Old familiar Huyghe, associated with a pink elephant and silly hats depicting it, noticed the craft beer train passing by last year and decided to bourbon barrel age their Delirium Christmas - glad I finally got a chance to taste the result at ZBF, because I have to admit I have been curious about this for a while. Off-white, unstable bubbles, completely open and disappearing quickly to leave a headless, cristal clear, brownish bronze beer with ruddy burgundy hue. Aroma of industrial caramel candy, cinnamon, indeed strong vanilla-scenting oak wood and sweet bourbon, candied cherries, allspice, fig compote, walnut liqueur, rainwater, gin, paint thinner. Very sweet onset, lots of residual dark sugars with a somewhat sticky effect at first, fig, pear and raisin hints, soft carb, simple toffeeish malt sweet middle, bit resinous, very slick with a nutty edge, leading to a finish with again lots of vanilla-like oak, the allspice- and cinnamon-like spiciness of the basic beer and solventy, fusel alcohol-like effects of paint thinner and varnish, followed by very boozy, sweet bourbon-flavored alcohol. As expected, putting a mediocre Belgian Christmas ale in a barrel that contains too much bourbon has not made said ale any better; on the contrary, this variant is too thin, solventy, straightforward and boozy to be able to stake any claims for greatness among the countless BBA quads, stouts and barleywines that have been made before, even if the aroma is far from the worst I encountered so far (even within this range). Even within a Belgian context, old Huyghe would do well to stick to what it does - in their mind - right, instead of jumping to a proportionally new international trend they know nothing about. Admittedly the best (or better: least disappointing) Huyghe beer I had so far, but still: leave this kind of thing to 'real' craft brewers, Huyghe!

On tap at Belmont. Pours a reddish brown color with a small white head. A big malty nose. Sweet, big cherry, hot barrel, huge flavors.

Tap at Cap Tap as Delirium “Black” Buffalo Trace BA at 11.8%. Pours very dark brown with a small tan head. Aromas of whisky and darkish fruits. Near full bodied. Flavor is whisky, darkish fruits, some treacle in the background. Not dry, but the whisky certainly stomps down the malt sweetness. Hop not parsable for me; between some oak astringency and the whisky I’m not sure whether it’s actually bitter or just seems that way. A really good drink for those (like me) who dig a whisky flavor in beer.

Sampled at Zythos Beer Festival 2018. Clear deep amber color off white head. Aroma of boozy tannins. Taste is boozy resin. Very tannic

Sampled at zythod 2018. Thnx for sharing, everyone ! Pours clear brown, ( caramel color) no head. Smell is sweet, booze (bourbon). Taste is sharp, very sweet. Ends round ( bourbon). Not to much oak though. Unbalanced, needs more base and body. And better bourbon barrels.

28/04/2018 – 10cl glass shared with an international ratebeer crew @ZBF2018 Clear brown, no head. Nose is malts, liquor, hint of oak. Taste is sweet dark malts, fruits, liquor, some wood.

Keine Karbonisierung. Süß karamellig-malziger Beginn mit fein vergoren fruchtigem Touch. Süffig, alkoholisch. 8/9/8/8//8

29 April 2018, at Zythos Bierfestival. Deputy Taster: Anke.Thanks to the Kluber family for sharing!
Clear dark amber, thin off-white head. Aroma of bourbon, calvados, apple, raisin, candied banana, caramel, candi sugar, some vanilla & wood. It tastes medium to heavy fruity sweet, a bit sugary, and light to medium spicy bitter. Woody finish, lingering (caramel) malt, and warming bourbon alcohol. Medium body, oily texture, soft carbonation. Good try, but unrefined.

F: no real. C: coppery to brown, clear. A: caramel malty, toffee, bit vinous, dried fruits, raisins, bit vanilla. T: malty, caramel, vinous, toffee, bit vanilla, not bad but lack some BA character, full body, low carbonation, enjoyed, sample draft shared with Germany and BE RB crew @ ZBF 2018.

Tap. Clear deep amber color with no head. Aroma is brown sugar, vanilla, burnt sugar, raisins. Taste is brown sugar, vanilla. Oily mouthfeel with low carbonation. Meh.