Sampled @ my one and only THT 2018. Murky yellow color, average sized white head. Smell and taste malts, a bit sweet, slightly bitter. Hard to describe. Nothing really stands out. Ok beer though.

THT July at Kwartje. Bottle. Murky amber. No head. Sweet caramel, weird herbs and spices (genre hint). Big sweet and moderate bitter. Medium body and soft carbonation.

Bottle shared at THT actually July! Massive gusher. Hazy dark golden with short lasting white head. Bready, weird herbs, sugary malts, lots of sourdough, chicken soup, yeast extract, lemon, soft matches. All kind of weird stuff going on. Over medium sweet and just medium bitter. Over medium bodied with quite some carbonation. Interesting.

Fantôme ale dedicated to a friend of the brewer and referencing an old French movie they both like, from a 75 cl bottle of a few years old, bought at De Hopduvel. Bottled with crown cap and cork - and after removing the first, the latter shot out of the bottle neck, launched itself several metres high through the air like a rocket (fortunately we sat outside) and landed on the ground a full second later - this could have gone bad if it had hit someone's eye... Foam spouted out, but the gushing stopped as soon as it came a few instants later so beer loss remained limited. After this rather eventful introduction, the beer poured with a thick, frothy, irregular, cobweb-lacing, egg-white head and misty to cloudy, orangey peach blonde robe with strings of fierce fizz here and there. Aroma of basic Fantôme saison yeast profile larded with quite remarkable, pizza-like spiciness: I get hints of apple peel and fresh peach, but also garlic, tomato sauce as applied to a classic pizza margherita, fried tomato peel, dried thyme, cinnamon, 'speculoos', ginger spice crackers, turnip, curcuma and some onsetting, chicken soup-like oxidation - a combination of aromas which took me a while to get used to, but got increasingly pleasant as all these elements started to blend as the beer breathed and stayed interesting long enough to keep the full 75 cl bottle entertaining. Estery fruitiness in the onset, peachy, stewed purple plums, overripe pear, sourish undertone, medium carb, full and fluffy mouthfeel. Bready, bit caramelly malt base with honeyish residual sugary sweetness, flowing into that strange, garlic-, curcuma- and tomato-coloured spiciness in the finish with quite a lot of yeasty phenols overseeing this weird blend of flavours. The spiciness eventually acquires ginger-, thyme- and cinnamon-like ethereal qualities bringing the whole thing back to familiar Fantôme territory, combined with gin-like, eventually slightly astringent alcohol and lingering bready, earthy yeastiness. Typical old school Fantôme: dirty, bizarrely spiced, very earthy but fascinating and original saison variation. If you don't mind earthy, overspiced Walloons, this is one to try...

Bottle split at 36 Levels Lost, thanks to Leighton, 17/04/18. Clear golden with a decent off white covering. Nose is big on grass, white peppery spice, lemon rind, grains. Taste comprises sweet fruit peel, cracker, lemon drizzle, grains, farmy twang. Medium bodied, fine carbonation, semi drying close. Ok saison.

Bottle shared at the Columbus tasting 17/04/2018. Many thanks! A clear bright orange coloured pour with a fine white head. Aroma is bubblegum, green hop, brambles, grassy, straw, hay, saison. Flavour is composed of semi sweet, spicy saison yeast, green hop, veg. Palate i s frothy airy carbaontion, semi crisp finish. Spicy finish.

17th April 2018
Level 6 bottleshare. Thanks to Leighton and thanks to Ratebeer for again knocking out the search function on Android and forcing me back to paper and pen! Light haze on this gold beer, good cream colour head. Very airy palate, semi dry and with decent fine carbonation. Soft fluffy malts, pretty sweet, some cream. Tangy orange and lemon citrus. Floral citrus. Light spice on the lemony finish. Not bad.

Bottle shared in London - picked up at Clapton Craft. Pours cloudy orange with a big, frothy white head. The nose has rich wheat bread, faint green pepper. Medium to big sweet flavour, lots of wheat bread, honey, white sugar. Full bodied, with massaging carbonation. Warm to hot finish, plenty more wheat bread, alcohol, hay, ripe citrus. Not bad.

Bottle at L6. It pours cloudy copper with a massive off-white head. The aroma is earthy, toasty grain, grass, straw, floury bread, soda water and metallic notes. The taste is crisp, dry, lean, apple skin, pear, lemon peel, grapefruit, sherbet, pithy, melon and earth with a dry finish. Medium body and high, foamy carbonation. Not bad.