Delirium Noël

Deep mahogany amber crytal clear color with a medium frothy light-tan head. Aroma is alcoholic, yeasty and dark dried fruits with a bit of spice and caramel. Flavor is big dark caramelly malts. Well balanced with a bit of spices and come alcoholic notes toward the end as it warms in my mouth.

Appearance: Redish brown. Very little head. Aroma: Fruit, prunes. Bit of alcohol. Sweet. Taste: Sweet, fruit. Raisins? Warming. Quite nice. Info: 330ml bottle, 11/2-2008

11.2oz bottle from Whip-in at home on June 30, 2008; Sample at December 12, 2008 Beer Club meeting. The opener rips the red foil-covered cap off the faux-ceramic bottle with a light *pfsht*. Thing about colored bottles is you have no idea what’s inside them until you pour. The suspense thickens. Pours a comfortable Belgian color into my snifter, leaving a thick light-brown head that’s very fizzy - so much that it pops itself away in about 15-20 seconds, leaving no lacing and a light but constant supply of bubbles rising to the surface. Looks clear, but thick from a birds-eye view but more solid from the side. Aroma is of spice, yeast, and sweet malts. Flavor... very yeasty and spicy - not too malty, but just enough. A fine balance. What struck me the most is the immediate tingling I felt on the tip of my tongue as the beer first enters the mouth. A warm body, sweet, goes down easy. Can’t even tell this is 10% ABV. My tongue would guess 8% max. Leaves a spicy aftertaste, rising from the throat. Very cool beer. Love the floaties.

This is a fantastic Belgian beer that really sneaks up on you. It’s 10% ABV but doesn’t taste like it. It goes down very smoothly. I just drank one in about 10 minutes. My bottle actualy says Christmas on it and it’s directly from Belgium. I haven’t seen one that says Noel before. No wonder there’s a pink elephant on the bottle. You’ll see them if you drink these too fast!

Bottle from River’s Bend. Poured hazy brown color with a large fizzy brown head that was mostly lasting with excellent lacing. Aroma was as complex heavy spicy sweet and yeast. Medium body with a smooth texture. Heavy dark fruit bittersweet flavor with a heavy bittersweet finish with medium alcohol bite. Good brew.

Pours dark amber/brown with tan head. Aromas of candy sugar and dark fruits. Flavor is sweet figs and plums, caramel and yeast. Medium body with lively carbonation and a slightly syrupy mouthfeel. Good stuff.

Beautiful red-orange-amber, big off-white head with thick lace. Delicious aromas of barley candy, candied orange peel, and lots of spice. Sweet and warm palate, lots of toffee and fruity yeast, brandy, ginger, mace... lots of great stuff! A very satisfying beer.

The beer pours a red amber with a thin but long lasting light brown head. The beer is very hazy and lightly filtered, there are very large chunks of stuff floating in the beer, which just adds to it’s drinkability. The beer is a complex mix of fruit, spice yeast and a hint of wood. The fruity note come out as a mix of dark fruit, cranberries, plums and oranges.