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Fantôme Pissenlit
Just dandy
BY MIKE MILIARD
Previous Columns

Most American brewers would be wise to avoid including the letters P, I, S, and S in their beers’ appellations — at least in that order. But the Belgians can get away with it: pissenlit is the French word for "dandelion." Literally translated, it means "pee the bed."

Why? Because it’s a diuretic. So you’d be forgiven for thinking the venturesome brewers at Brasserie Fantôme, in Soy, Belgium, are a little kooky to concoct a beer using the bumper crop of dandelions that sprout around the brewery’s farmhouse every spring. Still, you’d be wrong.

This is a saison, a top-fermenting Belgian style meant for the warmer months that’s supposed to be fairly light, refreshing, and often a little sour. From its green bottle, Pissenlit pours as a gorgeous, slightly opaque deep orange, topped by a creamy dense head. The striking, airy aromas come right away: grass, fresh greens, sharp citrus.

The brewing process involves drying bushels of the yellow-flowered weeds and soaking them for days into a dark and pungent "tea," which is then married to more traditional brewing ingredients like hops and malt. But lest you think this innovation would lead to a bitter, puckering brew, rest assured that this one is no such thing. Instead, it revels in the herbal and citrus notes. It’s a little yeasty, a little musty, very lemony, with complex, shifting layers of sweet and tart. Just as pleasing — and surprising — is its rich, almost creamy consistency.

And, despite its name, as long as you don’t overdo it with this eight-percent-ABV libation, you shouldn’t need plastic sheets.

Available for $10.50 for a 750-ml bottle at Charles Street Liquors, 143 Charles Street, in Boston. Call (617) 523-5051.


Issue Date: May 27 - June 6, 2005
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