Delirium Tremens

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

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

Bottle, pours a clear golden color with plenty of haze. Very full white airy head. Fruity/yeasty aroma with a bit of alcohol in the nose that doesn’t feature too prominently in the taste. Deceptively subtle alcohol flavor masked by a very nice balance of sweet and bitter (neither being too strong). Quite crisp and astringent but with a bit of an oily feel.

On tap at the Kick Off. Taps a clear gold with an initially large but quickly dissipating white head. Aroma has a lot of pale Belgian malt, and some very minor estery notes, with a touch of booze. I do not consider the aroma very impressive. But thankfully the flavour is more satisfying, loads of pale and what almost seems like pils malt. Peach, green apple, and some puckering minor sourness in the finish. Crisp. Feels fairly light for a beer supposedly at 8.5%. A decent blonde Belgian sipper, but it really just has a boosted profile in Ontario due to it’s notorious rejection by the LCBO and Social Responsibility’s Gestapo Division.

On tap and 33cl bottle. Pours a clear golden yellow with a big three finger white foamy head, that subsides to a layer of fine bubbles and leaves nice lacing. Aroma of spicy belgian yeast, apples, and some peach, with a little hint of alcohol. Taste is a nice combination of sweet fruits and spice, with the typical belgian yeast/spice characteristic, that is blended nicely with some apple and pear. As it warms a little bit of banana comes out along with the alcohol. Medium bodied with lively carbonation.

From the backlog: Pours a dark yellow/golden brew, with incredible amounts of bubbles, bits of yeast floating around, and head. It looks like a washing machine gone horribly wrong in the glass! Or a rollercoaster for yeast! I don’t know if the yeast (if that’s what it is) is supposed to be in there, since it was kinda hard to judge when to stop pouring the beer, what with the non-transparent bottle, so that’s probably my fault
But the two inches of thick, creamy head seems to be settling now.
The aroma is definitely malty, with that belgian character which is kinda like coriander. Very interesting flavor, going into all kinds of places! It starts in a kind of cidery, apple-like place, heads into sweetness, then sourness, then spices, I’m thinking black pepper and coriander, then it finishes with a bitter, dry mouthfeel with an alcohol bite at the back of my mouth. Also, there are caramel and peaches in there.
The head lasts a long time.
Overall: Whoa! This both looks and tastes like a rollercoaster! Very interesting beer, and I really enjoy it. I’m a bit worried about my mental and physical health, though, since halfway through this beer I’m already drooling and losing control of my hands.

UPDATED: JAN 20, 2012 Poured from a bottle into a nice thin glass. The appearance is rather sexy, as the bubbles dance around the glass, even appearing to spawn off the sides of the glass. Head is about an inch thick, never really settling into any lacing (perhaps consumed too quickly). The aroma is extremely pleasant, floral and fulfilling with fig and dark fruits, plum even. As soon as I tasted it I immediately got the sweetness of a bitter-sweet toffee, with the smoothness of fig, and followed by creamy carbonation and alcohol. After you give it a chance to warm up, your taste buds bathe in even more robutst flavors as described. Very balanced Belgian strong ale, and by far my favorite brew to come across. Most definitely a treat for those who can find it!

On tap, Dominion on Queen, Toronto. Magnificent. Pale gold pour with generous white head. Lovely fragrant odour, fruits, honey, sweet malts. Light and slightly sweet on the tongue. Taste complex fruits and sweetness some bitterness in the finish.

Smells yummy enough! Pours beautiful dollars hazy golden blond. Smells sour yeasty delicious fruity same on the tongue but excellently balanced funyums. Presentation is rad, unique bottle treatment and at 8.5% I’ll be seein’ pink elephants soon enough. Love it

E’ una birra a tripla fermentazione e ad alta gradazione prodotta dalla birreria belga Huyghe, le cui origini risalgono al 1654 e che ora esporta all’estero il 65% della sua produzione. Delirium Tremens fu creata nel 1988 come risultato di una ricerca volta a realizzare una birra bionda forte, ben strutturata ma moderatamente dolce. Il colore della Delirium Tremens è dorato carico, non limpido a causa della rifermentazione in bottiglia e produce una spuma molto ricca, compatta e persistente. L’aroma molto intenso, dal gusto dolce-amaro, un corpo decisamente pieno ben sostenuto dalla componente alcolica di tutto rispetto.