Dieu du Ciel Route des Épices

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

Pours a clear medium brown/amber with big bubbles in the head and leaves ok retention... Aroma is spicy with nutmeg, clove, allspice, very wintery feeling, and quite peppery up close, the spice drowns out any other aromas... Flavor is of sweet malt then immediate pepper, got notes of clove and nutmeg as well... Very Peppery finish, medium to medium thin bodied, very carbonated... Any time Dieu du Ciel claims an ingredient is in a beer(in this case Black Pepper), expect an abundance of said ingredient... Very Interesting and worth trying...

Bottle. Head is initially small, frothy, light brown, mostly lasting. Body is dark amber. Aroma is lightly to moderately malty (toasted bread, cookie), lightly hoppy (resin), lightly yeasty (cobwebs), with notes of allspice/clove/pepper, tangerine. Flavor is moderately sweet, lightly acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is lightly sweet, lightly acidic, moderately bitter. Medium body, watery/velvety texture, lively carbonation, moderately burning. Neat, but a bit too much novelty for my liking. I like hot-spicy food, but a burning aftertaste in a beer just ain’t much fun. Pleasant aroma though.

Umber color with a taller faded beige head. I am certainly smelling fresh cracked pepper. I am suddenly thinking about frying an egg. I’m trying, but I’m not finding much as far a malt or beer, perhaps a bit of sweetness, but the pepper takes every bit of my nose. Light pale malt and green cracked pepper flavors dominate. Light burn in the back of the throat from the pepper. Now I’m thinking of steak au poivre. This begs to be paired or cooked with food. Not one I’d recommend by itself. For me a bit more malt sweetness/depth would help.

(RBSG05) Clear amber body topped by off-white head. Aroma is mild sweet, white pepper. Taste us neduyn sweetm oeooerm caramel, dry pepper finish. A mild pepper burn lingers. Light-medium body. Interesting use of pepper -- I have not encountered a beer where pepper so dominated before.

Draught at the brewpub
Amber, thick head, light lacing. Nose of pepper, pepper and pepper. Light malt. The flavor is peppery as well. It’s incredible, it’s similar to a steak. The finish is intense because of the huge amount of spices. Good but not a beer I could drink much of.

Bottle. Medium sized fizzy ivory head that mostly diminished, transparent body, fast rising carbonation, spotty amounts of lacing, and an orange hue. The aroma was malt, chocolate, caramel, sweet, fruity, and pepper notes. Ditto for the flavor along with some spicy flavor. The mouthfeel was tingly, peppery and hot. This is a medium bodied beer. I do not care for a beer with a peppery taste to it which made it difficult for me to finish this beer. Not a beer that I will drink again.

Clear copper color, medium beige head. Aroma of fruity malt coupled with peppers. I’m not really getting a whole lot of black pepper but more of a chili pepper flavor, this of course is more in ther finish, the front end is predominantly malty. Medium bodied, light burn from the peppers. Not bad, hey you can’t always hit a home run.

Average score posted.
Original Rating (8-2-4-4-12=3.0): Strong peppery aroma. Cloudy appearance with little head. Good mouthfeel. Beer character is completely overpowered by black pepper. On tap.
Rerate (8-2-6-5-13=3.4): Citrus hops and toasted malt character are initially notable in the aroma and are then joined by strong but not overwhelming black pepper spiciness. Hazy burnished copper coloured body is topped by a decent, fine bubbled, tan head that recedes realtively quickly to a thin partial cover and ring. Sweetness up front is immediately joined by strong peppery spices but there is a doughy malt character that I don’t recall from the tap version that definitely improves drinkability. Peppery character lingers a long time in the aftertaste. Medium full body has a wonderful soft texture and fine bubbled effervescence that opens the tastebuds. Still not sure I’m sold on the pepper beer as a concept, but the mouthfeel on this is sublime and the beer is obviously well-crafted. Tulip glass. Cellar temperature. Bottle (Gift, Oct-07). Big thanks to MartinT for shipping this out to me!