Dieu du Ciel Solstice dÉté aux Cerises

Brewed by Dieu du Ciel
Style: Berliner Weisse
Montreal, Canada

While I was drinking my first pint, I saw this beauty walk by several times. She was intriguingly attractive in the light which came through the windows. A wonderful stawberry body an attractive off-white to cherry head. The aroma is sweet and tart with cherries. Very tart on the tounge. I should have had this one last! Big blod flavors, strong lemon presence. Bitterness is there, but well balanced.

Aroma is a good hit of cherry, clear pomegranite, tiny off-white head. Light flavour of cherry, some malt as well. Light bodied, sweet, refreshing. Pretty good. Perhaps the year of aging didn’t do any favours to this one.

Sampled draught at DDC on August 26 in the company of tiggmtl, ClarkVV and Olivier_MTL; served in a tall weizen glass. Looks awful purty sitting in the elegant glass, hazy deep pink-red with just a smidgeon of creamy lasting foam....really intense aroma, both sweet and tart cherries and more biscuity malt than I recall in other examples of the style.....on the tongue, tart throughout but never really sour, quite restrained actually which I’d guess would bum some fans of the style out but makes it very quaffable indeed; very juicy with lots of real fresh-cherry character....smooth and easy drinking but not ultra complex; heavier on the malt in the body as well as the aromatics, this is a delight but have no idea if it’s really "true" to style, seems a bit heavy. Still, another winner from DDC no question.

Draught. At Dieu du Ciel. Aged 1.5 years in a cask, and as Olivier_mtl said, perhaps not really a beer to age that long ... Poured hazy pink-red with a small white head. Buttery-buttescotch aroma (diactyl?) initially, then some light grain and vague mildly sour cherry. The taste was quite pleasing - sour cherries, woody acidity, sweet malt - nice, but should be FUNKY. Slick, oily mouthfeel, decent carbonation, very light acidity, a slightly sour and sticky finish - not bad, sort of disappointing - I would love to try a fresh -brewed batch one day.

Robe rose voilée surmontée d’une mousse rose. Arômes sûres de cerises et de blé. Saveurs acides de cerises, de blé et de citron.

Draught weizen glass at DdC, 8/26/06.
Softly hazy, slightly cloudy, with not a bright, intense red, but more a tangerine-pink with some deeper red highlights in the middle. Off-white head perched atop is initially foamy and about a finger in height, but quickly recedes to partial cover/ring, with light lacing in patches.
Nutty and acidic, sort of like cherry flesh, but without any of the sweetness or juiciness. Dry, for sure, with the signature sour mash tartness (I don’t know if I’d go as far as to call it sour in the nose). Very wheaty, recalling the just-mentioned nuttiness, which also adds a bit of dryness itself, but perhaps dulls the aroma slightly. As it breathes/warms, a bit more acidity comes from the cherries, quite a bit more pleasant and more lively, but overall it just never really establishes a hard lactic or cherry tartness/sourness.
Right away you can feel the dryness. Bone dry, but a strong nutty, blanding wheat-like sensation, smooths out the tartness. Almost astringent-like cherry flavor is fleshy, dry, quite acidic. Lactic notes are rather tame, getting lost, a bit, in the zesty, boisterous carbonation and fair amount of aqueous space it opens up. Still, a true, authentic, lip-smacking cherry tartness is there, mostly on the finish and while it may disappoint a bit, in overall strength, it certainly is drinkable and flawless. No alcohol noted.

Rebu l’été dernier (08), en fut (20oz). Bourgogne un peu foncée, petit collet rosé. Arome de cerises frais, blé malté plaisant. Goût aussi sûrette que la version aux framboises, mais pas aussi savoureuse, peut-être que c’était aux milieu de la bach. En tout cas, c’était quand même bien buvable!

draught. a bright and magestic fluorescent red body with a small white-pink head. sweet cherry aroma with undertones of wheat. refreshing tart body with a kind of funky acidity left in your mouth. very dry finish. great stuff.