Delirium Noël

(750 ml. bottle @ The Real Beer Expo - Rochester, NY) Orange/amber in color with a puffy and lasting white head. Aroma is loaded with malts, spices, yeast, caramel, and some plums. Flavor is very smooth and malty with some nice dark fruit flavors and a spicy finish. Very warming, even though the 10% is hidden well. Aftertaste is very dark and malty with some sweetness.

Bottle. Clear light amber body, huge diminishing off-white head. Very big aroma, malts yeast, caramel, wood, fruits and grains. Sweet bitter taste with a little carbonation. Finish is very alcoholic, sweet light bitter, roasted flavour. Very heavy beer.

750mL bottle, no date--though I did purchase it late 2005 or early 2006. Pours a lightly hazy orange with reddish highlights and a two finger light yellowish head. Aroma is very fruity with peaches, figs, powdered sugar, toasty caramel malts, spicy estery yeast, light leather. Taste is bigger leather and a little char/peated malt--kinda strange, but not bad. Still quite fruity, alcohol is noticeable and warming, though not really distracting. As it warms I also got a little nose of freshly baked sugar cookies, didn’t really get it in taste. Full bodied, highly carbonated. This is definitely better than Nocturnum, but can’t remember if I like it more than Tremens.

750ml bottle. 2005 edition. Ruby brown hue. Slightly muddled. Minimal white head. Cinnamon bready nose. Caramel sugary nose. Sweet, malty caramel flavor. Full bodied with an alcohol middle with a tight burn. Then, the bitter hop citrus finish. As it warms, the fruit bread, holiday spice malt character really shines. Second glass is fuller and thicker. Same hue, but with thick swirling sediment. Little more of a citrus sour flavor on the hop finish. It really compliments the cinnamon malt sweetness. More cookie yeast notes. Still a great burn. Solid brew with great aging potential.

A deep red beer with a thin but lasting light brown head. The aroma is sweet and quite complex with lots of fruity aromas - a bit on the "older" side - peaches, black currant, and plums, but also notes of yeast, alcohol, and wood. The flavor is very sweet with strong fruity notes, oranges, peaches, plums, and some grapes, on a background where the alcohol is more felt than tasted, but there’s no question, that the alcohol makes its presence known leaving a warmth and a tingling sensation on the tongue.

(Bottle at Delirium Cafe, Brussels) Pours clear red/brown with fast decreasing white head. Aroma: Caramell and over-ripe bananas. Black currant. A bit lemonade. Really sweet. Some rum. Yeast and alcohol. Taste: Sweet beer with good body. Unsweetend dried plums and a typical Delirium sourness. Some iron and minerals. Some vineous notes.

Porus a dark, cloudy brown with a minimal tan head. Aroma is very sweet, some cloves and spiciness. Fruitiness and candi sugar dominates the palate. Quite sticky as it goes down, with a slight burn. A seasonal favorite.

2004 vintage. 750 ml bottle into a 2 oz Snifter glass. Pours a amber golden brown hue with a semi-foamy white head that hugs the rim of the glass throughout the whole bottle. Aroma consists of a very spicey and appley consistency with a solid hint of alcohol. Flavor brings out much of the same as in the nose, with a very fruity and appley flavor mixed with various spices. A hint of yeasty Belgian sweetness is also present. Moving into the finish a waft of alcohol climbs into the nose. This one aged quite nicely. A very solid XMas brew from Delirium!