Dieu du Ciel Route des Épices

bottle thanks to bu11zeye. amber with a cream head. nose is pepper, rye and caramel. decent on the palate but the peppers and caramel were really not working for me.

(12oz bottle) Pours a clear amber body with a small off-white head. Aroma is dominated with pepper with some background notes of caramel, chocolate, and rye. Flavor of potent black pepper, caramel malt, rye, and light roastiness. Interesting experimentation. Certainly unique.

11.5 oz bottle. Pours amber with a beige head. This is all about peppercorns... the nose is solid rye with a huge peppercorn presence, the flavor is much of the same. Good thing I really dig pepper. I really liked this.

Tasted at the San Diego International Beer Festival. Faint aroma and a grain, caramel, and a big warming pepper finish. Quite good.

11.5 oz. pours brown with small head. aroma is pepper and some hint of sweet malt. mouthful is dry and full of pepper, and i love pepper. nice hints of fruit and spice come through. very enjoyable.

Bottle. Rich copper pour with a short beige head. Aroma instantly smacks of back pepper and it is dominant. Light fruit and some hints of caramel in the nose as well. Taste brings out more of the pepper. It’s actually "burning" the back of my throat and is very noticeable, almost to a flaw. Some rye notes, light caramel, hints of fruit, but this bottle is almost pure black pepper. Body is light-medium and rather bubbly. Ends with more pepper and spice, light rye and caramel. Maybe it was just my bottle but this was dominated too much by the black pepper and it basically made it less than enjoyable. I am willing to re-rate if another bottle is more balanced than this.

Pours a mahogany colour with a small white head that dissipates to a small ring quickly. Aroma is nutty and sweet. Hazelnuts, molasses, black pepper (enough to make me sneeze when I inhale deeply), whiskey, and a hint of dark berries on the nose. The palate brings a tun of black pepper, it rolls across the tongue and lingers nicely. Sweet nutty notes and molasses and rye sweetness balance out the black pepper. Mouth feel is nice. This beer is really interesting, but I’m glad I only have one. It does get pretty spicy after a while.

THOUGHTS: This was really different and extremely flavorful for something with only a 5% ABV. The peppercorn was way more noticeable than the rye. This was really nice, but with a tad less pepper it could be incredible, but then it wouldn’t be as unique. Oh, what a vicious circle. I think I’ll be getting more of this. I just which it wasn’t so expensive. TECHNICAL: Bottle. Poured a hazy, dark, brownish amber with an average, off-white head that kept a nice sheet and left good lacing. The aroma was moderate caramel malt, mostly freshly ground pepper, ever so slight rye that was pretty much masked bye the pepper and light fruitiness. The initial flavor was sweet and lightly sour; while the finish was sweet acidic, lightly bitter and slightly sour with an average on flavor and long on burn finish. There was caramel, pepper flavor, slight rye, light fruit and pepper burn. The light to medium body was lightly syrupy, then fairly dry and quickly replaced by burning. It had fizzy carbonation and not much of a finish at first and then burning from the pepper.