Day 76: Hiver

Name: Hiver

Brewer: Fantome - Belgium

Style: Belgian Seasonal Ale

Alcohol Content: 8%


Review: Happy St Patrick's Day. I considered maybe trying to be clever and review bud light or an Irish Car Bomb, but this blog is already laden with enough humor as is, so I'll just stick to the point. Besides, the Fantome is a winter beer, which I sampled in the Spring time, and I'm finally posting it in late May. That's crazy enough to make this a somewhat ironic post. There's nothing Irish at all about the Hiver. It's another typical looking Belgian beer, but proves to be quite tasty. The color is a cloudy orange, most likely due to some yeast and bottle fermentation. From the color, I was expecting a Belgian Single flavor. The aroma also lead me to that same conclusion: spicy and citrusy. This beer came to me as a recommendation from Lugo. He's a Belgian beer fan, especially Chimay. I was a bit reluctant to have to drink a 750 mL bottle of spicy citrusy beer, but those concerns were soon quelled. I actually really enjoyed it. The flavor IS a bit spicy with a slight tartness to it and just a dash of hops. Some yeastiness also powers through. One would expect this from the cloudy appearance. Hiver does a good job of balancing the tart citrus flavor of most Belgian singles to make this a very drinkable beer. Most bad Singles leave a finish that's too tart/sour for me, and kind of kills the expereince. However, I had no problem polishing off the entire bottle of Hiver.

Rating: 4.25/5

Recommend? YES.