - Brasserie Fantôme

DavoleBomb

Ohio

4.78/5  rDev +18.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 5

Poured into a tulip. Like almost all Fantome bottles, I needed a few pours to get a full glass.

4.5 A: Moderately hazed orange yellow color. Big frothy white head with great retention and tons of super thick lacing.

4.5 S: Peach, lemon, lime, pear, and apple give a powerful fruitiness. Peach is incredibly potent and thus needs another mentioning - almost like peach rings. It also has a generic citrus fruitiness underneath. This may very well be the fruitiest nose I've ever encountered in a saison. Hay, grass, and musty basement type funk secondary to all the fruit. Also a minor tartness that itself is fruity in nature. One hell of a nose.

5.0 T: The taste is almost as fruity as the nose. There's a hell of a lot of peach again, then lemon and lime (which seems to be a recurring character in the Sante series), pear, and apple. However, the taste is a lot more earthy and wild than the nose. Hay and grass, but also apple orchard, forest after a rain, and the season of fall in general. The interplay between the fruits and the funk works really well, creating a supremely complex beer that also exhibits integrating of the flavors. Lastly, you'll find plenty of woodiness, floral wildflowers, dirt, and a mild herbalness. The only thing I'd change is that I'd lower the bitterness a bit, but it's well within the normal range and I'm nitpicking. Fabulous beer and the best Sante yet (excluding the many I haven't had).

4.0 M: Medium body. A bit too much carbonation, but a few swirls takes care of that problem. My only complaint is that the carbonation is less spritzy than I'm used to from Fantome. I like the spritz and it works well in saisons in general, but it isn't as present in this as I'd like.

5.0 D: Supremely drinkable. This is a hell of a beer. Insane complexity and every flavors exists harmoniously with the rest of them. Highly recommended.

Serving type: bottle

11-10-2012 00:25:42 | More by DavoleBomb

t0rin0

California

3.5/5  rDev -13.2%

03-30-2013 22:48:48 | More by t0rin0

GRG1313

California

4.25/5  rDev +5.5%

03-02-2013 20:27:02 | More by GRG1313

Snarf103

4.5/5  rDev +11.7%

02-12-2013 05:22:44 | More by Snarf103

Thorpe429

Illinois

3.15/5  rDev -21.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

Bottle from Etre Gourmet. Shared with yourefragile. Served in a Fantome tulip. Nose is fairly fruit with a little bit of malt in the background. Touch of bread yeast in the flavor. Body is dry. Very dry. Hopefully this was just a "miss" bottle, as I really didn't care for it.

Serving type: bottle

12-16-2012 19:47:54 | More by Thorpe429

MasterSki

Illinois

4.18/5  rDev +3.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Bottle from Etre Gourmet. Served in a Hill Farmstead tulip.

A - Giant foam that occupies a large portion of the glass before settling to a thick cap and splotchy lace. Hazy peach flesh body.

S - As usual, there's something uniquely Fantôme about this aroma. It's a bit heartier and sweeter than the regular Saison, and it features a tropical fruit melange, some Pez-esque candy flavors, pineapple funk, peppery yeast, stone fruit malts, a bit of musty attic, and some grass and herbal dandelion bitterness.

T - Again, huge stone and tropical fruits, Pez-like candy, dank basement, and a fairly hefty amount of bitterness in the finish; guessing there are some Euro hops and perhaps some dandelion or other herbs. Good balance, with the latter bitter flavors balancing the initial fruity sweetness. There's a Gala apple aftertaste the mixes flesh and skin. No booze present.

M - Soft, but active carbonation. Medium body, chewy texture, and a mildly grainy and dry finish. Quite nice, and again there's no alcohol presence.

D - A very enjoyable Saison that's a bit heftier than most, including regular ol' Fantôme (even though this is actually lower in alcohol content). Hard to compare to anything else, and I'm guessing there's significant bottle variation as the beer yourfragile describes in his review is nothing like the one I had. I'd buy it again if it were available in the US, but it's a bit too pricey to order from overseas again.

Serving type: bottle

12-01-2012 04:09:37 | More by MasterSki

JAHMUR

Connecticut

4.25/5  rDev +5.5%

09-11-2012 17:32:05 | More by JAHMUR

CelticAleMan

California

3.75/5  rDev -6.9%

09-04-2012 06:56:02 | More by CelticAleMan

yourefragile

District of Columbia

3.95/5  rDev -2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

750 mL bottle shared with Thorpe.

Pours a cloudy dark copper with a retentive foamy cream colored head. Head fades to a thin film and thin streaks of lace. Aroma has a bready malt base with grains, grass, lemon, and cardboard. Flavor is a little more appealing and fruity than nose, cherry, lemon, cinnamon, and brown sugar. Medium thick body, soft effervescent carbonation. Not quite as enjoyable as Sante 15 was fresh, but a solid dark Fantome regardless.

Serving type: bottle

08-31-2012 01:18:17 | More by yourefragile