Catalogue no. BBG040
Glasses
Exhibit information
Glass style Goblet A stemmed glass with a broad bowl, traditionally associated with stronger Belgian beers, particularly Trappist and abbey ales.
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Explainers
Capacity 25cl
Manufactured 2021 Curator’s Notes I paid €1 for this Delirium Tremens glass at a brocante, having decided that the brand deserved representation in the collection. Delirium is easy to associate with the famous bar in central Brussels that bears its name, but the beer and its distinctive identity have a much wider place in Belgian brewing culture.
The glass is a compact 25 cl balloon goblet, with a generously rounded bowl carried on a short stem and simple circular foot. Its shape provides the relatively restrained canvas for branding which is anything but restrained.
Pink elephants march around the bowl among the deliberately eccentric Delirium lettering, a visual identity closely connected to the beer's name. Delirium Tremens was first brewed by Brouwerij Huyghe in 1988, and the brewery says its original label depicted different phases of delirium; the pink elephant emerged as the enduring symbol of the beer.
This glass belongs to a design introduced during a 2018 reworking of the Delirium range. Huyghe retained the familiar animals and other elements of the brand while redesigning the glass around a broader chalice. The result subsequently won a Belgian competition for beer-glass design in 2020.
