Rigor Mortis ABT - Brasserie Dieu Du Ciel

GClarkage

California

4.1/5  rDev +4.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

05/31/09- Purchased at K&L Wine Cellars in Redwood City, CA.

Presentation- 11.2oz bottle with a date strip on the side of the bottle. Poured into my Duvel tulip.

Appearance- Deep brown colored pour. About a 3/4 inch initial head on the pour which settles to a light frothy rim. Lacing is very tight bubbled sheeting with a few spots and lines left over.

Smell- Very interesting scent of a bunch of things. First I detect a light smokey scent, followed by a hit of overripe concord grapes. Deep roasted caramel comes in next with some dark fruits finishing off the nose.

Taste- Does remind me a bit of St. Bernardus and Rochefort in a way. This one is a bit more forward and heavily roasted on the malt character. Also more hopped than the previously mentioned ones. Grapes, plums and dates swirl around, but don't quite give off the appropriate sweetness...well, they actually might, but the hops seems to overburden the dark fruit flavors. The sweetness does give a quick hit right as you swallow, but gets eaten up by the hops...the alcohol content is noticed, but not largely.

Mouthfeel- Fairly big hop bitterness in the aftertaste. Pretty creamy and somewhat silky with a medium to slightly lower carbonation level per style.

Drinkability- Quite an interesting beer. Haven't had a bad, or even mediorce beer from this place. At $5.99 it was worth the experiment.

Serving type: bottle

06-01-2009 04:25:18 | More by GClarkage

RblWthACoz

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev +1.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a clouded brown with a creme head. Nose is perfume and dough tones. Not overly complex, and slightly leaning towards one dimensional. Flavor is floral, dough, touches of fig fruits and slight sweetness. An alcohol burn is noticeably present. More so as time goes on and it warms. Feel is thick enough on liquid. Carbonation is middle of the road and about what I would hope to see. Overall not too shabby. The alcohol is a bit too much IMO, especially for a lower abv quad. But it definitely works for the style as many interpretations of quads have a difficult time doing so.

Serving type: bottle

05-27-2009 23:07:56 | More by RblWthACoz

blakesell

Ohio

3.3/5  rDev -16%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Poured from the 11.2oz bottle into a snifter/goblet.

Appearance- Beer pours brown and creamy, thick and cloudy. There is no visibility shining through the glass. The carbonation rises two and a half fingers and quickly fades to a thin film across the top. Lacing is somewhat ample but dies quickly and there is slight alcohol legs showing.

Smell- Phenolic alcohol wafting forward first thing. It smells very hot with delicious smelling sweet medium roast malts and brown malts. Yeast is strong and phenolic as well, and there is no hint of hops.

Taste- Sweet and gluey with the before mentioned brown and medium roast malts. Yeast is present on the flavor as well, and there's a bit of a rubberiness also brought on by the yeast. There is a touch of hop bitterness.

Mouthfeel- Sticky and gluey, thick and medium in carbonation. Full bodied and phenolic.

Drinkability- This is not Dieu Du Ceil's best. But I will not disqualify everything from the brewery by a long shot.

Serving type: bottle

05-26-2009 01:37:56 | More by blakesell

gford217

Georgia

4.25/5  rDev +8.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

11.2oz bottle poured into a snifter.

Pours a murky reddish brown with a small creamy beige head that sticks around as a cap and leaves some delicate lacing.

The aroma is very sweet, with dark fruits, caramel and overarching Belgian yeast presence that offers a bit of spiciness in the nose.

The taste is extremely sweet with candi sugar and dark fruits dominating. There is some chocolate noticeable in the taste that I could detect in the nose and the finish has an alcohol burn that takes a while to notice. The spiciness of the yeast really comes out as well.

This is a fairly full-bodied beer, very smooth and complete coats the palate with sweetness which lingers for a long time.

I'm highly impressed with this beer and think it is a great representation of the style, leaning heavily to the sweeter side of things. Big fan.

Serving type: bottle

05-22-2009 02:55:46 | More by gford217

Brad007

Vermont

3.73/5  rDev -5.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Pours a dark brown color with a thick head into my Piraat glass. Nice presentation with lacing and all.

Aroma is full of raisin and faint apple in the nose. Malt sweetness stands out as well.

Taste is strong and warm with raisin, caramel and faint apple flavors upfront. Quite tasty.

Mouthfeel is full of the above flavors and the warmth from the alcohol is quite apparent as it coats the throat. Carbonation is a bit high but doesn't detract too much.

Needs some aging but otherwise, an enjoyable example of the style that can only get better with a bit of age.

Serving type: bottle

05-16-2009 18:32:54 | More by Brad007

SFLpunk

Vermont

3.45/5  rDev -12.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

12oz brown glass twist-top. No date, but just arrived in Vermont a week ago (not that that's a guarantee since we all know who imports it).

Appearance: Poured into a Duvel tulip. 1 finger of tan head fades quickly leaving nothing. Cloudy medium brown color.

Nose: Lots of fruitiness, from raisins to apricots, a little wool blanket. Promising.

Palate: Medium-bodied and sharp with some acidity around the edges, like a granny smith apple soaked in old whiskey. Big fruitiness is sideswiped by the alcohol and clamors, stumbles around my palate before being shoved out the back door by the bouncers (boozey) and falling down my throat.

Translation: This beer is bold and brash right now. I think it would do for some time to calm down all these aggressive fruits and booziness. But, to be honest, not sure if that will ever totally happen.

Serving type: bottle

05-16-2009 06:17:56 | More by SFLpunk

Jwale73

Rhode Island

4/5  rDev +1.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

12oz. bottle served in my ST tulip. Poured the color of cola with a two inch frothy, off-white head. Head settles into a solid cap with thick bands of lacing. Nose is rather mild and difficult to describe - slightly vinous and malty with a hint of spice in the mix. Some booziness comes out up front, followed by the wine-like character revealed in the nose, dark fruit and spice. Mouthfeel is just shy of medium-bodied with a pleasant, consistent background carbonation. Nice abbey ale that changes its character as it warms.

Serving type: bottle

05-15-2009 01:04:16 | More by Jwale73

Wildman

Ohio

4.22/5  rDev +7.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

This beer poured a very dark murky dark amber almost black color and formed a light tan foamy head that coated the glass with lace as it slowly subsided. An aroma of malt, raisins, chocolate and Belgian yeasts. The flavor was of malt, chocolate, cocoa, coffee and bread yeast. The body was medium light and the finish was a touch sprite, yet sweet. A nice beer. but not sure what style to place it under.

Serving type: bottle

05-14-2009 01:24:13 | More by Wildman

smcolw

Massachusetts

3.88/5  rDev -1.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

FYI, bottle version of Rigor Mortis Abt is 10.5% alcohol per volume.

Pours a modest head that dies to a single layer of fine bubbles. Surprisingly, it leaves a generous level of lace. The color of the brew is muddy brown, much like a darker iced tea.

Strong Belgian yeast in the nose. Toffee and caramel are the predominant malt aromas. No notable hop. Touch of Confectioner Sugar.

A sweet beer. Noticeably potent and very full bodied, almost as if an unfermented wort was blended in. Almost candy like in the taste. The swallow features a spritzy bitterness that fades quickly to the mouth numbing alcohol content, which is overpowering in the aftertaste.

Serving type: bottle

05-10-2009 19:36:19 | More by smcolw

taez555

Massachusetts

3.98/5  rDev +1.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

This beer poured a dark brown body with a very thick pillowy white head.

Smell actually has a bit of a garbage, old smell to it, but as it warms some dark malt smells and fruit tones start to come out.

Taste is full bodied and very thick. Wow, right off the bat an immediate punch of both strong dark fruits and meat. I'm serious, like a cold cut, smokey ale sort of meat taste. Loads of tropical and dark fruits. Raisins, plums, figs, prunes, lots of prunes, tastes like prune juice, yeast, strong belgian candy sugar taste. This is really quite a beer. Bitterness is kept to a perfect Belgian quad balance, while hops only give the suspicion of earth and other flavors.

What an interesting beer. The nose sort of leaves something to be desired, but the tastes is like a Belgian Quad with the volume turned to 11. The meat taste just makes it ludicrously bizarre. I like it.

Serving type: bottle

05-08-2009 00:09:13 | More by taez555

Delerium

Maine

4.1/5  rDev +4.3%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Had this beer on tap at the Dieu de Ciel brewpub. Only available in 750ml bottles, not available for takeaway as of yet. This beer will whoop your ass! Very strong, raisiny, with rummy plum undertones, two finger head upon pourth. I loved this beer, but could only drink half of the bottle due to the strong abv that is very present. Highly Recommended. Chris

Serving type: bottle

06-02-2007 00:53:12 | More by Delerium

aquatonex

New York

3.5/5  rDev -10.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Some special celebration of this brewery's offerings at Moan and Dove brought this strong brew to me.

Pours very dark brown, almost opaque with a short medium creamy head, good lacing. Nose consists of a strong alcohol astringent smell along with a myriad of fruits (berries, perhaps grapes and something else?). Some may also akin the smell to 'hamster piss' because of its overwhelming alcoholness. Taste is very strong with some heavy malts, mixed fruits, caramel, and again the intense alcohol. I realized it's a rather high-octane brew, but I like high-octane without the super astringency (like Trois Pistoles, for example). Mouthfeel was good for the brew's strength. This would not be a choice again if I was in the mood for a high-octane malty beer.

Serving type: bottle

02-27-2005 00:29:08 | More by aquatonex

francisweizen

Australia

4.6/5  rDev +17%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

One year old bottle, split three-ways with BA friends. Murky bronze/brown with a nice tannish head that did not quit. Aroma was out of this world. Sweet/dark fruits, alcohol, lovely malts, herbal hops, yeast, candy, dark port wine, and more! I also picked up hints of coffee, chocolate, and caramel. The taste was more of the same. Fruity up front with some nice malts in the middle and the herbal hops in the finish. The chocolate and coffee flavors were hidden within this beer as well. The mouthfeel was very thick and filling, but just right for an ABT, and the drinkability was also awesome for an ABT. A great Belgian-style beer and a truly wonderful example of the brewers art at work. Quite possibly one of Dieu Du Ciels best beers!

Serving type: bottle

06-23-2004 20:28:52 | More by francisweizen