Sports on Draft

The eloquent, colorful “Delirium Tremens” bottle, has been making eye contact with me year after year passing by the craft beer aisle at the local supermarket, making me wonder if the price was worth more than just the presentation – finally one day, I just said f*@k it.

After the first sip, I am immediately surprised with the thick “hef” taste, and wheat body. I am very disappointed.

Spoiled with craft beer, you could say, I have a high (unfair) expectation for bombers that are over $15.

The heavy wheat profile is what helps give the Delirium Tremens’ unique flavor, but is just too over-powering for my likes. It almost completely overshadows its identity as a Belgian Strong Pale Ale.

I guess folks from Belgium have a very different beer palate than we do here in the U.S., maybe more sophisticated?

Taking my bias out of the picture (hatred for wheat beers), this is a good beer if a fan of Hefeweizen, or Hoegaarden. The Tremens is very similar to these beers as far as taste goes, but it has a much harsher flavor with an alcohol content of 8.50%.

Aside from my bias for beers, there was criticism from reviews, saying it was still shy of meeting expectations. Similar to what I expressed about the overall balance of flavor, critics say that there is a world class beer here with a rough edge holding it back.

A solid creation from Belgium, but just not up to the standards I thought it would be.

It’s times like these when you almost agree with Ryan Reynolds’ wild, unsympathetic quote, “when you have expectations, you are setting yourself for disappointment.”