Dieu du Ciel Solstice d’Hiver Réserve Spéciale (Oak Aged)

Brewed by Dieu du Ciel
Style: Barley Wine
Montreal, Canada

Serve in Snifter

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Med brown color. Tons of bourbon and oak in the nose, with less notes of raisins, coconut everywhere and brown sugar. Moderately sweet, rounded. Full body. Very nice and the bourbon works well with this.

Big thanks to Fred for the Bottle!! Pours a hazy brown with a small tan head. Aroma smack if caramel, brown sugar and deep dark mollasses with some booze. Flavor is very very sweet with touches if vanilla and oak but it’s dominated by mollasses and almost burnt sugar. Still it was a great beer.

341ml bottle, dark mahogany color, with a thick beige head, mild barley sugar, soft toasted, caramelized, biscuity malty nose, with some toffee, light oak barrel, vanilla accents, and some dried raisin, english pudding, brandy, french toast, brown sugar notes in the aroma follows through on a medium-bodied palate with a nice syrupy warmth, mellow sweet fruitcake, candied dry raisin, fig, date, prune fruitiness, brown chocolate, barley sugar, raisin pie, toffee character with a sponge toffee, graham cracker, caramelized, toasted, biscuity maltiness, oaky backbone, and a faint brandyish liquor, brown sugar, light maple taffy, cream sugar flavors, leading towards a warming, toffee, fruitcake, oaky, barley sugar, sweet maltiness finish.

Bouteille de 341ml. Version à 10,2%. Bière brune sans mousse. Le nez est fort complexe avec des fruits secs, de la vanille, du bois et du raisin sec. En bouche le liquide est sucré, un peu chaud, l’alcool n’est pas discret. Les saveurs tournent autour du bois, de la vanille et de ces raisins secs. Le bois par exemple est présent mais n’agresse pas. La texture est sublime. Une bière à partager, mais avec qui ? Un produit puissant, unique et sans compromis.

Bottle - 341ml. Hazy dark brown body with a thin off-white creamy head. Rich, complex malty/hoppy aroma with Bourbon, fruity, woody, and some yeasty hints. Alcohol is discreet. Awesome, sharp malty/hoppy taste with porto, oaky, and Bourbon notes. Ends with a neverending, robust, warming bittersweet finish. Fantastic!

Bottle, 341 ml, gift from Philippe Wouters, savoured on February 7 2010; eye: bronze, clear, no effervescence, no head; nose: oak, vanilla, alcohol, malt, butterscotch, bourbon; mouth: oak, vanilla, alcohol, malt, butterscotch, bourbon, finale in malt-butterscotch with presence of oak, liqueur-like, full-body, below-average carbonation, lightly bitter, mildly sweet; overall: quite good FRANÇAIS Bouteille, 341 ml, cadeau de Philippe Wouters, savourée le 19 janvier 2010; œil : bronze, claire, pas d’effervescence, pas de mousse; nez : chêne, vanille, alcool, malt, caramel écossais, bourbon; bouche : chêne, vanille, alcool, malt, caramel écossais, bourbon, finale en malt-caramel écossais avec présence de chêne, liquoreux, corsé, carbonatation sous la moyenne, légèrement amère, moyennement sucrée; en résumé : bien bon

pours murky brown with a nice light beige head, some retention and lacing. strong bourbon and toffee notes, vanilla, sweet and almost cloying molassed sugars, chocolate, nice dried and dark fruitiness, some raisins too, almost too much coconut in there. booze. big resinous and grassy have faded a lot (parallel with non-BA version) - for BA treatment i suppose. average carbonation, medium body - sticky, fat and almost cloying. prefered non-BA version even though it is a nice use of barrel.

Dark brown, copper colored brew. Aroma has oak, bourbon tones, dark fruits and vanilla, great. Flavor has vanilla, raisins, apricot, plums, some oak, bourbon and hops. Blended together very nice. Very enjoyable.

Thanks to godofthunder for sharing. Rich licorice and molasses on the nose. Pours dark amber with a very thin white head. Very rich malty with licorice notes and dark molasses a little boozy with a smooth vanilla finish.

[bottle] Oaky pumpernickel aroma with some oxidized character (tasted in Jan. 2011). Clear chestnut appearance with a tawny ring. Sweet pumpernickel flavour with nice oak notes. Good balance. Medium body, moderate carbonation, slightly bitter finish.