Rigor Mortis ABT - Brasserie Dieu Du Ciel

angrybabboon

Rhode Island

2.85/5  rDev -27.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.5

Review adapted from notes taken in September, 2009

Poured into a snifter

Appearance: Dark brown with hints of ruby and amber

Smell: Malty sweetness, Belgian yeast funk, dark fruits, alcohol

Taste: Very malty but not overly sweet, spicy, dark fruits, hints of Belgian yeast, hints of alcohol - very phenolic

Mouthfeel: Thick, sticky, and syrupy - Quads are supposed to be intense but this is pushing it

Overall: The syrupy feel of the body and the alcohol take a toll over time

Perhaps I got spoiled because my first quad was St. Bernardus Abt 12. Perhaps as a result, I am not inclined to recommend this beer. The syrupy mouthfeel combined with the phenols honestly made me think I was drinking cough syrup. Perhaps this is better super fresh (or mellows with age).

Serving type: bottle

02-02-2011 21:22:26 | More by angrybabboon

cjgator3

Florida

2.8/5  rDev -28.8%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

11.5oz bottle

A- Poured into a snifter. Pours a slightly murky brown with an off-white head.

S- The aroma is a lot of sweet malt and caramel with some alcohol as well. 

T- The taste like the aroma is dark alcohol soaked fruit, hints of chocolate and sweet malt with a good amount of alcohol in the finish. A little too boozy for my tastes, I think it could use a little age on it.

M- The mouthfeel is light to medium bodied with a moderate amount of carbonation.

D- This is definitely a slow sipper for sure due to the alcohol. Overall, a decent beer but not as good as some of the other good beers from this brewery.

Serving type: bottle

08-17-2009 04:26:24 | More by cjgator3

kojevergas

California

2.8/5  rDev -28.8%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

11.5 fl oz brown glass with standard pressure cap served into a Guinness goblet in me gaff in low altitude Los Angeles, California. Reviewed live. Expectations are quite high given the brewery and style.

Served refrigerator cold and allowed to warm over the course of consumption. Side-poured with standard vigor as no carbonation issues are anticipated.

A: Pours a half finger head of slight cream, decent thickness, and okay retention. Colour is a nontransparent dark caramel-copper. No yeast particles are visible.

Sm: Biscuity caramelized dark malts, cream, cherry and plum fruit esters, spices, brown sugar, and caramel. A fairly complex moderate strength aroma.

T: More malty and sugar-laden than expected, with notable caramelization. Raisin notes. Awkward for a quadrupel. The fruit esters get buried beneath the overwhelming malt layer. Caramelized malts comprise the foundation. No yeast or alcohol comes through. The brown sugar is overdone. Complex but poorly balanced. Strangely built for the style. Not really subtle at all.

Mf: Smooth and wet, with some coarseness from the sugar. The thickness is off but not in an extreme way. Adequately carbonated. Suits the flavour profile okay I guess, but it's certainly not tailored to it.

Dr: Drinkable but unremarkable. Boring for the style. An awkward combination of a brown ale and a quad that never quite sits right. Hides its ABV well. I wouldn't get it again, but it's decently priced for what it is. I wouldn't recommend it to friends. I can see where aging might help it.

Low C

Serving type: bottle

04-25-2012 06:56:28 | More by kojevergas

SkeeterHawk

Texas

2.75/5  rDev -30%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.5

Appearance: Pours a pretty cloudy burnt copper color with a thick 1" head of creamy white foam. As the head fades a little it is leaving a thick wall of lace on the side of the glass. Overall, this is a nice looking beer.

Aroma: I initially got lots of fruity esters from the yeast along with some spice from the alcohol. The malt is present, but reserved compared to the yeast, but is coming in with some dark caramel and some mild toasty notes.

Taste: The flavor is not as fruity as the aroma suggested it would be. The alcohol is rather fierce in this beer adding heat and spice to the flavor and not leaving a whole lot of room for anything else. Once you start getting a buzz and become more immune to the alcohol, you can pick up some dark caramel notes and some toasty notes like I got in the aroma. The overall mouthfeel is actually medium, which is light for a beer of this style. The carbonation is high, and makes the beer seem even lighter on the palate. Normally this would make a beer more drinkable, but in this case, the alcohol is such that it just hangs out there on its own.

Opinion: Unfortunately I was pretty disappointed in this beer overall. It has rode on my motorcycle for the last few hours, but I let it sit for at least 3 hours in the fridge before I drank it. I thought that it may come across as more yeasty as a result, but it is the alcohol that makes the beer out of balance.

Serving type: bottle

03-07-2010 05:37:49 | More by SkeeterHawk

Dubber55

New York

2.73/5  rDev -30.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Poured into a tulip

A: Light brown/amber with nice amount of tan head

S: A little malty sweetness, not very strong

T: Alcohol, Malt sweetness, dark fruits, clove, hop bitterness

M: Medium, a bit too carbonated

D: The alcohol is way too hot. Didnt want to drink more than 6 oz

Cheers!

Serving type: bottle

03-24-2010 03:01:59 | More by Dubber55

thecarster1

Pennsylvania

2.7/5  rDev -31.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2

a- bottle poured into a snifter, one plus fingers head fades slow leaving nice lace for such a high abv beer, murky hazelnut brown color.

s- strong, little alcohol, really liquory almost, sweet figs, sweet brown sugar, belgian yeast.

t- strong! lots of dark fruit, some nutty flavors, raisins soaked in liquor, lots of alcohol flavors.

m- medium, slick, coating.

d- not great, this beer was a bit too strong for me, not my style.

Serving type: bottle

10-10-2010 20:04:47 | More by thecarster1

Spider889

Ohio

2.7/5  rDev -31.3%
look: 2 | smell: 2 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

I really wanted to like this beer, I have been fairly impressed with the other Dieu Du Ciel offerings I've tasted thus far.

Arrives as a muddled brown sugar-water color. Murky and full of suspended yeast and unfermented sugars I imagine. Not much head on it when it arrived, didn't last long or leave an impression upon my glass by way of lacing either.

Didn't get much aroma, sadly. Some softer doughy malts and sweetness.

The flavor is typical of a Quad, yet fairly ho-hum compared to most out there. There's a reason that this style is best left to the abbeys of Europe. Brown sugar sweetness, soft notes of figs and orange peel.

Weak by way of body, especially given the appearance. Not too boozy despite the hefty abv. Not something I'd ever desire to order again.

Serving type: on-tap

11-17-2010 05:14:31 | More by Spider889

eat

Quebec (Canada)

2.65/5  rDev -32.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2

Edit: I feel terrible about this review as I had a bottle of four or five year old Rigor Mortis at DDC's 13th anniversary party and it totally blew my mind. It was one of the best few beers I've ever had and easily A+ material. I'll have to try finding an aged bottle to review and will definitely be putting some away for later.

---

Poured this into a wine glass. No bottling date or expiration date but it can't be too old as I don't think they've been bottling this one too long.

For a Belgian-style strong ale, this doesn't look all that impressive. Not a bad looking beer by any means, I was just expecting more from this great brewery. I poured pretty aggressively and didn't get much head; what did appear, disappeared quickly to some patchy areas of foam. While the colour of the beer is actually pretty great (glowing red-brown), it looks a little watery. No lacing.

Roasted malt and cloves seem to come out most strongly but there isn't much smell to speak of. A little citrusy, minerals; it's pretty weak smelling.

Wow, I'm really not impressed with this. While it is pretty strong at 10.5% (not the 9.5% listed here on BA) the alcohol comes out way too much; it's actually what hit me first, which is not a good thing. Harsh tasting, like someone spiked a Leffe Brun with vodka. The ABV dominates the taste, followed by minerals and a bit of roasted malt. Mild spices way off in the background. Thin tasting and not well balanced at all in my opinion. Not much depth of flavour and the aftertaste is bitter in a not-completely-pleasant kind of way. Both harsh and thin: not a good thing.

For a strong Belgian ale, the mouthfeel is horrible. Much too thin bodied, watery and over carbonated.

Not drinkable. This beer really surprised me; I'm a HUGE fan of Dieu du Ciel and enjoy many of their beers. This one just doesn't live up to their standards, judging from the majority of their beers. Maybe I spoiled myself by trying Unibroue 17 last night for the first time; that beer completely blows this one away. Maybe I'd chug one or two of these to get a good buzz going...if they were free. I hate to sound like I'm trashing this beer; I'm really not. I'm hoping this is a bad bottle. This is really disappointing...Dieu du Ciel, what's up?

Serving type: bottle

06-17-2009 05:42:20 | More by eat

claspada

New Jersey

2.38/5  rDev -39.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

Aromas are initially of caramel malt, Belgian spiciness (clove mainly) and booze. Lots of dark fruit mixed in as well (plum and black cherry), with a dense breadiness in the background.

The initial taste is heavy on the dark fruit; big bold plum, dark cherry and sweet alcohol, fading to more bready, but still caramel malty sweetness which I find cloying. It finishes with more assertive alcohol, which is also unpleasant and continuous Belgian spiciness rears itself as well. This is really a hot mess to be honest, wish I would have let this cellar longer.

Mouthfeel is medium to average with adequate carbonation. Overall this is a miss for me; with some many better examples of a Quad this one should be passed over in favor of others, especially for $5 a pop for 12 oz. Not recommended.

Serving type: bottle

01-30-2011 11:43:45 | More by claspada

womencantsail

California

2.28/5  rDev -42%
look: 4 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 1.5

A: The beer pours a dark amber color with some brownish notes and a thin layer of off-white head.

S: Starts off with alcohol and acrid roasted malts. Surprisingly acidic with some dark fruits and dark candi sugars. Definitely a green apple aroma and some spoiled chocolate.

T: Luckily the flavor is significantly better. Sweet caramel and molasses with some bready malts. A moderate roasted malt flavor and some alcohol, which becomes increasingly harsh as the beer warms up. Dark chocolate provides some surprising bitterness.

M: Medium in body with a moderate level of carbonation.

O: I was really let down by this one. Peche Mortel got me sort of excited about this brewery, but this was not enjoyable.

Serving type: bottle

03-20-2011 22:15:58 | More by womencantsail

domtronzero

California

2.17/5  rDev -44.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 1.5

A - Slightly hazy mahogany brown with an average lasting whitish head. Little lacing.

S - Sweet malts, light perfumy alcohol and moderate fruity esters of pears and apples.

F/M - Sweet, cloying pilsner malts. Dark fruits (raisins and prunes). Little banana and pear esters. Moderately low bitterness with medium body and moderate carbonation. Sweet, cloying, sticky finish with a lingering gross raisin/dried fruit flavor. Muddy and boozy.

D - Just terrible. Total drain pour. DDC is so mediocre, I don't understand the hype.

Serving type: bottle

10-08-2010 23:59:14 | More by domtronzero

CaptainTripps

Oregon

2.15/5  rDev -45.3%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2

11.5 oz bottle poured into a duvel tulip

A: Poured a cloudy dark brown with amber/red hues on the edges when held up to the light. About a half of a finger of mocha colored head came with the pour.

S: Spices blended with red fruits and some dark fruit aromas. Getting some caramel and chocolate malts coming through. Slight belgian yeast coming out as well as some alcohol heat.

T: Man the spices really kick you in the pants with this beer. Has the over spicyness of a dubbel that over powers the would be dark fruits. Plums and figs are there but seemingly in small quantities. Chocolate malt comes through on the finish, has some what of a slight raw rich chocolate bitterness to the flavor. Left a weird aftertaste on the palate.

M: Not as carbonated as i would like to see in my quad, but not bad. Probably one of the best points of the beer. Alcohol has a little bit of bite but not to over the top.

D: Not to great with this beer. They tried to force a brown ale into a quad and it didn't work for me. Overall i found the spicy/bitterness of the beer to be just plain bad. Funny the bottle says "minimal" bitterness and it was way more bitter then any quad should ever be.

They gave the quadruple a try and didn't do that great of a job.

Serving type: bottle

02-12-2011 19:17:18 | More by CaptainTripps

Beerandraiderfan

Nevada

2.13/5  rDev -45.8%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.5

Dirty raisin and brown colored beer with almost no head on it. Aroma was alcohol soaked raisins and figs. Just really boozy and for some reason bitter, although I guess its not that strange, I come across a lot of dark strong ales with the dark fruit thing with bitterness.

A mild amount of chocolate, but this beer is just like fermented pruno from underneath a jail bunk. Most of what I taste is just hot heat. Nothing easy drinking about it. There's a little bit of roasted malt mouthfeel to it, but again, everything is just overpowered by the alcohol heat. Carbonation is weak on this one, letting the heat just tear your mouth up like you're a girl down on her luck in Van Nuys who came across a couple guys in the biz and a camera crew. I can't tell if its the yeast flavor or the spicing, but it isn't complimentary either, but it is at least a break from the alcohol.

Paying $5 a bottle for this hurts. Wouldn't pay $5 for a 6 pack of it in the future.

Serving type: bottle

08-31-2012 00:06:19 | More by Beerandraiderfan