1001 Beers

Beer No: 75
Page No: 358
Category: Blond

There really is no better way to follow up two drain pours than with a Delirium Tremens.  A complex blend of spices, fruits, and malts, this golden strong ale is always a consistent, tasty beer.  You just always know what you're going to get.  At 8.5%, the beer once banned in the United States and parts of Canada because of it's name is one of many "eclectic" beers from Brouwerij Huyghe in Belgium.  1001 Beers notes that they make a "Mongozo Coconut beer, served in a glass styled after a half coconut shell, of course, and the Floris line of fruit beers, which includes one flavored with cactus and another with chocolate."  Now, those are a couple of beers I need to find.  I've had their Floris Apple, and well, if you're looking for an apple beer, this is probably it.

I just wish I could get my hands on more Huyghe beers - they may be off-the-wall, they may be gimmicky, but Delirium is a damn fine beer, so they can't all be bad.  Even Floris Apple is good if you really want a sour apple beer...

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

Delirium Tremens by Brouwerij Huyghe

Aroma: 8/10
Appearance: 4/5
Taste: 8/10
Palate: 4/5
Overall: 15/20

Rating: 3.9 / 5.0

Had from 11.2oz. bottle from BevMo. Pours golden yellow with good, fizzy head that dissipates to a thin white film with slight lacing. Aroma is spicy, with fruits, cloves, alcohol, and yeast. Taste is complex with lovely spices, cloves, sweetness, fruits, and hay. Finishes slighty dry, very tasty. A quality brew.

Beer No: 22/1001
Page No: 603
Category: White

The beer in a bit...first - The Side Door.  A new-ish gastropub in Corona Del Mar, I visited for the first time last night and was thoroughly impressed.  An extensive draught and bottle list with very reasonable pricing coupled with some sumptious food combined for a wonderful evening.  Starting with a Wells Bombardier ESB and continuing on to a North Coast Pranqster Belgian Style Golden Ale, I was very impressed with the service and beer listing.  The food was quite good as well - from our avocado mash (aka guacamole) to the prime rib chili cheese fries, all of the appetizers delighted and the main courses were very good as well.  I finished the night with a Coney Island Albino Python (white lager brewed with spices) and a few sips of a Delirium Floris Apple (waaaay too sweet).  It was a great night with great beers.  If only my local gastropub could step up their food as the beer selection rivals the Side Door.

Back to the Sprecher Hefe Weisse - my second in as many days.  This American brew (which sounds German) puts out a good Hef.  And for good reason - they experimented many times in the brewery before finishing a product for commercial release.  1001 Beers quotes Randy Sprecher, founder of the brewery; "That led to a quest to learn how to coax the yeast into making the best possible beer.  It turned out to be all about good reproduction and better 'viability' of the yeast cells, which change malt sugars into alcohol and carbonation, but are also responsible for the fruit salad of flavors."  This beer really does deliver a solid mix of all the Hefe Weiss flavors you are looking for - banana, wheat, cloves, and citrus.  A very solid Hefe and very drinkable and perfect with the Blake's Place BBQ wings I had left over from lunch a couple of days ago.  The apricot-chili wings went perfectly with the fruit and spice of this Hefe.

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

Sprecher Hefe Weiss from Sprecher Brewing Company

Aroma: 7/10
Appearance: 4/5
Taste: 7/10
Palate: 3/5
Overall:11/20

Rating: 3.3 / 5.0

Had from bottle. Pours hazy yellow with good head and fizz. Aroma of citrus, banana, and clove. Taste is crisp, drinkable. Flavors of orange at start, cloves and spices in middle, banana at end. Very refreshing Hefe