Dieu du Ciel Solstice d’Hiver

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

Serve in Snifter

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Date stamps not marked but about a year or so old
A solid pour shows this beer has a ton of carbonation as the beer ends up with four-fingers of amber tinged, tan colored froth. The beer is a dark, concentrated amber color that shows a clear, red-amber hue when held up to the light. The aroma smells of caramelized fruit up front and finishes with a touch of alcohol heat. The fruit notes remind me of sweet plums, raisins some berry like notes and a sweet citrus character that must be coming from the hops. There is a soft spiciness to this brew that reminds me of cloves and perhaps even some more mellow allspice; the spice character melds in quite well with the rich fruitiness.

The beer is fairly dry at first, but then quickly picks up some sweetness that is accentuated by an ample fruit character. The fruit character reminds me of plums, perhaps a touch of raisins, some berry notes and, towards the middle and finish, more of a caramelized citrus zest quality. This finishes with a very firm bitterness that is quite biting in character and even a touch astringent in its aggressive hoppiness. The aggressive hop character is accentuated by some hot alcohol notes as well as a dark grain character that I wouldn’t quite call roasted. It is interesting how mellow and balanced each sip starts out, but then it ends up being completely dominated by the aggressive hop bitterness and astringency; it is not so much that the beer is unenjoyable, but it is definitely a bit more than I would like.

I would guess that a fairly characterful yeast was used to brew this beer (at least English in derivation), as there seems to be quite a bit of spice and fruit character to this beer; this adds a nice complexity to this beer, but it is a bit weird that this beer is so hoppy at the same time. A bit more restraint with the hops would pair quite a bit better with the characterful yeast strain. Still I am definitely enjoying this beer and it is a good way to end the night.

Bottle. Pours mahogany with almost zero head, limited lacing, and a little rim of white-ness around the rim of the glass. This smells like an over-the-top bourbon beer with vanilla jumping down your nose. The taste on this is incredibly sweet with a little bit of that vanilla on the tongue. Palate was full but overall this beer was unenjoyable. this just isn’t my bag.

UPDATED: MAY 27, 2012 yeast sweet alcoholic aroma pores murky brown with lots of floaties, taste sweet caramel, malty, bitter, somewhat sticky with slight alcohol burn on the finish very good Barley wine. I should clarify the "floaties" are from sediment in the bottle, which I didn’t expect in a barley wine, no less one that’s been aged 4 to 5 months.

Backlog nov 2011 Amber, ok foam Full bodied and high complexity Sweet dried fruit aromos Enjoyable, but a bit too sweet

Bottle. Pours a murky rust colored with smaller beige head and a fair amount of floaties. Smell is rich fig, caramel, chocolate, and sweet cystalized sugar. Taste is initally sweet caramel followed by dark fruits, chocolate, a little coffee and then finishes a tad boozy. Texture is very smooth and velvty. Really nice brew.

341ml bottle. Dieu du Ciel pours a dense oily amber body with reddish tones. Nice big head for a barley wine, creamy mocha, with decent retention. Aroma is sweet and yeasty, with a good dose of hops, caramel, nice breadiness, floral, prunes. Taste is astringent, wormwood bitterness, good dose of malt, hops, late summer grass, late alcohol heat, aggressive hop aftertaste. Good.

Bottle from Timfoolery. Pours a very dark brown. Very strong taste of carmel flavor. Full-bodied barleywine that goes down smooth without any alcohol burn.

Wow. Where do I start....Smells like raisins, honey. Head pretty much disappears right away, but who cares. Colour is a cloudy blood red/amber. Tastes like honey, strong alcohol disguised in a kind of almost grapefruit bitterness that has a good lasting power. A sexy, complex beer. Liked this more than Peche Mortal even.

Murky dark brown pour with a small amount of head. Nice lacing on the glass. Aroma is caramel and roasted malt. A little nuttiness and some sweet fruit too. Tastes almost like a brandy. Lots of caramel malt but the alcohol is present throughout but not overpowering. Hops come through a little in the end for a bittersweet finish. Pretty complex, I’ve not had a beer like this one. Very good sipper.

Dark brown beer with hardly any carbonation or head. Hardly any aroma. Strong taste of dark burned malts, some caramel and a lot of alcohol. Herbal, spicy but all ruined by the overwhelming alcohol warmth making it very unbalanced.

Not my kind of thing. The aroma was understated, not a lot there. Flavor was strong but somehow a little flat. Dry, kinda perfumey. Sort of an oily body. Alcohol a heavy presence on the exhale. I enjoyed the first half or so but was tired of it by the end.