Dieu du Ciel Quintessence

Brewed by Dieu du Ciel
Style: American Strong Ale
Montreal, Canada

This beer is by far one of the best i’ve ever had the pleasure to taste! Aged for 3 years... this amazing brew had a small long lasting head... incredibly muddy looking... WOW... aromas of nutts caramel molasses... there’s just to many flavors and aromas in this beer... i’d die to see the ingrediants used in this beer... Coriander, dates... very flowery port like... a little vanilla...average alcohol twist, slightly carbonated and a nice leathery finish to it... This beer completes me!

Again a big thanks to Stephane for letting my wife and I try this. Pours a deep auburn with a creamy tan DDC head. The aromas are intense to say the least. Maple, vanilla, oak mustiness, mild alcohol, smoke and just a touch of hops are all present. The body is med. but with that creamy texture that only comes from a few select breweries (3Fs and Alesmith come to mind). The flavors are equally as complex. The peat malt makes an appearance but never outshines the fruitcake, sherry and vanilla. The finish is lightly dry and becomes more and more warming as the beer sits. Just one of those beers that I will be able to describe and rave about the rest of my life.

Wow. What a great start to the Dieu du Ciel 6th Anniversary party. Cask conditioned. Aged 1.5 years in a oak barrel that had been used for a maple liqueur. Dark amber in colour with a large off white head. The aroma was fantastic, lots of maple, hops, toffee and quite sweet. The flavour was of caramel, toffee, plums, hops, maple. Beautifully balanced, large body with no sign of alcohol. Finishes very smooth and creamy and long. As other people have noted this is definitely top 50 material.

Bu sur place à l’occassion de leur 8e anniversaire, en fut veillit de 3 ans (12 oz). Belle couleur terre cuite foncé, petit collet. Arome doux de porto caramelisé. Très bon de malte caramel alcoolisé. Délicieux!

En fût vieillie 5 ans au 10eme de Dieu du Ciel. La bière se présente avec une couleur orangée et une mousse fauve onctueuse et imposante qui reste longtemps. Au nez on découvre un parfum boisé de vanille et de caramel. On respire aussi des arômes de grain fumé et d’alcool. En bouche on goûte des saveurs boisées et fumées avec en finale une pointe d’érable et d’alcool. Excellent

One year old. On the handpump. Aged in an oak barrel that had previously been used to ferment a maple liqueur. Utter decadence. Sour, dark fruit. Hops are quite pronounced. Caramel, toffee, sweetness. What a complex and delightful bouquet. Caramel-copper coloured with a decent, frothy, off-white head that recedes slowly to a nice cover. Falvours include raisins, plums, dates, caramel, toffee. Sweet and perfumey and suffused with maple throughout. Smooth, creamy mouth. Alcohol rarely apparent and at 10.5% this had me feeling happy pretty quickly! (8-4-10-5-19=4.6)

Re-rate 11-Sep-04 - Original rating below.

Big malty aroma with mild hops apparent also. Beautifil dark amber with a finger of head. Lacing like the rings on a tree showing each sip. Somewhat sweet with big malt flavour as promised by the nose with berry, wood, peat-smoke and said sweetness all battling for the palate's attention. High alcohol apparent only in the finish. Good full mouthfeel - this beer begs you to continue drinking and it's hard to say no... On tap. (8-5-9-4-17=4.3)

Bloody spectacular. I have been getting threating phone calls to rate this so that it has the necessary number to be official....so here goes: Went for a road trip to Mont Royal for the 6th Anniversary Party. This was first up out of fear it would be gone if we waited. Sitting as I was with the sun streaming in caused me to make a choice - either wear my shades in the bar (too cool) or use the glass of beer to block the sun. Clearly the right choice, for revealed to me was a beautiful rich reddish brown liquid that looked like the perfect colour to paint your apartment - or in this case tongue - with. Glorious aromas of hops and caramel and my favourite Canadian flavour. Maple, leeched from the Oak barrels which housed this nectar, infused this glorious candy-ish barleywine.- making it a decadent indulgance. What's that?....it isn't officially a Barleywine?...wow. Toffee and caramel and more maple and hops and where the hell was the alcohol. A beatiful introduction to an outstanding brew pub....at this point I could hardly envision there might be anything better still to come.

(Fresh, on tap): Parsimoniously, hop pepper vapors contemplate and join the voluptuous, sweet maple alcohol...Harmoniously, fluctuating berry waves embrace the punctuating peated algae...Hop-dappled herb ripples effortlessly undulate over the rich, orange-peel perfumed caramel...An exemplary, experimental marine life thrives within, striving to lead us all into a better world...

(Aged Cask): At this point in its maturing process, this marvel simply begs you to sit down and emit orgasmic noises every sip or so...After a year or so in this cask, the flavors have blended into a unique paragon of creativity and nourishment and has reached, to my tastes, world-class levels...You would not even dream it’s over 10%...

(2-year-old bottle, aged at the brewery): Like most of their bottles, carbonation is stronger than the initial version...So many flavors here, all described above, still thrive in joyous, frenzied, bacchanalia...Alcohol is still present, but the malt sweetness and complexity is so appealing that the heat blends superbly with it...There is nothing else like this out there...