Delirium Nocturnum

Delirium Nocturnum – A guest beer review by Jason Fimbrez.

I will admit it. The label and the coloring of the bottle caught my eye. I had never seen anything like it from any other breweries. I didn’t know what to expect so I thought I would give it a shot and see what was inside the mystery bottle and behind the psychedelic label.

Delirium Nocturnum comes to the United States by way of Belgium. The folks at the Huyghe Brewery concocted a dark ale with an 8.5% ABV.

After pouring the Nocturnum into my glass, the coloring of the ale was a dark brown with a decent amount of head. The head left very little lacing in my glass as well.

For me, most dark brown ales have a strong aroma to them, however, the Nocturnum didn’t have the strong aromatic notes that I was expecting.

Based on the subtle aroma, I assumed the first taste of Nocturnum was going to be smooth on the palette. My assumption was correct.

After the first drink, I noticed there was a little bit of fruitiness in the beginning with some spiciness in the en, and the particular flavor profile remained unchanged during my time with the Belgian ale. There wasn’t a time during the tasting where I felt disappointed by my impulsive selection.

During the tasting, I did a little bit of research on Delirium Nocturnum and was very surprised to find out that this particular label was banned from the United States for a while because the label promoted excessive drinking. The word “Delirium” is what our government frowned upon.

According to the dictionary, “Delirium” created “frenzied excitement” and our government felt that one particular word would encourage people to drink excessively. Of course, the creative forces at the Huyghe Brewery were determined to get their ale into the United States. So, in order to get Delirium Nocturnum into the United States, Huyghe Brewery shipped the dark ale under another label name until the ban was lifted. Gotta love our Belgian friends!

The story behind Delirium Nocturnum was interesting and I am glad the Huyghe Brewery were cleaver enough to overcome an obstacle to share their ale with the rest of us. Delirium Nocturnum is something I would purchase again and probably enjoy during the fall and “winters” in Arizona. In my opinion, I also think Delirium Nocturnum is a good introductory Belgian ale for newcomers as well.

I would rate Delirium Nocturnum 3.5 stars out of 5. If you’ve enjoyed this particular offering from the folks at Huyghe Brewery, I would like to read your feedback.

Rating:

Cheers!