Delirium Tremens: Review

The Huyghe Brewery

Melle/Ghent, Belgium

Yes, it is sitting in snow

8.5% abv

$21.99 a four pack

11.2oz bottle

Style: strong pale ale

Okay, what gives with pink elephants, green alligators, and purple ??? octopi on gold balls???  Tell me why would a grown man want to buy this bottle of ale?

If there was ever a label that a company could change and I would be all for the change – it would be this crappy ass label. 

But, back to the question; ‘why would a grown man want to buy this bottle of ale because of this dumb looking label?’  because the Ale inside of it is sooo good. 

Appearance: lightly misty golden body with a snow white two finger head that hangs around like there is no tomorrow; nice white lacing hanging on the glass

I don't know why the picture above reminds me of the picture below? 

Maybe, because I would like to have my hands on either one.  Maybe, because they both have a pleasing mouthfeel and a short aftertaste.  Maybe, because they both look good in powder blue or nothing at all.  

I wrote some notes the old fashion way, on paper, when I drank a couple of bottles the other month.  I came up with two different descriptions of the aroma and here they are.

Aroma: First bottle: summer fruits – like yellow peach, pear, and nectarine mixed with citrus zest.  Second bottle: golden raisin, yellow fruits stand out first to me then I pick up some tropical fruits and some fresh yeast,

Flavors: big golden fruits and yeast up front; followed by some tropical notes; sweet golden raisin stands out to me; big fluffy buttermilk biscuit; hint of floral and herbal hops in the mix;

Mouthfeel: an abundance of fine carbonation keeps the interest; typical Belgian sweetness but not over the top; to me it has a short aftertaste that reminds me of sweet candied fruits and yeast; the alcohol really did not play a role in this to me

To the Point: on Beer Advocate they gave it a 92 with 3,444 reviews, at the time of this writing, which is pretty impressive; to me this ale is too fruity and yeasty and is missing something like some good peppery alcohol notes and some earthiness and it has a short aftertaste; don’t get me wrong – I do like this ale; I would give it an 89

The other drawback for this ale is the price.  At 22 bucks for a four pack I should be giving this ale a 95 or higher score to justify the cost.  At $16 a four pack I would consider buying it again.   

Today's College Bowl Games: take Maryland and the 2-1/2 pts over Marshall; Syracuse and the 4 pts against Minnesota (no passing game); Washington will cover the 3 pts  vs. BYU