Review: Dieu du Ciel Route des épices

One beer brand that's literally unavailable in Manitoba market (aside from Dogfish head) is Dieu du Ciel, which I call "the anti Unibroue" (just judging by the name alone).

Dieu du ciel is available easily in other parts of Canada, such as Saskatchewan, and Ontario, but not in Manitoba.

My good friend Dallas in Regina surprised me with some DDC that he was able to find in Regina. One of them was Blanche du paradis, and the other was this - Route des épices.

I never heard of Route des épices in my life until a few weeks ago, nor did I have any idea what kind of beer this would be. However, the label states it is a rye beer brewed with peppercorns. Wow, this is going to likely be a spicy beer. The last spicy beer I had was Rogue Chipotle Ale which was a decent beer, but too spicy as the drinking went on (as it was a 650mL bomber).

Appearance: Pours a dark brown, bit of an amber hue, almost like wood. There's quite a bit of yeast sediment floating around. Me from 2005 would be revolting in disgust just by the sediment. Nice beige head, lots of foam, that's not going anywhere.

Aroma: It has a bit of a spicy aroma like Rogue Chipotle, kind of peppery, and kind of a je ne sais quoi aroma that reminds me of something I had very recently. Oh.. yeah.. it has a bit of a sweet aroma like Big Rock's McNally's Extra Strong, subtle.

Taste: Quite interesting. When I was smelling the spicy aroma, I expected it to taste like a very peppery beer - reminiscent to when I was 5 years old and mixed pepper and water, hoping it would taste good (no it did not). There's a bit of a peppery taste that lingers and warms up the tongue, but it's not what I expected (meaning, better than expected). It has a spicy zing compareable to Rogue's Chipotle, but this is a bit sweeter thanks to a toffee/caramel zing in the malts. Oh yeah, now I remember why this beer is bringing me back memories of rye ales, as this IS a rye ale as well. In last few sips, the spiciness gets stronger from the sediment, but not overpowering.

Overall Thoughts: The more I drink it, the more spicy it gets. I'm glad that this is in a regular 341mL bottle rather than a 650mL bomber - that would be too much to handle. This is an interesting spicy yet sweet rye ale. What do I like about it? I like the spice - not as peppery as expected, so it's easy to drink down if you like spice, has a nice sweet caramel to it. This would be too much to handle for one who doesn't like spicy foods or drinks in any way. 5.3% ABV, bottled November 2010.