Delirium Nocturnum

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

Bottle. Dark amber color. Big foamy head that goes away fast. Dark fruit aroma and vanilla flavor. Nice mix of dark fruits and spice, alcohol is well hidden.Ends up being a little too sweet, but still a great one.

Bottle. 11.2 oz. Split this bottle with Braden to christen my Tremens glasses. Pours hazy amber with a smooth, beige head. Aroma of raisins, figs, honey, barley, yeast, bread, and hints of banana and soil. Warm, soft moutfeel with a sturdy body and nice, easy finish. Great Belgian strong.

Very dark beer with a medium beige head. Aroma is groundy, with hints of red wine. Flavor is bitter and sour, reminiscent of chocolate with sour cherries. Nice beer, although not that special.

On tap in LA. Pours mud brown with a big white head. Sits pretty in a delirium snifter! Aroma is quite strong of toasted nuts and caramel. Flavor starts with a nutty, milk chocolate flavor, and moves towards dried dark fruit. The middle and finish of this beer, however, emerge disappointing. There is this earthy, almost minerally and sugary flavor present that I find quite striking, and not entirely pleasant. I can’t quite place it, but a big gulp of Nocturnum will most certainly reveal this same flavor. Perhaps it is the alcohol bitterness blending unsatisfactorily with the chocolate and nuts. Overall, yes this beer is obviously drinkable, but it’s really not up to par with other similar Belgian strong dark ales.

Bottle. Pours a hazy brown with a creamy tan head. Sugar and malt are key in the aroma and flavor. Also fruit, vanilla, and chocolate. Medium body and a bit too much carbonation. A little syrupy on the palate and finishes sweet. Pretty enjoyable despite being a little too sweet and bubbly.

(750ml corked and caged bottle) Pours a cloudy dark brown, nice light tan head, good bubbles and lacing. Nose is plastic, brown sugar, and dark Belgian candi sugar. Taste is sweet malts, has a coffee finish, nicely carbonated and good weight to the body. Also getting some artificial sweetener tastes towards the end, but overall I really enjoyed this.

750 ml. 2008 bottle. Lots of malts and sugar in this beer. Far less of everything else. Dark brown body with a nice fizzy tan head. The aroma is sweet with caramel, molasses and brown sugar. Hints of plum and overripe fruit and the slightest hint of mustiness. The flavor is heavily sweet with very little bitterness. It finishes moderately sweet and lightly bitter. Medium body, watery texture and prickly carbonation. It seems some Belgian strong ales keep presenting different taste profiles with every sip. This is not one of them perhaps because of the sweetness — a sweetness, however, that is not cloying. Overall, less complex than better strong ales, but enoyable nonetheless.

The pour was brown and amber, slightly cloudy but effervescence streamed up through the muck. The head was light tan, creamy and had some tiny flecks of brown on top of it after I dumped the floaties on top. Looked nice. The aroma was light yeast, plenty of malts, caramel and some dark cherry and light spice. The flavor is dominated by spice and yeast with some dark fruits coming out as it opened up. The mouthfeel was thin to medium in body and I thought the alcohol heat was very well masked. Considering it’s dark appearance and 9% ABV I thought this one might be a bit of a chore but I found it to be really approachable.