I had a steering meeting tonight for our homebrew club – the ABNormal Brewers – at Medici in Normal. We hold our meetings there because they usually have a decent list of beers on tap. Tonight they had a few beers I thought would be interesting, and I settled on the Delirium Tremens, since I haven’t seen it on tap very often.
It was served in a goblet (wine glass), and was very clear. It had a bright yellow color, and a nice creamy ring of foam around the top of the glass. The aroma was very fruity with some floral and candy-like notes. The fruity smells that came through were almost like a floral pear. Surprisingly, the candy-like notes, almost smelled a bit like bubblegum.
The body was very light-medium, but felt full in creamy. The flavor was pretty complex, as I picked up on bready and slightly floral flavors immediately, followed by some fruity and peppery flavors in the finish. In some ways, its difficult to put my finger on all of the tastes, except to say that it is a great Belgian that mixes fruitiness, sweetness, spice, and a bit of interesting funk. Despite being high in alcohol, there wasn’t an alcohol warmth to it.
It was a very complex and interesting beer, which I enjoy sipping on every now and then. However, due to that complexity, I wouldn’t necessarily consider this beer very “drinkable,” but one to enjoy the flavor of. As far as a food pairing, I think an seafood or chicken dish would go well with this beer. Overall, is a good beer, which I might use to introduce friends to the complexity and interesting flavors that Belgian beers offer.
