Beer of the Week: Dieu du Ciel Solstice d’hiver

By Mario, on December 12th, 2009

The weather this month in Sonoma County has been miserable. Bitter cold has given way to a wet and windy weekend. For weather like this, it’s a good idea to reach for a burly beer capable of warming you to the core. Nobody knows cold like the Canadians, so I reached for one of the finest selections to come from our neighbors to the north, Dieu de Ciel’s Solstice d’hiver.

This Beer of the Week is doing double duty, also acting as a part of the Beer Advent Calendar 2009 created by The Brew Site. Be sure to visit The Brew Site to see all of the entries on his calendar.

This noble winter beer is brown in colour with flaming red highlights. Its taste is delicately sweet and liquor-like with a hint of burnt caramel coming from the malt and a prolonged boiling time. It is a very bitter beer with aromas of hops and alcohol, and flavours reminiscent of red fruit brought by the English-type yeast we use to ferment it. The aftertaste is accentuated by the wonderful flavour of hops. Solstice d’Hiver is brewed only once a year, and is then aged for 4 to 5 months before being sold. This aging process is necessary to achieve an ideal equilibrium between the sharp bitterness and the other flavours in the beer. After aging, it is then sold starting mid-December of each year, until stocks last.

Translated as the Winter Solstice, Solstice d’hiver is perfect for the season. Once I opened the bottle, I was hit with aromas similar to scotch. Sharp roast and stinging hops strike at the surface of this beer. Alcohol and fruit play together throughout the flavor with an equally sharp finish. Hops dance lightly on the tongue as alcohol leaves a lingering burn.

Thick bodied, this “fresh” bottle is hard and firm in every way. With warmth, subtle oxidative notes come forward softening the edge of this beer but not taking away any of the force. In a year or two this beer may mellow but for now its strength and intensity.

Dieu de Ciel’s Solstice d’hiver really hit the spot on a cold, nasty day. Big boozy notes mingling with complex malt and a sharp hop finish makes this beer hurt in a good way. If you give the beer a chance to get closer to the appropriate temperature, you’ll catch a glimpse of where this beer will go down the road. soft flavors emerge under the hard shell and are just waiting to emerge. Drink one today and toss a few in the closet to really see hjow great this beer can be.