Rescousse - Brasserie Dieu Du Ciel

clayrock81

Virginia

3.78/5  rDev -3.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured a amber-brown color w/ two-finger head that died slow and left lace down the glass on top of a somewhat hoppy, somewhat sweet and bready malt aroma. A smooth, somewhat creamy body that has a touch of spicy hops balanced w/ some minor sweet caramel and breadlike malts. A little dry and crisp in the backbite for a nice finish (also some high carbonation notes). An enjoyable and easy to drink beer.

Serving type: on-tap

07-22-2011 11:06:50 | More by clayrock81

Halcyondays

California

3.85/5  rDev -1.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

On-tap at Beachwood BBQ,

A: Pours brown with a creamy soft white head, good lace and retention.

S: Sweet malt, hint of hops, caramel.

T: Quite malty, toasty biscuity malt with caramel. Not near the minerality the better German versions show, but this was balanced and tasty.

M: Medium-bodied, creamy, thins out a bit toward the end.

O: Good flavours overall, clearly to style, nice to see a North American alt of this quality.

Serving type: on-tap

05-08-2011 22:18:40 | More by Halcyondays

Yoonisaykul

Quebec (Canada)

3.8/5  rDev -2.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Yé! Another Dieu Du Ciel beer to taste.
Served in SamAdams perfect glass.

A- Nice thick, chewy looking. light-beige head. Brown copper liquid looks a tiny bit syrupy.

S- Kind of a baked malt with a sour, slightly hoppy twang to it. Honey sweetness. Alcohol is noticeable.

T- Bitterness from start to finish. Alcohol is quite present. Kind of puzzled by this one as I'm not really sure what it tastes like apart from ''bitter''. A very good bitterness nonetheless. Some honey.

M- Full mouthfeel. Medium carbonation. Nice body.

D- Very good. Kind of rough with the bitterness but the taste seems pretty straightforward and good to me so you kindof stop thinking about it and can just drink. So drinkable it is.

I guess it's a pretty good beer. Nothing wrong with it but I can't say I find it delicious.

Will buy it again but I'm in no hurry.

Serving type: on-tap

01-27-2011 03:53:19 | More by Yoonisaykul

endovelico

Portugal

3.91/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Taken from notes.

Appearance: Muddy mahogany color with little head or effervescence.

Smell: Aroma is of medium intensity. Caramel, toffee, dried fruit, candy sugar, faint alcohol and faint woody notes as well.

Taste: Medium high in intensity. Dominant caramel, malty profile with burnt flavors and protuberant vegetable like notes. Decent.

Mouthfeel: Medium light body. Medium bitterness. Medium low carbonation. Watery texture. Dry finish with short-lasting earthy aftertaste.

Overall: An interesting brew that just doesn't cut for me. As a whole it's pretty average. I think this would work a lot better if it was a bit fuller.

Serving type: bottle

01-26-2013 11:08:35 | More by endovelico

cattersley

Ontario (Canada)

3.95/5  rDev +1.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Enjoyable session ale. Mild malt, hops, flavour. Neat label on bottles as per, price point for the style great. Nice head retention as will most of there beers most likely a torrified wheat added to the malt. Goes down very easy, hop note on initial tastes as well as after finish. Would buy again.

Serving type: bottle

12-08-2012 01:03:54 | More by cattersley

leaddog

Alberta (Canada)

4.23/5  rDev +8.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Bottled February 2012.

Appearance- Pours a dark amber with a 1/4 width of bubbly head.

Smell- Plum, cherry, caramel malts, slight herbal hops.

Taste- The plum, cherry, and caramel malts come through nicely followed by a nice punch of the herbal hops.

Mouthfeel- Medium bodied with light carbonation. Finishes a tad bitter.

Overall- A nice altbier by DDC. I enjoyed the dark fruit flavours with the punch of herbal hops. I find this quite sessionable. Again, DDC doesn't disappoint.

Serving type: bottle

09-08-2012 03:12:23 | More by leaddog

johnnnniee

New Hampshire

3.5/5  rDev -10.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Smuggled into the country by a friend of a friend, thanks for sharing Rob!
Pours a deep reddish brown color with a thick off white head that quickly dissipates to stray bubbles on the top. The aroma is very malty with lots of dark sugars and caramel. Sweet candy hints of light sweet fruit and some earthy and herbal hops round out the nose nicely. The flavor is malty up front with a lot of the sweetness from the aroma. The sweet is cut with a spicy earthy hop bite as well as a bit of a mineral type flavor. Medium body with a moderate level of carbonation and a sweet bubbly sharp mineral mouthfeel. This smells great! The flavor is a bit harsher with a mineral water thing going on that is slightly unpleasant.

Serving type: bottle

08-27-2012 23:23:18 | More by johnnnniee

SebD

Ontario (Canada)

3.63/5  rDev -6.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Appearance: It has a nice deep copper/amber color to it. It has a nice thick off-white head that dies down moderately and leaves some nice lacing.

Smell: The aromas definitly give out hints of sweet roasted malts , caramel, some fruitiness and earthy hops.

Taste: Like the aromas, it has a some sweet roasted/bready malts along with some caramel, some nuts and a nice earthy bitterness.

Mouthfeel: It has a medium carbonation with a nice overall balance and feel.

Drinkability: It's a very smooth drinkable beer accompanied with good flavors and aromas.

Serving type: bottle

08-14-2012 20:30:34 | More by SebD

Otterburn

Quebec (Canada)

3.65/5  rDev -6.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured into a pint,
Its a deep amber color, active carbonation,
small abd tigh foam head,

It smells like cereal and bread, in a soft way.

IT Taste like the color. Intense amber brew, very tasty and a bit bitter, kind of a rough edge,
feel the old recipe of the altbier.

mouthfeel is round and smooth, with the bitterness
all around,

overall i appreciate this intense amber,
DDC GIVES a part of profits for société de la faune du Québec.

Serving type: bottle

08-12-2012 00:50:58 | More by Otterburn

smakawhat

Maryland

4.03/5  rDev +3.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from the bottle into my hotel glass. Eek Bottled Jan 2012.

A real gorgeous amber red body, clear and crystal with minimal carbonation. Fluffy white with hints of tan, settling slowly with a large puck. Spotted ring lacing throughout. Real sexy color and attractive here.

Nose hits with classic mix of toasty malts and yeast. Dense malt body with an almost chewy sense coming. Real nice.

Body hits with a nice dense malt. Bready hop and malt backbone with a pine like finish. Toasty brown crust bread in the aftertaste. Spice brown with a sticky classic finish. Chewy and dense but without a thickness that still manages to be sticky.

Overall a real solid altbier here. Delicious.

Serving type: bottle

05-06-2012 04:09:39 | More by smakawhat

CAMRAhardliner

Ontario (Canada)

3.98/5  rDev +2.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a deep copper color with a mini off white head. It quickly recedes to a foam ring and leaves little lace behind. Biscuits and barley grain fill the nose. Sticky, chewy malts and caramel flavors contrast a healthy dose of piney, mildy citric hops in the flavor. The mouthfeel is lightbodied with actove carbonation. Bitterness and herbal notes make up the long finish.

This is a great Altbier from a great brewery. Hoppier than I was expecting.

Serving type: bottle

04-27-2012 01:29:04 | More by CAMRAhardliner

NightINgale

Quebec (Canada)

4.15/5  rDev +6.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A - Reddish-amber in colour, with a nice, lasting white head and impressive lacing. It even looks better than some authentic German examples of this style.

S - Mostly toasted malt, with a hint of citrus, apples, and toffee.

T - Wow, it looks like the brewers at Dieu du Ciel had managed to make a fairly interesting German beer style even more interesting! This tastes toasty, with a pronounced bread and toffee taste, some light fruitiness, and a surprisingly solid hop bitterness. I'm also getting an almost ice-tea-like flavour (weird but pleasant). Unlike in the real German altbiers, here the bitterness is backed up by some slight grapefruit flavours.

M - Light-to-medium bodied. Low level of carbonation. Very smooth, almost creamy texture, despite the fairly strong bitterness. Not very sweet. No hint of alcohol.

O - This was a very pleasant surprise, as I was not expecting much from it (despite it being brewed by DDC). Certainly very sessionable! This beer isn't too crazy, not boring - just good!

Serving type: bottle

04-01-2012 02:31:59 | More by NightINgale

cbutova

Massachusetts

4.1/5  rDev +5.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Another bottle obtained up in Montreal, still have many to go. Really love this label. Somehow my first review of an Altbier, awesome.

A- Pours a clear red-light brown hue into my skinny, tall pint glass. A massive off-white head forms and has a nice creamy, frothy texture. Retention is good and a bubbly cloud sticks around. Lace sticks a lot at the top and patches form down the glass.

S- Has an amber-brown ale hybrid type nose. I get nice notes of malt including nutty, toasty and caramel hints. Definite fruit in here as well. Just a bit faint.

T- Smooth yet flavorful. Malty and yeasty upfront to me with notes of raisin, nuts, spice (clove, pepper), toast, caramel and dark fruits. Slightly sweet. Slight bit of grassy and a tiny hint of citrus hops.

MF- Creamy and crisp light-end body. Carbonation is silky but a bit lower than I expected for the flavor. Finishes with a pretty sharp bitterness.

I am a fan of this. It drinks very easily and is very smooth but still brings a nice variety of flavor to the table. I gotta learn how to brew something like this because it might be a long time until I get more of this.

Serving type: bottle

02-26-2012 04:31:59 | More by cbutova

DoktorZee

Alberta (Canada)

3.75/5  rDev -3.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Enjoyed at the Suguarbowl in Edmonton. Poured from a bottle into a schooner. Nice to see an interesting style like this one!

A - slightly cloudy amber beer with a finger of tan head and really sticky lacing

S - grassy hops backed by caramel

T - nicely balanced with a grassy/tea leaf initial hops attack smoothed out by a nice caramel malt; the bitterness still endures with the malt to balance it out and sticks in the back of the throat. Also some nice spiciness in the finish

M - light body with moderate carbonation

D - easy drinking beer, but also still complex

Pretty solid Alt - nicely balanced with lots of character.

Serving type: bottle

11-19-2011 23:00:51 | More by DoktorZee

Sunnanek

Sweden

4.22/5  rDev +8.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

A: Pours hazy brown with red hues. The tan head is medium large, creamy and stays for quite some time. Nice lacings.

S: Just like an Altbier should smell; fruity and a nice mix between malt (a bit dry, and far from too sweet) and hops. Some yeast.

T: Bitter hops, dry malt (only faint sweetness). Light spicy and yeasty. Kind of basic for the style, in a nice way.

M: Nice bitter aftertaste. Body as well as carbonation is medium. The liquid is dry and very smooth.

O: Nice, this is just as modest and nice as I like my Altbiers.

Serving type: bottle

10-17-2011 17:33:32 | More by Sunnanek

ADZA

Australia

3.73/5  rDev -4.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours a deep ruby red hue which leaves a two finger fluffy head and sporadic lacing,the smell is brandy,sweet caramel malts,fresh baked bread and raisins,the mouthfeel is light bodied and has tastes of raisins,sweet malts,sticky caramel,herbal hops and finished with a sweet bitter dryness and overall its a nice ALT but not my favourite cheers.

Serving type: bottle

09-01-2011 15:07:48 | More by ADZA

CrazyDavros

Australia

3.53/5  rDev -9.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Pours dark red with a large, lasting head.
Nose shows sweet caramel, toasty and nutty malt, soft earth and resinous hops and some golden syrup.
Flavours are also mainly malty, lots of toasty and nutty malt transfers through as well as some subtle caramel. Finishes with a bold bitterness, much drier than the aroma suggests.
Carbonation is a bit full-on.

Serving type: bottle

08-26-2011 10:11:49 | More by CrazyDavros

dgilks

Australia

3.88/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Cloudy dark amber colour with a hint of red. Big, fluffy light tan head with great head retention.

Fruity yeast notes with some toffee malts. Slightly citrussy, crisp, almost roasty aroma.

Big, bitter, somewhat tea-like flavour with some herbal hop flavour. Mild bitter toffee malts. Good.

Medium-light body with moderately-high carbonation. Good.

A nice, crisp malty, bitter ale. Plenty of flavour and a unique take on the altbier.

Serving type: bottle

08-25-2011 08:31:07 | More by dgilks

Alieniloquium

Florida

3.98/5  rDev +2.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

12 oz. bottle poured into a pint glass. Thanks to Phyl21ca for this bottle.

Appearance - Brown body with garnet hues. Off white head with a bit of lace.

Smell - Earthy malts and some deep burnt caramel. Smells kinda like a doppelbock, but less chocolatey.

Taste - Nice malt flavor with a surprising hop flavor in front. Earthy malts, like the smell. Not sweet, which surprises me. It has a toffee flavor to it, though. The finish is slightly bitter and lightens the beer. Good mix of flavor.

Mouthfeel - The hops keep it light tasting. Good carbonation and a medium body that seems a bit lighter than it is, in a good way.

Overall - I've never had an altbier before, but it tastes pretty good. Flavorful. Gets the most out of the malt flavor without upping the ABV. Very nice.

Serving type: bottle

08-15-2011 22:22:47 | More by Alieniloquium

liamt07

Ontario (Canada)

4.03/5  rDev +3.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Bottle thanks to freud, April 2011 bottle date. Thanks Fred!

Pours a reddish marroon, a dense and creamy dusty offwhite head sits atop. Fantastic retention and lacing. Nose holds a rich toffee malt, spice, some woody notes (tree bark?). More earthy notes with some subtle smoke. Taste has big wooden and earthy malt flavours, toffee notes, with some light spicing and grass in the finish. Light bitterness in the mouthfeel, but the earthy malts prevail and dominate lending some good full sweetness. Medium carbonation and easily drinkable. Very nice for the style, something I could easily revisit.

Serving type: bottle

08-14-2011 17:27:43 | More by liamt07

Rijtjeshuis

Ontario (Canada)

4.28/5  rDev +9.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Look (4/5) - a good example of the style. Pours an amber-colored brown (dark toffee). Clarity is very good. The head is creamy-colored, very large, and billowing. It falls (a bit quickly) with some really nice lacing.

Smell (4.5/5) - the smell is really complex and dominant on the malts. The malt balance is between some maillard flavors (dates) and some coffee-like tones. A bit more roasty then I'd expect not on style, but it works well.

Flavor (4.5/5) - the taste is very nicely balanced. The malts come first, and are very similar to the aroma: sweet fruity melanoidin masts and more bitter coffee malt. Some mildly earthy hop flavors, but the stronger was a bit more intense and balanced out the maltiness very nicely.

Feel (3.5/5) - medium-full body, with medium carbonation, a bit like a doppelbock. Velvety.

Drink (4/5) - sessionability is about like a bock, so not too high. But it was very tasty!

Serving type: bottle

07-17-2011 19:51:16 | More by Rijtjeshuis

smcolw

Massachusetts

3.88/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Modest head that settles to a thin layer of bubbles. It does leave decent ring lace. The liquid is moderately cloudy. It has dark amber color.

Dark and earthy aroma. Low hop, stronger toasted malt nose.

Creamy flavor that reminds me of well-hopped porter. Has strong English ale elements--good caramel flavor, but the beer is not sweet. Full, round body with a decent dose of bubbles.

Serving type: bottle

07-09-2011 00:08:07 | More by smcolw

peensteen

Ontario (Canada)

3.5/5  rDev -10.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Amber brown colour, mild white head with some lace left behind. Smell is malty with notes of caramel, sweet notes, lightly nutty and slight bitterness as well. Taste is all malt, caramel, sweet in the finish, lots of malt in finish and aftertaste as well. Mouthfeel is syrupy, big feel to this brew, nice medium carbonation. Pretty good, not fantastic for the style but still quite good.

Serving type: bottle

07-02-2011 23:46:23 | More by peensteen

tbeckett

Ontario (Canada)

3.58/5  rDev -8.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Bottle from IGA outside Mont Tremblant.

A - Pours with a really soda pop-ish head of very loose bubbles. Bright, no visible carbonation, dark copper colour. Good soapy lacing and a film of retention.

S - Earthy and spicy hops with a good sort of oaky or whiskey note. Nice dark malts

T - Slightly smokey with a good kick of earthy and spicy hops. Good dark malt balance. Kinda like an ESB but with a little bit more of a burnt/smokey element.

M - Some mild carbonation and a medium to full body. Slight bitterness in the finish.

O/D - Didn't knock my socks off but I enjoyed it. Easy to drink and full of flavour. A little heavy to session but a nice one for DDCs standard releases.

Serving type: bottle

06-19-2011 00:37:06 | More by tbeckett

ZorPrime

Quebec (Canada)

3.55/5  rDev -9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

The beer color is brown with some reddish note. One could say it is acajou in color. Nice head on top of it. Sticky too. Dieu du Ciel amaze me in their head quality... Love that sticky stuff.

Aroma shows note of malt with some nuts. The aroma has a light intensity.

Taste wise I get some hazelnut with malts... Light bitterness at the end. Resinous.

Medium body. So easy to drink. A session beer. A good one too. Very accessible.

Serving type: bottle

06-09-2011 23:51:17 | More by ZorPrime