Fantome Hiver

Looking at notes from March, 2004, back when we had winter in March, for the first time I had this tasty saison:

Label says "Winter", but I can only assume this is the "Hiver", and, while only days ago, I thought it was the beginning of "printemps", well, we got dumped on by 8 inches of snow, here in early March in my little frozen corner of the world, and it's Hiver all over again, why not enjoy it!

Un cap, un cork, POP!!!...ah!...gorgeous, hazy orange color, with a good, buzzing, slight layer of foam above.

Aroma is sour and must with a good portion of citrus, fresh and full, but dominated by this musty orange character.

Taste: puckering ...biting...totally sour flavor, softly fading, leaving a touch of sweet citric quality behind. Let's try again...briefly biting hops, then that sourish pucker, ooh!!!, then after a bit, sweet orange and lemon, tasty...not what I expected from a winter brew when the autumnal variety had such a variety of flavors at it's disposal.

A good saison, but surprising as a "winter beer". Terribly interesting, this, with that never-ending tango of sweet, then sour, then back, then forth, a complex brew, invigorating, delicious, spicy, yet sublime ...
 hurrah for Fantome, I say it loud and proud!