Delirium Noël

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

A dark ruby body with a light head. Deep fruit scents and flavor. Good citrus ending.

Chestnut colour with profuse loose head. Big sweet cherry, spicy and slightly alcoholic aroma. Flavour is also very sweet and malty, also slightly spiced and very alcoholic. It lacks subtlety but for a Huyghe product it's quite good. I actually like it.

2005 Cork. The aroma was better as it warmed, with dried plum and grapes standing out. Mine was clear with zero sediment and a tan head that laste for quite awhile. Wine like front, a little too sweet for my taste with the caramel body flavor dominating.

The aroma is of fruit, alcohol. yeast. The appearance is a dark red/brown, decent off-white head. The flavor is fruity, yeasty, bread-like. The finish is slightly bitter from both the hops and the spicy quality of this ale. The alcohol is well hidden, and the mouthfeel is medium. Decent holiday ale.

here’s a confectionary delight. this is christmas eye candy with it’s faux crockery and foil and fantasy elephants. it’s kiddy candy in it’s caramel and fruitcake sweetness-- and adult candy in it’s artful and easily imbibed potency. the color is the warm, toasted orange of a st. bernard, the head is frothy enough to dollop atop a cup of cocoa. to rival any potpourri basket is an aroma rife with a melange of dried fruits: pineapple, papaya, plum, rum raisin and almond. there is gourmet hop butter and the mold that grows on old brown apples, there is a musty old auditorium where the aging polished pine mingles with a dozen generations of sweat and mildew. the flavor is predictably sweet: hummingbirds would not only drink it, but would compose epic narratives about it’s sublime and magical properties. noel has a gentle carb, a full body, light acidity, and acres of peachy plenitude, orange danish, enough bourbon to open a bar, enough yeast to open a bakery, enough good vibes to open a holistic healing center. happy holidays, rejoice --follow your own holy star, hob nob with wise men-- and after a couple of these you might find yourself waking up in a manger.

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.

750 ml. bottle. Pours a thin off white tiny bubbled head, over a clear coppery, amber (SRM 10-12) body......nose is caramel, molasses, cherry, raisin, dried plum....taste is sharp alcohol to start then raisin, slight cherry, bit of allspice, nutmeg, finishing bitter hop.....mouth feel is light, carbonation lively and champagne like. This is a bit thin on the nose and taste, and the palate is rather light. The alcohol makes for a hot taste.

Aroma is strong, malty, with plenty of spice hints and even a bit of an odd, rubbery odor that still was not unappetizing. It pours out a dark amber-brown, almost the color of cola with a decent head. Flavor is strong and mouth-filling, malty and quite spicy, with a touch of hops. This ale is quite smooth but has a good bite to it.