Delirium Noël

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

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

send corrections   |   shelftag   |   edit barcodes   |   add pic

Big creamy head. Malty aroma with a hint of red berries. Alcoholic and sharp. Malty flavor with apples and red berries. Nutty bitter aftertaste. I really don't understand the high ratings. The beer isn't well balanced at all. The alcohol dominates.

Bottle: Poured a medium amber color ale with a super huge foamy and creamy off-white head with perfect retention. Aroma of cinnamon and another spices which results in a weird perfume that doesn’t excite my olfactory sense. Taste is also dominated by that weird perfume that I have a hard time to pinpoint. I also noticed some sweet malt. Body is real creamy with a good lacing. Alcohol is very well hidden. Even though Belgian Christmas beer is not a well-defined style, there are still some things that I expect (high ABV, full body, spice mix…) which I couldn’t find in here.

Bottled. Clear orange coloured with a medium sized off white head. Acidic aroma with notes of spices and bread. Acidic flavour of spices, fruits, yeast and bread.

Draught at Café Delirium, Göteborg, Sweden. Clear reddish brown with a small off-white head. Sweet, alcoholic, and spicy. Not my favourite belgian.

Quite light color. Alcohol, caramel and spicyness are the main elements, but the alcohol is far too obvious. Could benefit from prolonged storage?

Bottle. Cloudy brown colour with an off-white head. Big chunks of yeast floating around. Aroma: estery, fruity, yeasty, sweet, pears, almonds. Flavor: sweet, fruity, yeasty, alcoholic, slightly fenolic, spices, sugar.

I had high expectations for this one - both because of its excellent little brother, Delirium Tremens, but also perhaps due to the stylish, rustique-like clay bottle and charming xmas label. The fact is, when you are up against so much competition among the holiday winter seasonals, you better make sure to get a mighty fine brew if you’re going out as strong image-wise as Delirium Christmas. Unfortunately, it does not quite deliver. The beer pours a clear, nougat transparency covered by a thin, off-white head that vanishes quickly. It reminds me of a common dark lager more than any Belgian Strong Ale, and the smell seems a bit immature and too vinous. The taste follows the track of my nose, revealing a poorly hidden high alcohol content which can only be forgiven because of the warm, christmasy feeling it generates in my system. Nevertheless, plums, figs, raisins and dark malts scatter around in my mouth, somehow reminding me more of a port wine than a beer. The various aromas could’ve been better fused (maybe I should have saved it for 2010), but my tongue eventually becomes more accustomed and ends up finding the overall result rather nice, if not exactly memorable. I long for some kind of aftertaste to add to my scrutiny, but little is to be found. However, the thin, barely existing palate does make it very drinkable, which comes in handy in those holiday situations requiring a fast intoxication curve in order to get through the evening without trauma. As a stand-alone xmas brew, however, it doesn’t quite stand up to most of the other seasonals. At least not from it’s native country.

Cork popped on its own after I removed the cage. Poured from bottle into Maudite glass. Head about 1", foamy shaving cream type, and pretty pure white; sinks down to a thinnish but persistent layer. Liquid is dark brown with a little bit of red hue in the light. Aroma has a lot of metal in addition to the expected dark fruit, brown sugar, and candy. Flavor is rich and sweet, with a sharp note of bitterness. Spicy, even. Mouthfeel is extremely light and dry for a beer of this strength. No alcohol detected anywhere. Interesting in some ways, but overall a bit harsh.

Bottled @ Punavuoren Ahven. . Appearance is like clear coca-cola’ish coffee. Aroma is malty, blackberrish and alcoholish, unpleasant. Taste is disappointing to me. Dark yeasty malts and alcohol, pretty much nothing else...

Ruby with little head. Aroma sweet candysugar, chocolate, metallic. Taste sweet candymalt, alcohol, metallic. Medium/full body text smooth, finish metallic.