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