Dieu du Ciel Corne du Diable

Brewed by Dieu du Ciel
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Montreal, Canada

Love the fresh citrus hoppiness emerging from this dark gold to amber offering. Hops and malt sweetness combine fairly well in the mouth but I especially like the fairly bitter and fairly dry finish. Nice.

Pours a hazy brownish-yellow color. Aroma is resinous and slightly malty, not much else. Flavor is sweet and cloying, with little hop character coming through. Average.

Amber. Had it from the cask at the brewery, so it had a silky smooth texture. Sweet with bitter hops. An above average but nothing incredible IPA.

Pours a neon reddish color with a lasting white head. Aroma is mostly sweet hops. Hints of hops, caramel, citrus, and spice. Finishes with a sweet caramel hop taste.

Wow, if an actual American IPA poured like this, I’d like them even better. Deep orange with a thick, pillowy head that laces the glass beautifully. Nose is very, very sweet. Hops are there for sure, but they’re overpowered by a sort of breakfast cereal corn sweetness (think cap’n crunch). Butterscotch dominates the extremely pungent aroma. Slightly watery, and honestly - I feel like adding milk and eating it with a spoon. There’s that much of that sweet corn flavor. Hops are certainly present, but don’t play a big enough part for this to be called an IPA. Odd. Intriguing, but just odd.

Hazy orange-red with a dense and beautiful head that continues into lacings. The aroma is wonderful, full of pine and orange - like a Swedish wood in spring time. And the flavours do not dissapoint either, being nicely hopped with notes of grape and a bit of metal. All of this is perfected by a soft palate, almost like whipped cream.

Bottle. Dark orange-brown pour, a little carbonation and an aroma that was citrus and very herbal. Flavor was very different from my everyday hop heavy IPA, very peppery, flowery and finished with some nice hops and very bitter. Way better than I expected!

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