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The Montreal Beer Scene,
part two: Dieu du Ciel
Submitted by Steve
LaRue
Montreal
is a great beer city
with almost as many breweries and brewpubs as Seattle, WA. Click here to read part one of my
overview of the Quebec Biere scene, including a review of Forquet
Fourchette.
For this installment, I move on to a very well-known and quite highly-regarded microbrewery-cum-brewpub in the very heart of the Plateau de Montreal with a very unusual lineup of brews.
Dieu du Ciel is actually fairly difficult to find, even with a good map. It is easy to get disoriented during the six block walk from the Metro Orange Line at Laurier.
The building is in a working class neighborhood
and really
doesn't
look like much from the outside. The server I had spoke English was
very
helpful and knowledgeable about the beers.
The food here is very limited (sandwiches and nachos) and is prepared by hand at the bar by the bartender. I didn't try the food but everything I saw prepared looked fresh and very good.
All the beers were served at cellar temperatures. There is also a room upstairs that can be rented for overnight stays.
Fumistiere Rousse du Chanvre (Hemp, 5% ABV) is a filtered red ale with a hemp addition. There is a nice malty aroma. The flavor is lightly malty with a hint of pot seed.
Resurrection Porter (5% ABV) is a lovely filtered deep black colored ale. The coffee and licorice aroma is very nice. The flavor is nicely roasted and not bitter at all and although there is no hop flavor, this is still a nice porter.
Charbonniere
Ale Rouss Fumee is a filtered smoked ale. There is no
immediately
detectable
aroma. The flavor is very lightly smoked and slightly sour. The aroma
appears
after a taste. I didn't care much for this one.
La Neuvaine Biere a la Absinthe et a L'Anise (8.5% ABV) is a very unusual beer. It is filtered and gold in color. There is no readily apparent aroma. The anise flavor is very strong and gives way to an extremely puckering, drying bitterness and though I'm sure that this is what the brewer was going for it is not very nice. Again the aroma appears after tasting.
Vaisseau de Songes (IPA) (Draft, 6% ABV) seemed to me to be sort of a hybrid IPA. Not quite English and not quite US. The aroma was lightly malty and lightly hoppy. Citrus/grapefruit and bubblegum were apparent in the flavor. This is one of the better beers so far.
Vaisseau de Songes (IPA) (Cask, 6% ABV) is quite a bit different from the draft version. It must have been dry-hopped as the hop aroma and flavor is much more evident, though the malt is still very noticeable.
Basse
Messe Kolsch Allemande (4.5% ABV) is one of the better
introductions to microbrews
for novices that I have ever tasted. The aroma is malty and bready and
very
clean. The flavor is malty and clean with just a hint of hop.
Rigor Mortis Double Biere de Abbeye Brune (6.5% ABV) is an unfiltered Belgian style ale. Prunes and plums dominate the aroma and the flavor is very fruity with plums and cherries and hop at the very end. There is also a very full alcoholic mouthfeel.
Dieu du Ciel is a great stop on your
Montreal brewpub tour.
In part three of this article, Steve reviews three
Montreal brewpubs: Les
3 Brasseurs, Le
Saint Bock Brasserie and L'Amere a Boire.
Submit your own reviews of Dieu du Ciel or any other bar or pub!

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