Dieu du Ciel Aphrodisiaque

Brewed by Dieu du Ciel
Style: Stout
Montreal, Canada

Bottle. An opaque black beer with a medium sized, creamy, mostly lasting and lacing light brown head. The aroma is strong and powerful. Quite malty, with strong notes of dark chocolate and also notes of roasted grain, vanilla and a hint of coffee. The flavour is almost heavily sweet, lightly to moderately acidic, lightly bitter. Less enjoyable than the aroma, but not bad. Medium body , lively carbonation, long finish with about medium bitterness, Maybe not excessively complex, but nice.

Chestnut-hued black. Tight and creamy beige froth entices the senses with its superb retention. Generic nose of cola, nougat, plastic, cacao nibs, chocolate taffy, burnt malt hulls, unripe plums and faint smoke. Overwhelmingly vanilla-laden with a hint of bile. Carbonation is soft and snug. Initially brash with gritty roast yet replete with vanilla which, to a certain degree, resembles plastic. Roast-derived acidity echoes the vibrant dried-plum esters which quickly get pushed aside as the vanilla refuses to relent. Bitter chocolate and scratchy cocoa are buried within the oppressive vanilla. Pungent roasted-malt character exhibits nice depth as it deposits considerable tar and java notes on the palate, but is eventually bludgeoned by the vanilla beans. Vanilla is utterly overbearing to the point of becoming bitter and fatiguing after merely two gulps. Fairly chalky in the finish with a nauseating roasted-malt and bitter vanilla-bean discord. Unpleasant notes of cheap chocolate taffy and vanilla linger on the palate for what seems like an eternity. Decent enough, in terms of structure and the lack of glaring flaws, but certainly a blatant misuse of vanilla.

Pours pitch black in color with a moderate cocoa colored head that quicly dissipates leaving a nice lacing. Aroma is dominated by chocolate, with mild coffee and molasses notes. Taste is domonated by dark chocolate flavors, backed up by vanilla and cocoa flavors. Finishes moderately sweet with a medium body

Dark brown with a beige small head that leaves a nice lid of lacings. The smell is very mellow and round, yet characterful. Lots of chocolate and vanilla. Pleasant malts beneath. Not very complex, but the vanilla and chocolate combination is very pleasant. The taste is on the sweet side with a foundation of mild roasted maltiness and huge amounts of vanilla and chocolate/cocoa/chocolate powder. The sweet flavors of vanilla and cocoa are very prominent and dominate the taste completely. It’s almost reminiscent of a tasty milkshake. Just a hint of dark fruits and perhaps a hint of smoke as well. The finish is very mildly bitter with notes of nuts and chocolate. Unfortunately, I think the finish is a bit short. Medium body with a creamy texture. Slightly too active carbonation. A good one. Very smooth and round. It’s sweet, but not overly so and the somewhat one-sided character works really well due to the well crafted composition. Serving type: bottle (Copy of old Beer Advocate review)

Bottle 341ml. @ home.
Clear dark black color with a average to large, frothy to creamy, good lacing, fully lasting, light brown head. Aroma is moderate to heavy malty, cacao, vanilla, moderate roasted, chocolate. Flavor is heavy sweet and moderate to light heavy bitter with a long duration, dusty. Body is medium, texture is oily - creamy, carbonation is soft. [20091017]

Bottle at chris_o’s "smash kook’s granny tasting". Alround rating: Powdered american chocolate character, or non chocolate like chocolate, lots of sweet vanilla, spicey peppery and nutmeg or something, on the sweetside of balanced and not really a nice drink.

Bottle. Pours a deep coffee brown with a 2 finger thick tan / chocolate head, some spotty lacing. Nice nose of bittersweet chocolate, coffee grounds, some molasses and toffee in the background. Flavor starts with some deep toasted malts, cocoa, and coffee. Finishing semi sweet and medium in body.

Pours out a black brew with a nicely formed dark brown cap that withers away too fast down to surface cover but leaves some sticky, spotty lacing. Amazing aroma - one that is line with my favorite smells out of a glass. Sweet but soft like the fur on kittens. The chocolate is exquisite like a melted stronger milk chocolate mixed with 50% cocoa: smooth, inviting, mild and creamy. The vanilla and bourbon are as one, highlighting the sweetness and chewy character. MIld coffee floats around but never ever becomes close to dominating the character, caramel and a hint of smoke or molases - I think... something here reminds me faintly of coconut - kinda like the inside of a Mounds chocolate bar. The taste is awesome: smooth and delicate, it’s like a glass full of chocolate with more obvious (than the aroma), however mellowed, coffee flavours. The bitterness that hits mid sip builds slowly but steadily into a very lengthy finish is very nice and has a notable medicinal quality. Vanilla and bourbon reign early to mid sip fading to promote the bitterness of the thick roasty toasty malts and chocolate. I think I’m finding a hint of red berries on the nose now. Ha! The finish now is very coffee bitter flavour. Very smooth with excellent carbonation, this beer sticks to my mouth leaving an array of flavours behind to savour beyond the final mouth full. This is a wonderful brew - top of the totem pole.