I’ve been fully immersing myself in the beers of Belgium these days, and that means (a little bit more) than just drinking a lot of beers from that great country. I’ve been reading books, brewing styles, and doing research on what makes the beers of Belgium so distinct, and why they are so capable of capturing the imaginations of thousands of brewers around the world, especially here in the states. I feel it’s safe to say that aside from the Hop-Crazed IPAs and “Ageworthy” Stouts, Belgian styled beers are some of the most complex and interesting to be produced by American brewers. In 2008 alone several renowned breweries, including Avery, Russian River, Allagash, Port, and Captain Lawrence, have released beers which stand firmly rooted in the Belgian tradition of “wild” or “sour” beers, and finally these beers are about as high quality as any Belgian offerings.
Brasserie Fantome, a small brewery started in 1988 in Soy, Belgium by Dany Prignon is in many ways the quintessential Belgian “farmhouse” brewery. Fantome produces a variety of beers, all of which can be safely classified as “Saisons.” What a Saison is, as a style, is a lengthy description better left to the experts, but essentially it’s a historical style which was created by any one of the myriad of home farmhouse breweries in Belgium in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Farms made beer to sustain themselves and workers who would come to work on their farms, as beer was a safer (and clearly more delicious) alternative to drinking water for hydration and health. Saison was typically a low ABV beer, but this has changed over time. As farms faded away, breweries consolidated, and the tastes for beer became more mainstream, Saison as a style became more rarefied. Today it means any number of things, and Fantome does everything it can to blur these definitions.
I’ve recently been lucky enough to sample two offerings from Fantome, which produces beers that are apparently never made the same way twice, and widely vary in quality and ingredients. The Chocolat is a Saison made with Hot Peppers and Chocolate, and pours a beautiful orange color with a quickly dissappearing head. The “Heat” from the Peppers was all but gone by the time I got to his Chocolat, but the chocolate was present in the aftertaste of this amazingly weird beer. Tartness is nicely balanced by a full bodied brew that goes down smooth and continuously changes as this beer sits out. Stinky and I shared a bottle of this while we were camping and I was amazed at the different notes that come out of this beer as it warms up — everything from cheese, chocolate, sweetness from the malt, to a touch of bitterness from the hops comes at you when you sniff, which I did quite a lot. The flavors are the same, mysterious, beguiling, but very pleasurable. A hard to describe beer that is very worth grabbing if it crosses your path.
The Brise-BonBons (or “Ball Breaker”) is an apparent message to the “Tough” people of the world who insist on breaking balls, talking shit, and not doing anything about it. Farm from an empty threat, this beer, which I sampled on tap at Spuyten Duyvil in Brooklyn, is quite a statement. Supposedly “hoppier” than Fantome’s other offerings, this beer still lacks much bitter bite, but presents a fuller and more clear approach to the sour Saison style. Funky all the way through, but crisp and full-bodied, the Brise-BonBons suffers from none of the “Light Struck” qualities that Fantome’s beers often possess, packaged as they are in green bottles. Because there was no skunk to be found, the full range of flavors shines through, which I am currently at a complete loss to describe. So don’t worry, or listen to my descriptions anyway, just track the beers down, and pretend you’re in the Belgian countryside. It’s windswept and idyllic, and you’re tipsy on true artisinal beer. What more could you ask for?
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