Delirium Noël

Brewed by Brouwerij Huyghe
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Melle, Belgium

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

Bottle. Clear coppery amber pour with a short-lived beige head. Aroma has notes of currants, raisins, blueberries, caramel, cola and grapes. Flavour is very similar to the aroma with lots of fruit, well hidden alcohol and a nice balance between malt, hops and sugar. Light, slightly oily, mouthfeel with prickly carbonation and a lingering bittersweet, mildly sour finish. I think this has changed, like all the Delirium beers, in the last 3 or 4 years but this is still a great ale of it’s type and one of the better Christmas ales going around.

Big and red but not made for a 30 degree c Australian christmas day. Very sweet. Fell asleep for the afternoon.

Hazy and amber-colored, with a a thin head that doesn’t last. Notes of citrus, spice, and yeast. Has more alcohol than you would think.

Bottle/750ml - Pours a darkish amber in color with a very small white head and plenty of floating yeasty bits. Aroma is slightly sweet and quite fruity with mostly dark fruits. Flavor is also a bit sweet initially with lots of the dark fruit (prunes, dates, figs, etc.) and some caramel or brown sugar. Yeast is definitely Belgian in origin and its fruity esters add to the overall fruitiness of the beer. Alcohol is well masked, but definitely creates a warming as it goes down. Not much for spices, but I liked it anyway. Worth repeating.

Pours burgundy in color with an intense white head. Typical Belgian yeast aroma mixed with dark fruits. Flavor starts sweets with mostly fruit and yeast and ends in a semi-dry finish. Well done.

750 ml bottle into snifter. Pours slightly hazy dark red color with a dense 1 finger off white head with good retention. Aromas of cherries, dark fruit, molasses, spices, and Belgian yeast. Taste of sweet cherries with spices, and dark fruits, with lingering sweetness of fruits on the finish. Some slight alcohol warming after the finish, but overall very well hidden for 10%. Damn impressive and tasty for a Belgian, and this tops the Nocturnum for me. Great!

Smells of heavy malts, that particular yeast and %. Not a crazy head pour, but really great lacing, it’s fairly dark but you can just see through it, not too heavy on particulates. It’s quite sweet and heavy on the flavour, the yeast and the % definately come through in the end, not getting a lot of spices or anything. It’s nice and bubbly just like the other deliriums and leaves a great sweet yeast taste.

Amber, not much head. Belgian yeasty aroma. Some malt and a decent amount of spices in the taste - enough to make you recognize it has a Christmas’y beer. Not much carbonation. Not really my favorite type of beer I guess...