Delirium Noël

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

Deep brown body. Brownish frothy head, mostly diminishing. Aroma of some kind of cleaning-product, I think "Mr. Propre Wood-fresh". Lightly sweet, lightly bitter initial flavour. Lightly sweet finish. Good flavour, but nasty aroma.

Color is a golden orange with sediment floating around. Carbonation is low producing a very thin head. Aroma of toasted caramel with back tones of fruit. Taste is sweet and fruity. Starting with a medium body it goes down smooth with just a faint crispness. Finish comes in sweet with dried fruit a hint of banana and a touch of citrus. In the after taste a nice yeast flavor comes in followed by a bit of alcohol. Overall its a nice Winter brew with good Belgian yeast fruit flavors.

Pours a reddish copper color with a small tope colored head. Nose is spicy with some winter spices, sugar, and caramel. Tastes is very sweet and malty, with notes of dark fruit and apples. Nothing special but it is pretty good.

The Aussie (?) version of this is called Christmas. Perhaps it is simply because the distributor here is named Noel that he didn’t want to be associated with this beer. Don’t know why though. This presents beautifully in the glass with a rich ruby colour and good but even creamy head. The beer laces very well down the glass. The nose is one of typical Belgian fruit but not one of harshness as is often associated with this brewer. There are sultanas, currants and plums in the high ABV influenced mouthfeel with a very good carbonation and subtle dryness on the back palate. Perhaps I got a very good bottle but I would rate this as the best of the Huyghe beers I have sampled.

Dark ruby red color. Strong alcohol nose and flavor. Dark fruit - plums, raisins. Nice nutty spice in the end. Enjoyable.

Bottle. Dark brown colour with a nice beige head. Aroma and flavour of spice, fruit and malt.

Amber pour with barely any head. Aroma of apple juice, cider, light caramel malt. Flavor is flat sparkling apple cider. Banana and mostly alcohol. This is shockingly terrible. Like a flabby, thin, sharply alcoholic belgian ale. Basically, a big fat amber turd.

I sampled both the 2002 & 2004 bottles in one sitting. Both were spicy, caramel malt flavored. 2002 bottle had an overall polished character. Delirium Noel is a well-made Belgian strong ale.