Game Day Beer Review: Brouwerij Huyghe Delirium Nöel Belgian Strong Dark Ale

The Location: A private home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida

The Date: Saturday, November 30, 2013

The Time: 5:15pm, Eastern Standard Time

The Weather: 75 degrees in the air-conditioned indoors

The Scene: The loud sounds of children, excited to be hanging ornaments on a Christmas  tree, the room a veritable beehive of activity. Holiday music plays in the background. 

The Music: Silver Bells, Colbie Caillat

The Beer: Delirium Noël, Brouwerij Huyghe (10.00% ABV)

The Taste: Poured from the bottle into a goblet.  Appears an always-lighter-than-expected reddish-brown color with a thin head that rapidly dissolves. The beer offers notes of Belgian yeast, honey, apples and sweet malt on the nose. Delirium Noël has the definite tartness of a fermented apple juice, mixed with malty sweetness and a ton of grape esters. It's nicely boozy, but not thick in its mouthfeel. It's a wonderfully complex beer, one that surprises us by its depth every time we try it. Noël is a genuine holiday treat. 

The Feel: As close as we get to winter in South Florida. 

Manchester United Hit Top as Wigan See Red

photo by ƒяαиcєscα яσsє	via PhotoRee

farlieonfootie and Spurs correspondent James, in attendance at Old Trafford today for the visit of Wigan Athletic.   I like James' style: a real corporate guy who shares the same vision for farlieonfootie as the brass back at the home office.  It's a pleasure watching a game with James, with his keen footie eye and cerebral approach to the game -- not to mention his love of a good beer....  One of several we drank on the day is profiled below.

Old Trafford / Manchester, England / November 20

It's the Youth Parade on Full Offensive Display at the Theatre of Dreams Today, with Obertan and Macheda up front, supported by Nani and Park, with Fletch and Carrick pulling the strings in midfield.

It's Wigan, though, with the day's first real opportunity, as first Rafael is beaten and then Vidic slips, the two combining to present Wigan hitman Hugo Rodallega with a ball that's been wrapped with a bow. It's a good thing Rodallega himself slips as he goes to strike it, or United would be on the short end of the scoreline only five minutes into the match.

Nani blows in a fine free kick just a few short minutes later, and Vidic, now playing offense, is only a step or two short of heading it into the net. The big Serbian is forced to track back quickly, and switch back to his more accustomed defensive role, as he and Rodallega are busy playing a game of one-on-one, the two racing the length of the field after Rodallega is passed into the clear on a seeing-eye through ball. In the end, Vidic has just enough pace to close down the speedy Honduran, and forces him into a shot that ends up as a relatively comfortable save for Van der Sar.