Dieu du Ciel Route des Épices

Brewed by Dieu du Ciel
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Montreal, Canada

11.5oz. Pours copper in color with thin tan head. Aroma spicy and malty. Taste roasted malt, rye and spice with bitter finish.

A distinct bready rye aroma, along with some light spices and some mild sourness. Clean palate features dark rye against a brighter ripe fruit, sour cherry, and white wine. Almost no finish save a slight minerality and a little heat of black pepper. The nice thing to say is that this is a drinkable beer, but in reality it lacks the aggressiveness you might expect from a unique-sounding beer with rye and pepper as ingredients.

7/27/2009: Route des Épices ("Spice Route") has a deep golden amber color with a small but fluffy ivory-colored head. I like the aroma. It has a nice blend of cocoa nibs mixed with caramel and dark fruity (dates, light prune) malt. The moderately sweet caramel maltiness in the flavor has nuances of chocolate, fruity/spicy/slightly dry rye, hints of ginger, and a pepper spiciness that builds more and more with each sip. The green peppercorn seems to dominate in the flavor but the heat from the black comes through in the finish. This beer is medium-bodied, effervescent, and prickly on the tongue. Overall this is a pretty good beer with a unique pepper bite. Truth be told, I would have preferred a bit less pepper so that the beer itself could come through more and it by itself (no pepper) would be really good.

11.5 fl. oz. bottle (twist-off cap, 5% alc/vol) from Jungle Jim’s International Market in Fairfield, Ohio. Rating #360 for this beer.

Bottle. Pours a clear treacle brown with a medium large lightly tanned beige head. The peppercorns are huge right up front, smelling nice and spicy and clean. Faint lemony rye smell behind it. Medium bodied, sweet and spicy, but not from the peppercorns right away, more of that spicy rye flavor. Finishes with a slow lingering black pepper buildup…nothing overpowering, just a very subtle long lasting pepper flavor. Very different, very interesting, and oddly tasty.

bottle shared at July BA tasting. Pours a clear amber with a thin, off-white head. Nose is of spices, especially pepper. Taste is super peppery. Mouthfeel is thin.

Interesting beer, especially to a start. Aroma has pure notes of fresh pepper. Colour is brown and a bit unclear. Off-white head, mostly lasting. Flavor has some warming pepper. A pepper-beer.

12oz bottle. Pours a nut brownish color with a very tiny film of head. Nose is spicy and kinda hot. There are some light sweet nut notes as well. Palate is filmy and smooth but sticky. Flavors of pepper, stings the back of the throat, almost like a cayenne pepper or chili, but there is def some black pepper in there. Throat burns a bit and the back of the tongue stings.

11.5oz bottle. Pours a clear, reddish copper body with a finger-width, fizzy, light tan head that dissipates quickly and leaves a veil of lacing on the surface and a good amount of heavy, runny lace-work on the glass. Aroma is mild caramels and legitimately smells like rye bread and black pepper. A light chocolate and fruit make it in there as well. Flavor is more the same. Mildly sweet caramels up front and just a light amount of buttery toffee and fruit come in before a rye spiced, peppery finish. The black pepper gives this just a slight heat like a chili beer typically would. Finishes very smooth with a full body. Lingers for a moderate duration with a light caramel, warming pepper, and a bit of bready fruit aftertaste. Overall, another solid Dieu du Ciel offering. Nice body and straightforward, but fun and unique flavored beer that made this quite enjoyable. Good one.