Dieu du Ciel Corne du Diable

0.34 l bottle at Pikkulintu, Helsinki. Amber color with creamy head. Sweet aroma with thick flowery, lemony, piney and grassy hops. Bittersweet honeyish, grassy and hoppy flavor with fruity-lemony hops and hint of soap. A bit too sweet and soapy for me. This one did not taste very fresh.

Deep hazy, chunky copper/brown coloured body with a thinnish tan head - wierd for an IPA! Aroma of metal, fresh hops, caramel, nuts and a bit of pine. Medium-bodied; Strong assertive hops up front with no backbone, just showing a pale grassy and pine hop flavour. Aftertaste shows some caramel, a bit of metal and a bitter malt flavour. Overall, a strong, sharp and potent IPA - not showing enough hops, rather more malt and a bit of sweetness. Decent to try, but I prefer more of an American-style IPA. I sampled this 330 mL bottle purchased from Ramsey Liquors in Ramsey, New Jersey on 19-January-2009, sampled at home in Washington on 29-January-2009.

Pour is a copper with an average white head. Aroma is a very nice floral hop. Flavor is again heavy on the hops with some caramel malts showing up at the end. Pretty straight forward and tasty IPA.

Acheté à la trappe à fromage et dégusté dans un verre de IPA. de couleur orange cuivré légèrement voilé avec une belle mousse. Odeur d’houblon tranchant, de résine, de poivre et de pelure d’orange. Un goût d’épinette, de zeste d’agrumes, de poivre et de gingembre en finale. La bière prend bien sa place, elle est gracieuse, souple, intrigueante et avec du caractère. Je dois vous dire que la version en fût est beaucoup plus équilibré et encore meilleur vieilli de quelques années. Une bière qui mérite que l’on arrête pour la déguster.

THOUGHTS: Nice beer, but I was expecting much more from this one. I’ve heard good thins about the brewery and this my first sample. It seemed to have qualities of both British and American IPAs. TECHNICAL: Bottle. Poured a reddish, brownish, orange with a large, off-white head that mostly diminished, but left good lacing. The aroma was moderate molasses and caramel malts, moderate resin, grapefruit and orange hops, light to moderate earthy yeast, brown sugar and light band-aid. The flavor was caramel malt, earthiness, tea, citrus (orange and grapefruit) hops, pine and resin then metallic hops, finishing with a long duration. The medium body was sorta syrupy and sticky on the lips, but more oily really with soft carbonation and a metallic and moderate tho heavily astringent finish.

330ml $4.49 Binny’s Orland Corne du Diable (The Devil’s Horn) pours a shade darker then orange and a shade lighter then amber, where that leaves us I’m not quite sure. When backlit the body sports long orange highlights from top to bottom through the mild haze. Explosions of carbonation rush to the surface and keep the billowy off white head in place for the entirety of the drink. As I drink the head leaves solid patchy lacing behind. The aroma isn’t really what I expected. There is a lot more malt then what I was expecting to the point it smells like this is a malt heavy IPA. This is a caramel heavy brew along with a good handful toasted grains. There is a decent hop presence but it takes the form tea leaves like this IPA has been sitting around awhile. As far as I know these were just recently brought into the states for distribution. The flavor follows the aroma perfectly unfortunately the aroma was just ok. The caramel plays a big role and lays down the foundation of this beer. Toasted grains join in to add a bit of depth. The hoppiness shows signs of tea leaf and mild candied orange. There is a very mineralish flavor that must come from the water used. I really enjoy the mouthfeel of this beer. As it hits the tongue it’s creamy and medium bodied but the carbonation quickly gets it moving a little quicker and lightens the body slightly. There isn’t much bitterness but it does grow as I work my way through the glass. This beer seems to go down fairly easy. It’s a balanced IPA so the hoppiness never takes hold and beats down the tongue like a lot of American versions which make it a little easier to put away. While this is a decent IPA I have to say I was expecting more from Dieu de Ciel. It’s not quite what it’s labeled and it seems to be a little on the older side. Either way it’s Dieu de Ciels doing since this has just been imported very recently. I will be passing on this from now on; there are much better IPAs out there that are local and much cheaper. Bottle 6/29/08

Bottle. Pours a thick inviting cheddar orange with a healthy head of off-white. Aroma is a sweet grapefruit that gives way quickly to a more sour (and proper) version of the aforementioned fruit. Flavor is a a blunt grapefruit with orange rinds and pine in the finish. Nice mouthfeel. Refreshing and very approachable.

341 ml bottle at Haket, Göteborg. On January 15, 2009. Clear dark copper to brownish red color, small tan head. Fresh hoppy and malty sweet scent. Bitter hoppy taste. Medium mouthfeel. High bitterness, long lasting afterbitterness.