RateBeer
Score
9891
OVERALLStyle
Brewed by Dieu du Ciel
Style: Barley Wine
Montreal, Canada
Serve in Snifter

bottled
common

on tap
available

Broad Distribution

Add Distribution Data
RATINGS: 699   WEIGHTED AVG: 3.72   SEASONAL: Winter   EST. CALORIES: 294   ABV: 9.8%
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COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION
This noble winter beer is brown in colour with flaming red highlights. Its taste is delicately sweet and liquor-like with a hint of burnt caramel coming from the malt and a prolonged boiling time. It is a very bitter beer with aromas of hops and alcohol, and flavours reminiscent of red fruit brought by the English-type yeast we use to ferment it. The aftertaste is accentuated by the wonderful flavour of hops. Solstice d’Hiver is brewed only once a year, and is then aged for 4 to 5 months before being sold. This aging process is necessary to achieve an ideal equilibrium between the sharp bitterness and the other flavours in the beer. After aging, it is then sold starting mid-December of each year, until stocks last.


phaleslu's rating

3.3
   AROMA 6/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 7/10   PALATE 3/5   OVERALL 13/20
phaleslu (4431) - Cincinnati, Ohio, USA - MAR 12, 2011
11.5 oz. bottle from Wine and Cheese Place. Pours a cloudy brown-amber color with a finger-thick beige head that settles into a small creamy foam. Aroma of earthy hops, raisins and other dark fruits, caramel malts, alcohol, and brown sugar. Flavor of earthy hops, overripe pit fruits, raisins, brown sugar, alcohol, and dry grains. Medium-bodied, with moderate carbonation and a sweet, boozy mouthfeel. Maybe I needed to let this sit down for another year or two. As it stands, this is a too-boozy, overrated barleywine.


most recent ratings

3.7
   AROMA 7/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 7/10   PALATE 3/5   OVERALL 16/20
Beergeek23322 (425) - Chesapeake, Virginia, USA - MAY 19, 2013
February 2012. Bottle. Malt, bread and hoppy aromas. Color is dark brown with a tan head. Flavors of brown sugar, hops, roasted malt and raisins with a semi-sweet finish.

3.6
   AROMA 7/10   APPEARANCE 3/5   TASTE 7/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 15/20
erickok (2282) - Tours, FRANCE - MAY 12, 2013
Glowing brown body, fairly clear and with light kaki head. Moderately hopped, bready malts, humous, nutty and overall nice me not as expressive as I’d hoped. Smooth body, appropriately low carbonation. Starts malty bit actually fairly bitter towards the end. Overall I hoped for more. Hides the alcohol well though. (12oz bottle from Bière Cultes)

3.9
   AROMA 8/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 8/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 15/20
Gerbeer (859) - Vancouver, British Columbia, CANADA - MAY 9, 2013
341 ml bottle. Pours a dark mahogany with full head. Aromas of dark fruit and roasted malts. Flavors of brown sugar, sharp hops, and rich malts. 10.2% for 2012. Quite nice for a young barley wine

3.7
   AROMA 8/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 6/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 15/20
kbudd19 (94) - Alberta, CANADA - MAY 1, 2013
2011 bottle. Pours a dark muddy brown, the smell is Carmel and booze. Taste is mildly boozy, with hints a sweet Carmel/butter scotch. Not bad

2.7
   AROMA 7/10   APPEARANCE 5/5   TASTE 5/10   PALATE 2/5   OVERALL 8/20
rickardm (13) - SWEDEN - APR 27, 2013
On bottle. Dark color with a tone of red. Small white head. Caramel, coffee and raisins aroma. Sweet and spicy taste, heavily bodied with easy afternotes.

3.4
   AROMA 7/10   APPEARANCE 3/5   TASTE 7/10   PALATE 3/5   OVERALL 14/20
bleeng (1372) - Houston nowhere near Beersel, Texas, USA - APR 20, 2013
12 oz bottle pours black. not much nose taste is slightly sweet . taste is the same nice beer.

2.9
   AROMA 6/10   APPEARANCE 3/5   TASTE 6/10   PALATE 3/5   OVERALL 11/20
MacMoney (735) - Alabama, USA - APR 20, 2013
UPDATED: APR 21, 2013 Bottle, 10.2% ABV. Pours a fairly dark ruby red with a hint of a beige head. Aroma is caramel, syrupy, dark fruits, light ethanol. Taste is much of the same, semisweet, a bit more ethanol in the flavor though it cuts the sweetness fairly nicely. Palate is full and oily, somewhat carbonated. Decent, but as far as barley wines go, sub-par. With so many better options out there, I don’t ever see myself choosing this one again. So far, Dieu du Ciel has proven to be a disappointment.

3
   AROMA 6/10   APPEARANCE 5/5   TASTE 5/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 10/20
Nische (72) - Saltsjö-Boo, SWEDEN - APR 16, 2013
Pours a hazy brown color. Aroma and taste of dried fruit, vanilla and some caramel. Very strong and boozy flavour. It would probably turn out better with some ageing.

3.7
   AROMA 7/10   APPEARANCE 3/5   TASTE 8/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 15/20
jcos (1175) - Maryland, USA - APR 13, 2013
Location/Date:Bottle on April 13th, 2013.

Appearance: Pour s a dark reddish brown.
Aroma: Aroma of light caramel.
Taste: Light bitterness, darker caramel, hint of chocolate maybe.
Palate:Medium light body, lingering aftertaste.

Summary: Solid barley wine, the caramel flavor is slightly different then others.

3.4
   AROMA 7/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 7/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 12/20
Lilja (952) - Malmö, SWEDEN - APR 12, 2013
Smak och doft av torkad frukt, malt, en aning karamell, russin och lönnsirap. Alkoholen slår igenom så denna öl behöver stå några år för att bli mer balanserad.


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