Delirium Red
Brouwerij Huyghe

DanfromVan from Canada (BC)

2.82/5  rDev -23.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 2.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3

Poured into a tulip, straight from the fridge to my glass.
I have hesitation on fruit beers so have looked at this in my fridge for 7 months. I went for it today as it is a hot day, and it will be quick.
Good foam, smells like a soft drink. good mouth feel very peppy. Taste is a surprise, sweet not sour. Drank about half but it tastes like it has sweetener (Splenda or similar) in it, so I quaffed it back and moved on. Just an odd sweetener aftertaste that will have me declining this in the future. Both this and the smoke beer are on my Nope list.

Jul 25, 2021

KT3418 from Colorado

3/5  rDev -18.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

If someone told me this tasted like cough medicine I don't think I could really disagree. Unfortunately I don't think Delirium is for me. It's getting better as it sweetens but eh.

Jul 14, 2021

robwired from Kansas

3.74/5  rDev +1.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

I like pink elephants, so I thought I'd try this shade.
It poured from a 12 oz. can with a thin beige head with good retention. It had a sour fruit-beer cherry nose, the color, dark red berry.
Taste. Definitely sour cherry with a through-finish of the same.

Jul 03, 2021

JonnoWillsteed from England

1.88/5  rDev -48.9%
look: 2 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 2.25 | feel: 2 | overall: 1.5

#1726 - Blind-tasted except for the beer's name and brewery/country, zero reviews below read (yet!)…
'Delirium Red - Strong Fruit Beer'. I suspect that death or glory might swiftly arrive...
L- Oh - my - gawd. It's pink, it's puice, it is so darn jolly looking I'm surprised it isn't having an eye-rolling swoon 'n pout in the glass. Pours with a 1Cm pink foam cap. [Guys, don't drink this in public anywhere where the signals this sends out might be misunderstood...].
S- A sweet/synthetic kind of strawberry/raspberry/Opal-Fruits sweets mash-up. Really quite unpleasant. Oh dear here goes, I am not embracing this moment...
T- Ok, I'm still here... strawberry, some raspberry, a zing of mild fruity sherbert. The flavour isn't preserved/brewed/stewed/evolved fruit, it's too close to the fresh fruit, so ironically that makes it taste synthetic to me. Thank da lord for the mildly fruity acidic note in the finish, or this would be all Lady Penelope and the pink Rolls crossed with Ru Paul.
F- Like a fruity alco-pop, with the fruit amped up a bit, plus synthetic bubble-gum aspects.
O- What a very unusual 'beer' this is... really... in many ways it's just not like a beer, it's like a carbonated fruit drink. Is this considered of the Belgian Lambic style? I believe it falls into that genre... which would explain why it's really not ringing my bell 'Ding dong aaaah ooh-ooooh' [Anita Ward]. I would absolutely not wish to drink this beer again...
Review/scoring all done, now the reveal, I get to read the bottle lables to see what I missed! ===> Brewed with 'Cherry concentrate, elderberry concentrate, sweetener'. Which as far as I'm concerned makes for both fake and adjunct ingredients. No thank you very much!
330ml bottle £3.65 BB: 13/01/2023 Bought from BelgianBeerCompany, Stoke/UK as part of a large pick-your own consignment to London.

Apr 04, 2021

hman43 from North Carolina

3.74/5  rDev +1.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Look: It pours dark burgundy with a dark pink head. Head retention is excellent.

Smell: It has aromas of sour cherries with almonds. There are some wood elements in the background.

Taste: It has sour cherry flavors with almonds. There are some wood elements in the background with low spice. It has a touch of vanilla as well.

Feel: It has a medium body with medium low sourness in the finish.

Overall, it is mildy sour with mostly cherry and almond flavors. The other elements are complimentary in the background.

Mar 28, 2021

chitoryu12 from Florida

4.32/5  rDev +17.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

Look: Deep ruby red, slightly opaque. One finger of light purple head with decent retention.

Smell: Cherry Jolly Ranchers.

Taste: Milk chocolate, sweet cherry syrup like the Jolly Ranchers again, mild tartness.

Mouthfeel: Creamy as milk, with mild carbonation.

Overall: One of those beers that's barely a beer, but still fantastic and enjoyable.

Mar 19, 2021

Treyliff from West Virginia

3.76/5  rDev +2.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

11.2oz bottle poured into a tulip

A- pours a deep ruby color with a purple hue, one-finger foamy pink head has great retention

S- aroma has a bit of a cherry note, kind of like cherry candy or syrup, dried hay, some yeast undertones

T- I expected it to be a bit tart up front but instead it's slightly sweet, with notes of cherry simple syrup, elderberry, ripe apple. The finish is slightly sweet, with some earthy undertones

M- medium body with moderate carbonation leads to a foamy mouthfeel that turns slightly creamy into the finish

O- easy drinking, given the abv, with some nice fruity notes throughout

Mar 09, 2021

Iamaskier from Idaho

4.03/5  rDev +9.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Hazy, strawberry jam color with a moderately lacey, pinkish head. Smells of sweet dark fruits; cherry, strawberry, a bit of cough syrup. Tastes similar- very sweet fruit, ripe cherry, raspberry, and well balanced tart finish. There is a somewhat cough syrup fullness to it, hard to describe. It isn’t bad though, and a nice alcohol warmth develops after a few sips. I have to say I wasn’t expecting what I got, but I’m not disappointed at all. I’m not very familiar with this style, so this could be a mediocre example of it, but I think it’s a damn good beer, and I’d take it over most sours that I’ve had.

Jan 28, 2021

Mugman8 from New York

3.94/5  rDev +7.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Opened up a single pint can that I bought at Total Wine -- into a glass, pours to a deep cloudy cherry red with nice head and lacing. Aroma precedes the taste -- sweet cherries and elderberry. Way too sweet for me -- so I don't think I would buy again, it's also pretty pricey at $5 a can -- but has unique, interesting fruit flavor with some welcome tartness on the finish. ABV is 8% and gets more boozy as the beer warms.

Dec 31, 2020

dsa7783 from New Jersey

4.25/5  rDev +15.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

750 bomber copped caged and corked from Buy Rite Liquors in South Orange, NJ.
Pours a crimson, vampire-blood hue with tremendous frothing.
Powerful aroma replete with notes of cherry, elderberry, and sugarcane.
Slightly unbalanced, but a delightful treat nonetheless.

Dec 09, 2020

TonyLema1 from South Carolina

3.74/5  rDev +1.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

L: red/ purple color, with a pinkish head and good lacing
S: huge cherry syrup aroma
T: Cherry and other dark fruits, not much beer taste
F: Not a ton of mouthfeel, doesn’t have the typical metallic aftertaste that fruit beer generally has
O: Good for what it is, and it hot and humid here, so this is very refreshing

Aug 02, 2020

Pentastar from New York

4.3/5  rDev +16.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Look: Dark purple in color with a pink foamy head.
Smell: Belgian yeast and barn yard hay but with a hint of sweet fruits.
Taste: Nothing like the smell, there are raspberry, elderberry, apple and blackberry flavors. Sweet and not too grainy.
Feel: Regular carbonation, not too thick.
Overall: Good for a fruit beer, surprisingly sweet.

Jul 19, 2020

Greywulfken from New York

3.75/5  rDev +1.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Was hoping for something of a Flanders red-esque experience, but this is a different entity - the cherry notes are of the dark sweet type, and elderberry is expressed clearly with concord grape jelly and sweettart notes - medium-bodied, moderately sweet, little bit tart but not what I'd call a sour - worth a try...

Jul 10, 2020

RaulMondesi from California

2.68/5  rDev -27.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Remember when you thought about your ex, and you were like, “Well, I liked this about her...” Well, in Delirium Red, there is nothing to like. At all. Did someone seriously brew some alcohol into my little soldiers cherry cough medicine? This is awful. Like J-Lo’s acting career, awful.

I am done.

May 06, 2020

digitalflood from New York

3.85/5  rDev +4.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Decisive. Kool Aideon steroids. Truly the meeting of complex and straight forward. Most will detest it but for the few selectively layered and enjoyable.

Pours a deep Kool Aid like fruit punch red. Mild to low carbonation. Decent amount of haze and cloudiness. Strong head of reddish foam reduces to poor/little lacing. Smells of fruit punch, cherries, cough syrup, bourbon, and bubble gum. On the front palette sweet fruit juice (reminds me of a sweetened juice you used to get summer time in farmers' markets that came in little jugs as a kid), Kool Aid, bourbon with cherry wood, cherry syrup, and some booze. Mid-palette is a lot of Merlot, cherry cough syrup, some oak, bubble gum, cherry tartness, and sugar cookies. Back palette is cherry wood Malbec, vermouth, grenadine, Shirley Temple mocktail, and oaked boozed. Lingering cherry tarts and whiskey. Very drinkable and a middle thickness. Despite all the sugar all the other complexities make this not overpowering overall and do a very good job of hiding the ABV. It cannot hide the headache the next day though so make sure you hydrate between drinks or all that sugar will get you come the morning. Overall a very interesting beer that pushed the limits of beer in more like brewed wine spritzer directions. At the very least it's an interesting experiment in taste and texture in that vein. 3.75 out of 5 overall. Worth trying. Many will not like it. Decisive and complex for those willing to wade in.

Apr 26, 2020

DerekGilboe

1.28/5  rDev -65.2%
look: 2 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 1 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 1.25

I really wish I could like this but Delirium created a sickeningly sweet beer for non-beer drinkers and I have few nice things to say about it as a beer drinker. While this serves a population it would be better relegated to the flavored malt beverage category with its tasting more like a sweetened soft drink that a proper beverage. If you are looking for a "beer" that tastes more like a Big Red than a beer this may be your choice. I would NOT recommend this beverage to anyone.

Apr 21, 2020

Franziskaner from Missouri

2.91/5  rDev -20.9%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 2.75

Dark brown to amber in color. Murky in complexion. There’s a fingernail of white to amber around the rim and covering most of the top. Lots of floaties in the bottom of the can. The aroma is of tart cherries and elderberries. The taste is a bit like carbonated cough medicine. Lots of fruit. Not subtle. The mouth is moderately carbonated.

Mar 29, 2020

Mindcrime1000 from South Dakota

3.36/5  rDev -8.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5

Poured from a bottle into a tulip.

Pours dark ruby red but crystal clear. Very limited head but good legs and lacing for sure.

Cherry Life-Saver/Cherry Jolly Rancher/Cherry-----You get the picture. Lots of cherries. But not as artificial as I made it sound.

The flavor is a bit more tart than the nose--more Jolly Rancher than Life Saver, I suppose, with sweet cherry on the tip of the tongue but solid acidity at the back of the throat. As the brew warms, That said what is missing here is what I expected from this brewer--some yeasty/grainy body of some kind. As it warms, a few herbal and peppery notes try t to shine through, but the cherry overwhelms that promising nuance. At least it hides the booze well.

Well-carbonated, the brew is clearly medium, and hits about there, and avoids the stickyness I was worried about.

Very flavorful and delivers the promised hallmark flavor but with little nuance. Hides its booze level well. That's about it for me, but perhaps a fan of sweeter fruity brews will appreciate it more.

Mar 28, 2020

mactrail from Washington

3.53/5  rDev -4.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3

Color is a dark intense red with a bizarre pink foam. Deeply fruit aroma of cherries. I have to admit, the cherry taste is the strongest I've ever encountered in a beer. It veers between really good fruit, then cocktail marischinos, with just a hint of the dreaded cough syrup. The aftertaste is fruit. It's actually quite drinkable, though I can't imagine why they put it in a 500 ml can instead of an Old Foghorn nip bottle.

Jan 18, 2020

Nass from Florida

4.17/5  rDev +13.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

There is no date on the can. The pour is garnet red with plenty of sediment. The taste is loaded with elderberries, cherries, grains, & medicinal note. Oh well, at least now I can say that I've had a beer with cherries & elderberries added to it. Cheers! A-

Jan 17, 2020

JamarcusMarinovich from California

3.96/5  rDev +7.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured into pint glass, thin head with decent lacing. Very nice more-red-than-brown color, nose of cherry/berry fruit right off the bat. Totally fruit-berry taste but not in a tart way (good, because it's not supposed to be a tart or sour). The dark ale-ness is definitely secondary, as the fruit and sweetness is foremost...almost a bit too much for me. Sticks a little on the back of the tongue but not cloying, and is a very easy 8% drink

Jan 11, 2020

JacobusFavier23 from Texas

3.84/5  rDev +4.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

L-Pours a deep reddish colored beer with a thin lacy head. A dark brown and deep red colored ale.
S-Smells great. Cherry, blueberry, and elderberry are very prominent. Slight bits of Malty Earthy, buttery, hoppy aromas are there. Pretty nice.
T-Follows the nose. Incredibly sweet. Cherry, blueberry and elderberry again are there too. Malty. Definitely a dessert beer. Sugary sweet.
F-Medium bodied. Medium carbonation. Good.
O-Overall pretty sweet and delicious. Not what I expected. Completely different then their other beers. Enjoyed thoroughly, but wouldn't have just any day. This is a beer for occasion.

Jan 11, 2020

jkblr from Indiana

4.27/5  rDev +16%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

500mL can stamped L9064 (about 9 months old) poured into a snifter at fridge temp 8% ABV. The beer pours reddish brown with some transparency and pink head. The head recedes to a thin ring and leaves spotty lacing all down the glass. The aroma is tart cherry and elderberry, sweet fruit preserves and Belgian yeast. The taste is semisweet, similar to a fruit wine, but with notable Belgian yeast and a bit of malt. The fruit is up front with the cherry and berry both evident. Minimal bitterness. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with average carbonation and a semi dry finish. The alcohol presence is totally unnoticed and, although it's sweet, it's not sugary or cloying. Overall, excellent. Maybe the best fruit beer I've tried.

Dec 20, 2019

BBThunderbolt from Kiribati

4.08/5  rDev +10.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4.5

16.9oz can poured into 14oz teku. Poured a dark ruby red color with 1-1/4 inch of medium pink color that had very good retention and moderate lacing.

Tons of cherry at the front of the nose, with some berry in the background, supported by some base malts, and topped with a bit of spicy yeast.

Very much the same on the tongue, with the addition of a slight touch of spice at the back of the tongue.

The body was medium full, slightly sticky, and had a bit-less-than-sweet finish.

Drinkabilty was very nice. Whether I could drink more than one at shot would depend on how I feel, because this was a fairly filling beer. if I started early with it, I could drain 2-3, if I encountered a couple beers in (as I am today), one is enough.

Overall, a very, very good beer. A must-try for anybody who likes beer.

Dec 13, 2019

Jessica_loves_beer

3.2/5  rDev -13%
look: 4 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25

Color: Gorgeous ruby grapefruit color with a medium head when poured
Smell: Sweet, cherries, slightly medicinal
Taste: Very similar to smell, some honey flavors coming through. It was noted in our family that it reminded some of cherry nyquil or cough syrup though not as sweet. Not entirely unpleasant but would not choose it over other cherry beers. Would have enjoyed more tartness in the fruit.

Nov 30, 2019