Delirium Tremens & Nocturnum

In 2008, Belgian ale Delirium Tremens was named ‘Best Beer in the World’ at the World Beer Championships. I think ‘Best Beer Bottle in the World’ would have been a lot more fitting.

Because the bottle is such a beauty I assumed the beer would be of similar stature, however my brother and me were left pondering throughout the time it takes to drink a 330ml bottle how this beer was ever crowned best in the world. I think possibly the bottle and the award sent me the wrong message and I had built myself up for an overwhelmingly good beer, unfortunately this only set me up for a bigger disappointment when I realised that the flavours in this beer were fairly simple; this isn’t a particularly bad characteristic for a beer to have though, and it actually was a really refreshing drink, just not enormously tasty. The flavours that were there I would say were sweet and banana-ry, so if you like a subdued sweet beer, I'd give this a shot.

We also tried a bottle of Delirium Nocturnum, the dark sister of Tremens. This beer offered a much larger range of flavours than the worlds best beer did, but still failed to blow me away like the bottle had seemingly promised. A bit too carbonated for how I usually like dark beers, but the sweet and dark fruity flavours did contrast really nicely.

I understand that the packaging of a beer is completely irrelevant to how it tastes, but I personally think that having a beer is so much more enjoyable when it is served in a properly designed bottle/glass, and regardless of whether it should or shouldn’t, it has an effect on me.

As you can probably tell, I like a good bottle, and Delirium comes in a bloody good bottle. Unfortunately for me, the compliments end there.


2.5/5

Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier

Doug Larson once said that life expectancy would grow by leaps and bounds if vegetables smelled as good as bacon. If all beer smelt like bacon, however, we would all be drunk a lot more of the time.

Luckily for the human race, Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier isn’t consumed as regularly as bacon is, but after one sip of this beer I immediately questioned why. I’ve always enjoyed the smokey flavour of Bavarian smoked cheese or smoked mackerel, and since the age of 16 I’ve loved drinking beer, so the day I discovered the two so perfectly combined was a very happy day.

My first instinct when drinking this beer and getting slapped in the face with a huge smoked cheese flavour was to drink some more, and it only got better as the pint went on. I don’t know why it got better, I think it was something to do with the smokey smell in the glass getting stronger as the glass got emptier, but if I could have jumped in and swam in it, I would.

There is only so much I can emphasise how intense the flavours in this beer are, so if you’re partial to a dark beer and/or smokey meat, and you’re ready to incorporate the two, get yourself down to your local booze bin and demand they order you some Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier in.

5/5