Delirium Tremens Belgian Strong ale. Only 8.5% ABV. Light golden pale straw color. Effervescent, lightly hopped with a faint sweet fruity aroma. Faintly sweet on the palate.
I’ve waited 3 years to try it. It’s very fine. Dangerous because the alcohol flavor is subdued and sneaky. Hence the name I suppose…
I finally tried this a while back and I am still impressed by the effervescence.
that is amazing fizz…great beer too!
Yeah, great beer. I really like it, but I don’t love it for some reason. Well, that’s not entirely true, I do love it, it’s just not a beer that makes me think “oh, I’ve got to get some more of that”.
Sounds like I need to get some more to figure out why I don’t crave it ;D
Delirium doesn’t age well, it forms some nasty looking globules if held. Kwak does the same thing…try to drink soon after you buy. The taste doesn’t change so much as the appearance will…
euge - are ya in the middle of nowhere? Waited three years?
I prefer the Delirium Nocturnum. Try to find that sometime.
[quote=“MDixon, post:4, topic:3535, username:mdixon”]
Delirium doesn’t age well, it forms some nasty looking globules if held. Kwak does the same thing…try to drink soon after you buy. The taste doesn’t change so much as the appearance will…
Don’t know that I agree with this. I’ve had vintage examples of both Delirium Tremens & Delirium Nocturnum. It’s been awhile, but I don’t recall any globules or floaties in either. I do remember that the Nocturnum, especially, benefited greatly from the aging. I developed a lot more complexity due to the aging/oxidative processes. Loved it!!
I’ve never seen it in Nocturnum, but have seen it in Tremens on several occasions. Kwak as well. I assume it’s proteins and yeast, maybe Gordon knows what it is or could be, but it looks nasty. (Still tastes fine).
I couldn’t find anything on a Delirium sediment search, but Kwak came up with an interesting photo using Google:
One time with an aged Kwak it came out like egg drop soup, that is what happened to well the well aged bottles of Tremens I had.
Oh man…that is not fit for consumption… I had some little globules in my Delerium Tremens that served as nucleation points
for the effervescent…they were small and I assumed it was yeast sediment. Nothing like that photo…ewwwww :P Maybe they were not aged so well??
+1
:o
I tried a bottle of DT a couple years ago and while I thought it was pretty good it sure didn’t match all of the hype. I guess my expectations were pretty high and maybe I should give it another try but I wasn’t impressed to the point of buying another bottle.
I’m like the rest of you guys. What’s the hype? It is hard to explain. Maybe because it isn’t smack you in the head like other Belgian beers but on their delicate end of the spectrum. My expectations were of something a little bolder.
Next time I will serve it in flute glasses along side shrimp or something else light. But I’m not rushing out to get it again. And Gordon, yes I can get the Delirium Nocturnum!
Also there were some very tiny translucent floaties that I’ve come to associate with many Belgian beers. Not as bad as that disgusting pic of Kwak! BTW Kwak is pretty darn good too and when I had it last there were the same little floaties as my bottle last night. I’ve always saw it as a sign of infection, but it could be just yeast driven or some sort of precipitate. Certainly didn’t taste infected!
And I don’t know why I waited so long to try DT. The price tag is a little daunting, but no worse than a lower end but decent bottle of wine. Maybe it’s the name…
DT is definitely a good beer and is certainly better when fresh. They print the date on the cork so its hard to know until you open the beer. Love the Nocturnum as well.
Have not seen the clumping as was mentioned on DT but I have seen it on Achell Tripel and a few other belgians that have sat aorund too long.
I agree with Gordon on this one. DT was OK, but it didn’t knock my socks off. The Nocturnum and Noel are better IMHO.