Dieu du Ciel Corne du Diable

Bottle. EPA-ish aroma: light crystal malt and perhaps some lime-y hops. The flavor has grapefruit nuances but this is primarily a malty IPA.

Umm, malty IPA, I really enjoy these. The maltier start gives a warm toasted caramel flavor that gives you more then just a soapy citrus IPA. The heavier malts allow the hops to not get to sharp, very good pairing of flavors with a solid citrus finish.

Deep translucent orange to red brown pour with big fluffy cream colored head. Sticky lacing leaves distinct rings around the glass with each sip. Caramelly roasty malts are very forward along with a rich resinous hop character. Both richly sweet and piercingly hoppy aroma at the same time. Underlying hints of raisin and vanilla add more complexity. Initial sip is incredibly bitter, somewhat astringently so. Flavor is very piney masking the complex malts that I sensed in the nose. This is pretty straight forward and is a bit of a dissapointment after the excitment of the initial aromas. Finish is kind of soapy leaving an oily finish on the tongue, again very piney. As the palate adjusts the malts make a soft but noticable presence, still very occluded by the strong piney hops... did I use piney enough in this rating?

33 ml bottle, many thanks to sloth! Pours a mostly clear mahogany amber color with a moderate sized, somewhat foamy beige head that leaves nice lace. Caramelly and toasty malts, with nice floral and lightly resiny hops. Hop forward flavors, with the toasty, biscuity and somewhat fruity malts evident, brash citrus and pine notes give way to a lingering astringent finish. Medium body and crisp, prickly carbonation.

Very solid beer. Picked up a bottle at West Lakeview Liquors in Chicago. Pours a dark amber. Nice aroma, some hops as well as some malt. Very basic, but so smooth and well balanced. It has a nice texture to the beer, I could see drinking a lot of these.

Bottle. Head is initially average sized, frothy, light brown, mostly lasting. Body is dark amber. Aroma is lightly to moderately malty (toasted grain, cookie, caramel), moderately hoppy (resin, grapefruit, apricot), with notes of dried mango and wood. Flavor is moderately sweet, lightly acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is lightly sweet, lightly acidic, moderately bitter. Medium body, velvety texture, lively carbonation, lightly alcoholic. Nice rendition, with a more varied aroma than most American versions. Enjoyable quaffer.

330ml bottle (Pikkulintu, Helsinki, Bitter and Sour 2008)
Copper, tiny head. Very raw aromatic floral hops, and window-cleaning fluid in the aroma. Sharply tangy palate. Some ginger and a little lightly roasted malt, but overall, very hoppy. Sherbet and fruity. A very small amount is quite nice but not for drinking any quantity of. Possibly I only enjoyed this as it was my first American IPA of the evening. The style gets tremendously boring very quickly.

(Bottle at Pikkulintu on 2008-05-15) Amber colour. Not-so-big white head. Hops and some malts in nose. Full palate. Taste is mostly hops with some malts and salty liquorice. A bit too one-dimensional for my taste.