Delirium Noël

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

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

2002 bottle, Sampled January, 2004
This holiday beer pours a pretty amber-deep copper color that is quite striking in the light. It is topped by a thick tan head. It is well carbonated with bubbles escaping from the bottom of my glass in a frenzied stream. Smells lightly musty with dark fruit overtones that are accompanied by a slightly sharp spicy aroma. Tastes smooth and rich up front. A prickling carbonation coats the tongue as it slides down my throat. Finishes with a musty-yeasty-fusel type character which is a bit sharp. The fruitiness of this beer combines really well with the sweet-caramel-raisin dark malt character. This beer is dominated by the dark fruit character. It has a medium light body, which works well here. There is also some spice notes in this beer that remind me of coriander.

Big beer aroma - stewed fruity, candied, brown sugar, a bit musty, alcohol. Fun label, faux-crockery bottle, red foil covered cork-n-cradle, mostly clear medium brown beer, thin head earn good appearance marks. Too tart. Spicy and warming, woody bittering, not too sweet, vanilla. Tart-bitter finish with some candied/caramelized aftertastes. Technically good, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I was hoping.

Classic Belgian dubbel appearance, wonderful bruin and attractive lacing. Requires some warming to release flavors, but still not particularly rich and flavorful--too strong of alcoholic and acidic overtones. Decent palate, satisfying in its alcohol warming, but not a brilliant beer in its style.

Bottled. Rich, frothy head on a amber brown pour. Strong, sweet malty aroma, oranges and heavy spices. Hint of bugspray. Super spciy taste, sugary sweetness is second, alcohol slick third. Alcohol burns through the end. I think I prefer the tremens.

Light bitter aroma. Spicy & sweet. Cherry skin, pear, & fruity. Dark ruby brown & bit cloudy with lacing off-white head. Medium carb & body. Sweet malt. Fruity, port, yeast. Alcohol. Spicy, pepper. Sweet heavy finish & nutty sweet after. Light bitter.

33cl, from De Hopduvel Gent, complex X-Mas brew, cloudy, rocky head, good brew

Hazy red brown with a beige head. Aroma is sweet, dried fruit, yeasty and spicy. Flavor is medium sweet. Full bodied with a soft and pleasant finish where the alcohol warms the throat. Lovely Belgian christmas ale. 301210

2006 vintage 33cl bottle. Pours to a vibrant reddish amber body that’s full of medium particulate. Likely broken up chunks of settled yeast. A thin creamy white head sits on top. The aroma is very strong with yeasts, yellow apples, light cinnamon. The flavor is a nice yeasty apple bomb with cinnamon and nutmeg. The palate is sweet, smooth, nicely carbonated, and warming.