Delirium Noël

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

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

(Bottle at Delirium Cafe, Bryssels) Hazy amber, nice offwhite head. Aroma from cinnamon, juniperberries, fruity from grapes and some sweet fruits. Malty vinous flavor with figs, nuts, vanilla and some alcohol. Vinous finish.

Clear orange beer with a thin fast disappearing off white head. Malty and yeasty aroma with a peach fruityness and a light alcohol note. Malty flavor with a sharp alcohol note, light peppery dry finish.

UPDATED: DEC 20, 2003 Head is initially large, fizzy, off-white, fair lacing, mostly diminishing. Body is murky medium amber, bottle conditioned. Aroma is moderately malty (cookie, caramel), lightly hoppy (flowers), lightly yeasty (mold/dishrag), with notes of sugar/bubblegum, peach, orange, and apricot. Flavor is heavily sweet, moderately acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is moderately sweet, moderately acidic, moderately bitter. Medium to full body, creamy and syrupy texture, lively carbonation, moderately alcoholic. Less than enticing Huyghe house character, but the aroma is fairly pleasant otherwise (fruity). Sugary sweet, but with enough tart and bitter qualities to keep it drinkable. Not bad for this brewer.

Peach/amber color with a small head and nice lace. Aroma is more fruity than spicy in aroma, whereas the tremens is the other way around I think. Also had some wine-like characteristics. It is very hard to notice any alcohol aside for some in the smell- especially since it is 10%. Got much more complex- with some malty flavors and slightly fruiter as it warmed. I liked this one much better then tremens(which I thought was too hot and spicy with too much carbonation)- Noel is just right- well done.

UPDATED: JAN 25, 2006 Re-rate, Bottled: Aroma of sweet apple and orange. Red color, beige head, good lace. Very sweet, sourness underneath, light bitter, orange, light spices. Pretty full and warming. Nicely balanced. Jan 2005, 2.7, Tap: On tap at ’t Tribunaal in Tilburg. Very spicy, malty aroma. Dark brown color, off-white head that diminishes fast, fair lace. Sweet, overwhelming spices, malty, full, little sticky, warming. Too much of it all for me. Couldn’t finish a whole glass.

Near rudy color with a tall off white head and sheets of lace. Strong nose of yeast, dark fruit and touch of licorice. Sweet earthy malt flavors with undertones of dark fruits and dry yeast. Acidic in the finish. Not as clean as the DTs.

A well aged corked bottle that I have had around for quite some time and just now got around to drinking, served in my St Bernardus chalice, some cork leakage detected on the bottle:

Displays a deep bronze hue with a quickly disappearing fizzy head but traces of carbonation still come forth, leaves a oily film on the glassware. The aroma has notes of ripe apricot and fig, juniper berry and light coriander, caramelized and bready malts, honey and other earthy and vinous esters. The taste starts with sweet ripened fruits and heavy malting with an interesting twang on the sides of the tongue that is both spicy and even a bit salty. There is a bit of sherry like note giving a vinous quality to the finish. While the beer is warming, it is not powerful and seem to flame out at the end. The aftertaste had both lingering white pepper and honey notes. Smooth and lush but much like the taste it falls just short of a knockout. Aging may have mellowed it out too much, I don’t know. My least favorite of the three Delirium releases but still worthy of another try .

Draught at Bishops Arms (Avenyn) Gothenurg, Sweden in December 2005.
Red/brown color with a creamy head. Typical Belgian strong beer scent and flavour. Not really a Christmas beer though, since I didn’t find it very spicy at all. Not too much different from their Nocturnum as I can recall it.