Dieu du Ciel Élixir Céleste

Brewed by Dieu du Ciel
Style: Bohemian Pilsener
Montreal, Canada

Golden colour. Nutty, malty aroma. Crisp palate. Saaz hops in abundance (~32 IBUs I’d guess). Long, grassy, noble bitterness. I like it.

Clear mid-straw, mid-golden yellow with a moderate sticky white head. Aroma contains a good saaz dose, but mostly a big malt profile, slightly caramelic and hay-ish at times. Taste is very herbal, floral saaz, crisp with moderate carbonation and a light-medium creamy body. The thing is.. after prima pils and a few magnificient sunny and warm spring days, I’m really raging for a good pilsner and I don’t find it, blessed be Victory. Back to the beer, I like a good floral hops character which elixir céleste has, but a bit too subdued to my liking. This and the malt, while perfectly toasty lacks a bit of the cookieness I adore and at times approach cerealic or almost grainy nuances. No defaults, diacetyl or off-flavours though, just a difficult to please taster. Still pretty good, but the kind of beer that gets killed from high expectations.


After almost 3 years of absence, this is back and seemingly better than ever. Seriously, I know my tastes have evolved, but this just seemed like the best beer on the menu yesterday, with the likes of Péché Mortel and Chaman also being on the board. Remarkably fresh, vibrant pils malt character: bready, chewy yet crisp, fresh and clean cereals. Fresh cut grass and hay, floral hops. Full bodied, delicate yet tight carbonation. Plain delicious. From 3.5 to 4.3.

Draft... Clear, light yellow lager with a small, fizzy, white head. The aroma is of corn, straw and white pepper. Generously hopped flavor with some citrus notes. Medium-bodied and fizzy. Lengthy, crisp, moderately bitter finish. Pretty darned good, but pilseners just aren’t my thing.

Impressions from the bar stool, from a new batch, 3 years or so after the previous one was brewed:

-A veil of foam tops the clear dark gold.
-Considerable biscuity pils malts soften the spicy, herbal hoppiness.
-The full malt body is more reminiscent of Svetly Specialnis here (14 degrees and up) than the usual Lezak (12-degree svetlé); I’d like to know the original gravity of this one.
-Orangey fruitiness stems from the union of honeyed cereals and lightly fruity hops.
-The malts are even toasted at times, offering lots of flavor and a round body.
-There are 2 great Bohemian-style Pilseners in Montreal: this one and Amère à Boire’s Cerna Hora. Élixir Céleste is redolent of what some Czech microbreweries brew as their Specialni (Vyskovské General comes to mind), bigger-bodied, hoppier and not as crisp as the typical Lezak. Cerna Hora is more reminiscent of what rural brewpubs brew, that is unfiltered, unpasteurized, unadulterated goodness which might be variable at times, but which always offers a super-drinkable experience and lively flavors. Having both available at the same time in Montreal is nearly as satisfying as flying over the Bohemia for a weekend.

On tap at the brewpub.

Golden colour, with a frersh malty nose. fresh malt and saaz hops taste with biscuits. Good creamy body.

Sampled from the glass of the estimable Mr. tiggmtl at the brewpub. Slightly oily gold, big but quick-imploding head...fiarly sweet and honeyish, with some nice late bitter herbal hop notes...vague herbs mix with a bit ofsweetish cookie malt in the nose, surrounded by lemon.

Updated 6-Jul-04 (): Thoroughly enjoyed this in the sweltering heat and humidity last night. Aroma seemd a touch more pronounced than I recall and the head lasted nicely. Wonderful maltiness and crisp finish. Bumped up the score by a couple of points. This is one fine beer.

Original rating (9-Dec-03 - 8-2-8-4-17=3.9): Mild but pleasing Saaz aroma. Golden colour with tight white fully diminshing head. Wonderful biscuity, toasted cereal flavour with medium light body. Comparison to Cerna Hora at L'Amere is certainly inevitable and both are truly fine beers. On tap at the brewpub.

Draught. At Dieu du Ciel during Mondial 2009 - day 1. It was dark, I was tired, this was a tough rate. Gold pour, average white head. Bitter aroma, grainy with a hint of butter. I got quite a lot of butter in the taste, but that faded, leaving mostly alcohol and light spicy floral bitterness. Nothing memorable about the mouthfeel, a little boozy and sharp in the finish. Oddly, one of the weaker brews from DdC.