Dieu du Ciel series: Route des Épices

Number 5 of 8 of the Dieu du Ciel beers that I'm reviewing, this one, French for "Spice Route", is a rye beer brewed with black and green peppercorns... an unusual combination, for sure. We'll see if it works out!

BEER: Route des Épices (Dieu du Ciel brewery, St-Jérôme, Quebec) - Rye beer brewed with peppercorns

ABV: 5.3%

SERVED: 341mL brown bottle bought at the LCBO, poured into an Innis & Gunn slightly-curved footed glass

APPEARANCE: Very deep, dark red in colour, glowing a dark amber when held to the light. Creamy head lingered for several minutes, dissipating very slowly.

AROMA: Rye malts are very pronounced, but little to no scent of the peppercorns.

TASTE: Initial taste is very much what you'd expect of a good rye beer: fresh grains and almost a touch of caramel. You can't taste the peppercorns at all until the aftertaste, when the spicier edge kicks in. This becomes much more pronounced after a few sips, with the spiciness beginning to build on the tongue.

OVERALL: The rye flavour in this beer is quite good, and while I'm not normally a fan of overly-spicy cuisine, the spice is mild enough in this beer so as not to be a deal-breaker. I can see this pairing very well with barbequed burgers or steaks. 7/10

Dieu du Ciel series: Rosée d'Hibiscus

Continuing on with the beers from Dieu du Ciel, this is probably the most unique one of the bunch. I can't say it's every day that I try a beer brewed with actual hibiscus flowers!

BEER: Rosée d'Hibiscus (Dieu du Ciel brewery, St-Jérôme, Quebec) - Strong wheat beer brewed with spices and hibiscus flowers

ABV: 5.9%

SERVED: 341mL brown bottle bought at the LCBO, poured into an Innis & Gunn slightly-curved footed glass

APPEARANCE: Cloudy, as one would expect of a wheat beer... and yet a darker, earthy red in colour, similar to a strawberry juice. Light, red-hued head which dissipated within a minute.

AROMA: Definite flowery aroma to it, but not in that overpowering, just-walked-into-a-flower-shop sort of way. It's a very light, natural scent.

TASTE: Very light and refreshing, with the flavour of the hibiscus flowers being very prominent, lingering subtly into the aftertaste.

OVERALL: I can see a lot of ladies liking this one, or just anyone who doesn't like harsh, bitter-tasting beers. As with most wheat beers, this one's definitely a summer sipper, and would go well with light fare like salads, or fresh fruits and vegetables. 7/10

Dieu du Ciel series: Aphrodite

A bonus second review today from the Dieu du Ciel series: Aphrodite. Interestingly, the name for this beer on the French version of the label (found on Dieu du Ciel's website - http://micro.dieuduciel.com/en/beers.php) is "Aphrodesiaque" which translates obviously as "Aphrodisiac". I'm not entirely sure why they altered it for the English label to be Aphrodite.

BEER: Aphrodite (Dieu du Ciel brewery, St-Jérôme, Quebec) - Strong Stout brewed with "organic fair-trade cocoa and first-rate vanilla beans"

ABV: 6.5%

SERVED: 341mL brown bottle bought at the LCBO, poured into an Innis & Gunn slightly-curved footed glass

APPEARANCE: Deep black in colour, even darker than Guinness: when held to the light, Guinness will actually show a deep amber colour - this beer, when held to the light, is still black as night. Creamy, caramel-coloured head, which dissipated after a couple of minutes.

AROMA: You can definitely smell the vanilla they brewed this beer with. There's a faint, almost-sweetness to it as well. The smell is more akin to cookie batter than to beer!

TASTE: I expected a strong flavour, given that the alcohol content is up more around the level that you'd expect from an imperial stout, but it's actually quite mellow. The first thing you taste when you take a sip of this is the cocoa, but it doesn't taste at all artificial or overpowering... quite nice in fact, and complements the dark roasted malts of the stout quite well. The vanilla returns for the aftertaste, coming in slowly. This blend of flavours works really well together.

OVERALL: Much better than the last beer I tasted. This one is beautiful, well-balanced, and very easy-drinking, especially considering that it's a stout, and higher in alcohol as well. I think a lot of people who "don't like dark beer" could be very impressed with this one. I can just imagine a small glass of this pairing excellently with a nice dark chocolate dessert. Don't be afraid of the dark colour of this beer... if you see it on the shelves at your local LCBO, pick one up, or better yet, buy two! You won't regret it! 9.5/10

Dieu du Ciel series: Rigor Mortis

Well, I haven't exactly made my goal of reviewing a beer a day for the length of this Dieu du Ciel series, but nonetheless, here's the next entry: Rigor Mortis!

BEER: Rigor Mortis (Dieu du Ciel brewery, St-Jérôme, Quebec) - Extra Strong Abbey-Style Brown Ale

ABV: 10.5%

SERVED: 341mL brown bottle bought at the LCBO, poured into an Innis & Gunn slightly-curved glass

APPEARANCE: Deep, earthy brown colour. Nearly opaque when held to the light. Thin head which dissipates quickly.

AROMA: Surprisingly little smell... at most a very faint malty smell.

TASTE: Subtle initial malty flavour that slowly gives way to the strong taste of alcohol. The malt returns somewhat on the aftertaste, but still not entirely pleasant.

OVERALL: I can't say I'm a huge fan of this one. The alcohol is too strong, and the flavours are too weak. There are much better examples of brown ales out there, like Neustadt Brewery's 10W30. Given that I couldn't even finish one bottle, I can't give this any higher than a 4/10.

Dieu du Ciel series: Corne du Diable

To mark the return of some new posts after a long hiatus, I have something a little special: the LCBO has seen fit to grace it's shelves with an incredible selection of beers from the Dieu du Ciel (I've heard loosely translates as "Oh my god!", but literally translates as God of the Sky) brewery of St-Jérôme, Quebec. I've heard a lot about this microbrewery and it's wide range of unique beers, but haven't been able to track any of their products down until recently. They're available as singles only at the moment, and possibly for a limited time, so if you're interested, I'd check them out. They include styles ranging from an India Pale Ale to a coffee stout, from Belgian abbey-style brown ales to a beer brewed with hibiscous flowers. Like I said... a wide range of unique beers.

I'm going to try to review one of these beers per day until I finish all 8. Given that it's Halloween today, I decided to start with Corne du Diable (Horn of the Devil).

BEER: Corne du Diable (Dieu du Ciel brewery, St-Jérôme, Quebec) - India Pale Ale

ABV: 6.5%

SERVED: 341mL brown bottle bought at the LCBO, poured into an Innis & Gunn slightly-curved footed glass (so as to concentrate the aromas)

APPEARANCE: Brownish colour, a golden amber when held to the light. A good half-inch or so of head, brownish-creamy colour, and a thicker consistancy more akin to the head of a stout. Head seems to linger quite long for an IPA, not dissipating completely even after several minutes.

AROMA: Faint malty aroma with the distinctive floral hoppy aroma one would expect from a nice IPA.

TASTE: Quite a subtle initial taste, with the flavour of the hops gradually hitting the tastebuds, along with the normal slightly-oily mouthfeel of generous levels of hops. The aftertaste is all about the hops, lingering from sip to sip very nicely. Not a harsh flavour at all, and very minimal alcohol taste, belying the higher 6.5% ABV (common among IPAs).

OVERALL: Delicious! Less potent in flavour than some IPAs, but makes for a very drinkable beer. I'd recommend this one as a "gateway" beer for anyone whose experience with IPAs is limited to the commercial un-IPAs like Keith's. It's not so harsh as to be offensive to a mainstream beer-drinker's pallate, yet has enough hops and subtle flavours to be enjoyed by a beer connoisseur. 8.5/10

Heritage Maple Bush Lager

BEER: Heritage Maple Bush Lager (Heritage Brewing Ltd, Ottawa, ON)

ABV: 4.6%

SERVED: 650mL brown bottle (single purchased at LCBO), poured into a pint glass

APPEARANCE: Dark amber-brown, similar in colour to late-season maple syrup. Beautiful amber glow when held up to the light. Very little head, and what little there is dissipates almost immediately.

AROMA: Sweet, malty aroma.

TASTE: Initial subtle taste of maple syrup combined with a malty flavour. Very smooth aftertaste, with more of the malt on the follow-through.

OVERALL: Pretty tasty. The subtle maple flavour is nice. A rather unique beer, I would say. 7/10.

Imperial Creme Brulee Stout

I was immediately intrigued when I saw this one on the shelf at the LCBO. I debated over whether or not to buy it though, due to the price tag (upwards of $10 for a 650mL bottle). Ultimately, I decided the price and bottle size made it more like a wine, and really, this wasn't a beer that I could pass up!

Excerpt from the bottle: "How, you may ask, would a brewery determine a likeness to a hard-coated custard? Ou response is simple: it's all in the power of history, and of course, the extra finesse needed to top off a contentious treat with definition."

Thought it might also be interesting to list the ingredients for this one, as listed on the bottle: Water, Barley, Hops, Yeast, Lactose, and Vanilla Bean.

BEER: Imperial Creme Brulee Stout (Southern Tier Brewing Company, Lakewood, NY)

ABV: 10.0%

SERVED: 650mL brown bottle (single purchased at the LCBO), poured into a pint glass

APPEARANCE: Very dark, almost black. Creamy-coloured head, which dissipates fairly quickly.

AROMA: Wow! This smells amazing! It doesn't even really smell like a beer... it honestly smells like a dessert: like creme brulee.

TASTE: Again, wow. This tastes like something a master chef would create. Creamy and delicious, with an almost caramelly aftertaste.

OVERALL: Mind-blowing. This is one of those rare beers which leaves you wondering if it's really a beer. Beers like this, I think even people who "don't like beer" would enjoy. My go-to beer of that category is the Nickel Brook Green Apple Pilsner, which for some reason I haven't reviewed here yet... I'll have to get on that! Anyways... Creme Brulee Stout: 10/10!

Ebulum: Elderberry Black Ale

Another long gap in between posts... life's been pretty busy, I suppose. But I've kept notes of a few beers that I tasted, and just never got around to putting online... so without further ado, I'll share those with you!

BEER: Ebulum ~ Elderberry Black Ale (William Bros Brewing Co., Alloa, Scotland, UK)

ABV: 6.5%

SERVED: 330mL brown bottle (Scottish Ales boxed collection from LCBO), poured into a pint glass

APPEARANCE: Very dark, almost black. Like Guinness though, when held to the light, it reveals a deep, dark ruby colour. Thick, creamy head.

AROMA: Beautiful mix of malt and earthy berries, with notes of floral hops.

TASTE: Just as it smells: malt, earthy berries, with a lingering bitter hop aftertaste. Very nice.

OVERALL: Beautiful beer, through and through. A rare one, this is a beer to be sipped and enjoyed. 9/10