Delirium Noël

Brewed By: Brouwerij Huyghein in Melle, Belgium  

Purchased: 750ml bottle bought at Whole Foods in Ann Arbor, Michigan; 2012 

Style/ABV: Belgian Dark Strong Ale, 10.0%

Reported IBUs: ?

At some point, I'll pay tribute to my "pink elephant" glass, and review Delirium Tremens. It's the obvious compliment to Duvel, and a defining beer in the Belgian Strong Ale style. Today, I'm looking at the Huyghe Brewery's winter/Christmas beer, their Delirium Noël. This beer also has its own cool glass.

A quick word, because I care. The Huyghe Brewery (or Brouwerij Huyghein) was founded in 1906 by Léon Huyghe. The brewery's location, in Melle, Belgium (at "Appelhoek), has had a documented history of brewing beer since 1654. During the early 1900s, the brewery expanded, and in 1964 the brewery built a modern bottling line. In 1987, the brewery began fermenting beer in the bottle, and in 1989, Delirium Tremens was born. You can read more about the brewery on their website.

If you roll over to the Delirium page, you can find out about the Delirium line of beers. The Noël/Christmas is part of the Delirium lineup. Described as a chestnut amber beer with a strong alcohol presence, spice, and some slight bitterness; this is a big, dark, Belgian Strong Ale that clocks in at 10.0% ABV, and has an unreported IBU count. Let's glass this up, and get our drank on.

Delirium Noël

From the outset, this beer is trying real hard to make me hate it. It has sticky, glued-on tinfoil, a cage, a cork...dammit. Just let me open you up. Tinfoil is the worst, maybe only trumped by stubborn wax. There's also some sticky, residual beer on the side of the bottle, left as runoff from the fill. Bleh. The beer pours a dark red color in low light, almost bordering on brown/purple. This one pours with 2-finger's worth of foamy, tan/amber-tinted head. As the head settles in, I'm left with a solid cauldron effect, and some thin lacing on the sides. Bright light tells the full story, as this beer has a cherry/orange/TAB color, and has a lot of carbonation in the form of mid-sized bubbles dancing upwards. This one isn't completely transparent, and appears to be bottle-conditioned. The head is sustaining nicely, and kicks back up with a swirl...as per the style. 

I have a thing for Belgian Strong Ales...it's my bag, baby. And this one smells pretty solid...with a lot of Chritmas-esque aromas. To be honest, I'm getting a ton of apple juice on this nose, cinnamon, allspice -- BUT -- this doesn't smell like apple pie. All the spices and fruity notes are kept in check and manifest as Belgian yeast-spice and funk. I'm getting big clove, Belgian yeast, grapes, plums, perfume, sweet dark fruits, and a ton of candi sugar. There's also that creamy wheat/vanilla/white sugar thing, you frequently get with the style. Overall, it smells pretty good.

Wow on the taste. This is really nice, with perfume/boozy/solvent grapes and dark fruits hitting you up front, supported by super smooth and creamy carbonation. The alcohol is well-hidden, but you get a Quad-like blast of overripe fruits. I'm getting a ton of fruity yeast in this, big clove, lots of nutmeg and allspice, and a ton of candi sugar. There are big perfume/dusty dark fruits, with plums, apples, pears, grapes...and this has a creamy clove/wheat/vanilla thing smoothing it out. Warm on the back.

I'm not going to lie, I'm a little surprised. For starters, I consider the Delirium Tremens to be somewhat mid-range, but this beer right here elevates the game. This is full-bodied, smooth as hell, and features dusty and lively carbonation. At 10.0% ABV, this is insanely easy to drink. Despite that fact, this has a nice boozy presence, and warms you up on the back end. I know Quads and Dark Strongs are technically the same thing, but I feel like there are arbitrary differences...while I consider this more of a Belgian Dark, it has Quad-like elements (think St. Bernardus Abt 12). Palate depth is good, and complexity is moderate to high for the style. Up front is a blast of smoothness, big dusty sweetness, sweet dark fruits, clove, allspice; mid-palate is clove, allspice, sizeable hop bitterness; the back end is lingering spices and fruits, with a slightly dry and dusty finish. I can recommend this.

Rating: Divine Brew

I'm feeling a Light Light Light Divine Brew on this beer. I'm even surprised. For a Belgian Dark Strong, this really comes together nicely. It reminds me of the Chimay Blue and the St. Bernardus Abt 12, and I love both those beers. This really rocks in the mouthfeel and body, and has a nice balance of spice, perfume, and sweet dark fruits. It's also very Christmasy, and would certainly warm you up on a cold winter night. I think a 750ml bottle of this stuff was around 12 dollars, so it's even priced reasonably. I would pair this beer with holiday dinner, spiced/glazed ham, a pot roast, Wintery desserts, or meats, cheese, and soup. All by the warm fireplace and Christmas tree.

Random Thought: This is the first time I can remember where I'm not pining for warmer weather, though it will be nice when it finally arrives. It's time to start busting out the Spring beer.