Dieu du Ciel Amourette

Clear cranberry red, distinctive straight pink head, moderately lasting. Mellow lactic red berries nose. Almost refreshing from the smell, wheaty and fresh. A genuine fruit beer, in the lines of a berliner weisse through its snappy sourness, cutting through the perhaps warmest day of 2005 as of yet as well as any other refreshment. Mostly lactic profile, though also grapey tartaric, malic or even citric notes. The evolutive aftertaste traces a fine line between core raspberry purée and the cleansing freshness attributed to heavily lactic beers. Light bodied, palate cleansing carbonation. Not very complicated, but eminently enjoyable. Let’s face it, there are at most 5-10 other non-lambic breweries in the whole world making fruit beers of this caliber. Long finish. I don’t know how different it is from their solstice d’été aux framboises to tell the truth. I’ve unfortunately had that one only once, but I seem to remember it darker, less tart and perhaps a bit more herbal/rooty than the amourette. When brewing is more an art than a science...

Pint at the brewpub, about three times in the last week. Oily cranberry with no head or lace (as desired)...fresh, somewhat green raspberry nose, a bit tart, vanilla and sourdough emerging with time...intensely sour, at times nearly vinegary mouthfeel, mouthpuckeringly intense with tart green fruit throughout, light and crisp, a bit cidery and peppery towards the finish...long, long every so long acidic finish.

The Lure:
Sinuous lactic acidity infiltrating some fresh raspberries. Milky, bright and vibrant, there is no artificiality in this fruit beer/berliner weisse hybrid.

The Festivities:
This is a lighter version of their other berliner weisse brewed with raspberries, Solstice d’Été aux Framboises. Raspberries are as fresh as ever though, from their sweet peel to their juicy pith. Sourness is diplomatic (that’s the "lighter" part) and covered in drops of milk. Body is light and drinkable while being round and never boring. The more you drink it, the more the berliner weisse in it sticks to your gums and all you have to do to get another taste of it is lick your teeth. Now that’s a summer beer.

Transcendence:
The birdies are chirping in the backyard this morning.

Soured wheat and raspberries are strong in the nose. Hazy red body is topped by a decent, pink-tinged-white head that recedes rapidly to cover. Strong tart raspberry flavour is complementary to the raw wheat character. Goes down very smoothly despite the obvious acidity. Light, refreshing body with moderate, spritzy carbonation. On tap at the brewpub with Olivier_MTL.

On draught at Dieu du Ciel with Muzzlehatch, Tiggmtl, Bret Kuhnhenn and his father and sister. 6/2/2005. Served in a weizen glass. Fantastic pink-tangerine-ruby red grapefruit sort of appearance, with different layers of colors, lightly hazy and having a large pink-yellow tinged-white head atop it, plenty of retention and lacing. Aroma is soft raspberries, tart wheat notes and a bit of lactic/sour yeast character. Vanilla and raspberry seeds as well. Flavor is immediately dry, lightly tart from the raspberry flavor and then quite full of wheat. Ends lightly sour, not overly so, not as much as you would expect a full-on b. weisse to be. Though aside from that, the balance and body are wonderful. Not watery, and nowhere near syrupy, cloying or candy-like, this is artfully and tastefully done, with just tart, fresh raspberry flavor. Creamy wheat, vanilla, bits of woody underbrush are lightly present aside from the lactic sourness and raspberries. Wonderfully refreshing and drinkable, with a medium to medium-light body, but no thinning. A real masterpiece, so I think. I have to give this a couple more points overall than normal, just because the execution on this must be so difficult.