I recently got this fantastic Delirium glass as a gift from my sister-in-law who seems to be earning mentions in a lot of these reviews lately. This glass is festooned with small images of elephants, has the bright pink one right there in front, has a delightful inlay of one along the bottom, and the stem is a trunk. I really feel bad that I didn't have this glass whenever I reviewed all of the previous beers from Huyghe so that I could properly show off both of the glass and the beer. Having recently put a Delirium Tremens in this glass, I also found that the point where the base meets the ball is specifically designed to create a little tornado of bubbles that comes up to the center of the beer. It's really cool.
They call this Delirium Red, and it lives up to the name. I might go so far as to call this maroon, as it does not have the same color profile as something that would be a red ale or the like. But that's not the point of this beer. It's a Belgian ale, but they added fruit to it. This kind of thinking could go horribly wrong. The head doesn't exactly burst forth, but it's not overly reluctant, and it has staying power. Very large bubbles are mixed with extremely small bubbles in a way that leaves the large bubbles clinging to the sides with a freshly fallen snow of tiny bubbles that goes across the top of the beer. The aroma is cherries and berries. I had hoped I would be able to smell the Belgian yeast, but I definitely do not.First sip may me immediately fearful that this was going to be a sour. The tartness of the cherries that mixes with the elderberry seemed like it was going that direction, but the sour never materialized. Once again, though, the Belgian yeast doesn't seem to be capable of overpowering the fruits. This is especially disconcerting as Belgian yeast is quite vibrant as an ingredient, and the fruits really have to work hard to overcome them. I'm just not sure why you would want them to. I love Belgian yeast.
Tip-in is tart berries and cherries with moderate carbonation tingle. The middle is smooth as the tartness seems to abate for sweetness to enter in and the skin of the berries brings a slight bitterness to the mix. The finish feels the 8.0% ABV as the fruits once again swing tart to leave that tartness on the lips for the trail off.
Bottom Line: Pretty good for fruit beer but disappointing for a Belgian ale.
3.0/5