Huyghe Delirium Noël

Huyghe Delirium Noël (2011)
Brewed and Bottled by Brouwerij Huyghe in Melle, Oost-Vlaanderen. Belgium.
Winter Seasonal (Limited Release)
25.4 fl. oz. / $11.49 USD / 10.0% ABV

About: This is their Christmas Ale. That's about as much info as I could find.

Thoughts: Don't know what to expect with this one. Elephant on the cover with a Christmas hat (I guess Pink Elephants are their thing). The bottle says absolutely nothing about what's inside other than it's a Belgian Christmas Ale. I searched online and got big stocking full of absolutely nothin'!

The cork popped out with authority and as I stared inside the bottle, the grey smoke inside didn't rise or even seem to move. Just suspended in dusk. I poured it out into my glass and the bubbles were extremely furious, all different sizes of them, rising up, rolling, popping, growing, seemingly climbing all over one another. I've never in my life seen a head like this. It's fuckin' alive, man! It's like that black venom symboite... only instead of black goo, it's bubbles in a beer. But it was moving just like in Spider-Man 3 when it crawled up PP's arm. Poured a light, yet pretty murky amber with light shades of reddish-orange. After going completely nuts the head pretty much all but disappears.

First smell is that familiar Belgian yeast. Here we go again. A little bit of fruity, sweet and sour wine. 

Sweet malts up front. Dark fruits. Immediate warmth. No un-pleasantries. No shock to the senses, and actually quite smooth. Let's try it again: Minor spices, and a little fizz. The smell and tastes are completely different, thank the dark lord! Those flowery hops almost scared me for a second there, especially after my last encounter with 'em. The taste isn't exactly remarkable, like say for instance, Monk's Blood... but it tastes very good. The uber-hops are pleasantly subdued by the malts here and there's a low level lingering sweetness about it. Otherwise, it seems pretty plain for a Belgian Spiced Ale.

Very silky and smooth. Goes down so easy and doesn't have a bite to it. Finish is basically non-existent aside from some minor hop nibble on the tongue. It's tame but welcomed.

This is a very Nice brew that isn't Naughty at all. For a 10.0% the alcohol doesn't show itself at all. It's invisible! There's no bitterness and no sour. It's sweet, semi-sweet and the slightest bit grassy once it's all drank and done. Being free of all funk and dank, that's a good thing this time around... I just wish there was something in there to spice things up a bit.