Delirium Tremens

Why I tried this: When World of Beer first opened I found myself absolutely floored by the amazing selection on hand, and while I had already put a few hundred different brews under my belt I was still a little flabbergasted as to where I should start. Luckily a neon sign sat in the corner, quietly proclaiming with a pink glow that Delirium Tremens was voted World's Best Beer in the 1998 World Beer Championship. I put that medal to the test.

Smell: The initial smell of this beer is a nice sweet smell, immediately followed by a spicy yeast note that is common in many Belgian style brews. There's also a slight smell of pear, clove, and the slightest hint of citrus. There's no discernible hop smell, and the aroma is really quite pleasant.

Taste: Wow. Just wow. This beer is extremely flavorful, starting out with a nice mild sweetness to it, but accented with a thin malt flavor. You can definitely get a bit of clove, pear, and banana. Towards the end you can definitely get a spicier flavor fromm the Belgian Yeast, which is balanced out by a slight bitter from the hops. Really just an all around amazing taste by my palate.

On a scale of 1 to 10 I'd give this a 9.5. This beer is an extremely complex Belgian, and by my count is deserving of the award it was given. Hands down this is my favorite Belgian, without a doubt, and is ranked in at least my top 5 for favorite beers, if not my favorite outright. The only reason I hesitate to give it a 10 is because this is something that the "uninitiated" in beer culture might find a bit too complex, and weighing in with an 8.5% ABV might be a bit too strong for the newbies out there.

--Scott

This beer is definitely pretty good. A sweetness with a balance of hops, nothing too overpowering. Smells a bit of bananas, but finishes with a taste of clove. Definitely very nice, not something I could have a few of though.

I'd give it an 8.5/10.

--Jeff

Love this beer. Scott recommended it to me when I showed up to WoB one day, this will for sure be a beer that I enjoy over and over for a long long time. 9/10

--Jon