Solstice d'Hiver
(has 8 batches)
Brasserie Dieu du Ciel! in Saint-Jérôme, Quebec, Canada 🇨🇦
Barley Wine - Barley Winter|
Score
7.33
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This deep-brown winter ale offers up complex aromas of fruit, alcohol and hops. The boozy mouth feel is vaguely sweet with hints of brunt caramel. Up-front bitterness accompanies a surprising element of complex red fruit, followed by an expressively hoppy finish. 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.
This beer was first crafted at our Montreal brewpub in December of 1998.
This beer was first crafted at our Montreal brewpub in December of 1998.
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6.4/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 6
Texture 7
Overall 6
Pours dark red, looks like a quite dense dark mahogany in the glass, maybe with a bit of haziness. Far from big off-white/greyish head, but very compact and nicely persistent; a bit of lacing. Quite good intensity in the aroma: relatively strong caramel malts with maybe a hint of honey, fruity notes of dates and candied orange, pretty intense resinous/piney bitterness, a bit of alcohol warmth. Overall nice and decently complex, but not very clean/polished. Taste notes more or less as per aroma, plus bitter earthy notes showing up in the aftertaste (maybe a bit too strong/dominant, not 100% pleasant). As in the nose, pretty good intensity, scarce definition. Sweetness and bitterness are both high, with good overall balance, except as mentioned for a bit too much earthy bitterness in the aftertaste. Dense bodied, medium or slightly below medium carbonation; a pretty full mouthfeel, slightly easied by carbonation. Overall: a very classic american style barleywine, just not the best one (at least in this bottle).
Tried
from Bottle
on 06 Jul 2024
at 15:12
7.8/10
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Appearance 10
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7
Bottiglia. All'olfatto si esprimono sentori di sottobosco. L'intensità olfattiva è elevata e il modo in cui permane è sufficiente. Il mantello birroso superiore color avorio ha una scarsa tenuta. La grandezza delle bollicine è a grana fine. Il colore è scuro impenetrabile. Il corpo è strutturato. Il dolce è medio in buona armonia con l'amaro medio. La forza gustativa è elevata e la persistenza è buona. Le sensazioni boccali finali risultano di birra beverina. Il retrogusto è intenso. Sul palato si fermano sentori di caramello, miele, crosta di panettone, frutta secca, agrumi, cannella, erbe aromatiche, frutta passita, rabarbaro, burro, pepe nero, bruciato, chiodi di garofano, liquirizia, vaniglia e legno.
Tried
from Can
on 14 Jun 2024
at 21:24
5.9/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 5
Texture 6
Overall 5.5
Bottle at Beermalade tasting. Medium body, med-high carbonation, pretty bubbly. Very high bitterness, med-high alco warmth, medium sweetness. The flavour could be more complex, is rather simplish caramel and lots of grassy earthy hops. A bit of solventy booziness. Not the best of beers.
Tried
from Bottle
on 30 Apr 2024
at 18:19
7.1/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 8.5
Bottle. Malty aroma and taste, burnt caramel, vanilla, hoppy notes, medium to high bitter, light sweet. Full body, malty caramely bitter sweet finish. Ok.
Tried
from Bottle
on 30 Apr 2024
at 18:12
7.6/10
Fitting, looking forward to more daylight starting tomorrow
Tried
from Bottle
on 21 Dec 2023
at 20:48
7.6/10
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Appearance 7
Aroma 7.5
Flavor 7.5
Texture 8
Overall 8
Pours dark brown, clear. Scent is aged, even though the beer is fresh. Complex caramel , old-ale like rather than aged as in oxidated. Taste is sharp, sweet, complex, caramelly sweetness. Mild bitterness that does linger. Medium boozyness. Works quite well.
Tried
on 14 Nov 2023
at 18:07
8.1/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
11/XI/23 - on tap @ Billies Craft Beer Festival (Antwerp), Day 2 - part 1, BB: n/a (2023-996) Thanks to Sebletitje, ElManana, 77ships, Eve and others for sharing today’s beers!
Clear amber to chestnut brown beer, small creamy beige head, unstable, a bit adhesive. Aroma: oxidized, caramel, dried fruits, pretty leathery, fruity, cherries, red currants. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: alcohol, pretty oxidized, malty, sweet, barley wine characteristics, some bitter hops, pretty dry. Aftertaste: hoppy, dry finish, a bit herbal, dry.
Clear amber to chestnut brown beer, small creamy beige head, unstable, a bit adhesive. Aroma: oxidized, caramel, dried fruits, pretty leathery, fruity, cherries, red currants. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: alcohol, pretty oxidized, malty, sweet, barley wine characteristics, some bitter hops, pretty dry. Aftertaste: hoppy, dry finish, a bit herbal, dry.
Tried
from Draft
on 11 Nov 2023
at 17:05
5.3/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 5
Flavor 5.5
Texture 5
Overall 5
Süßlicher, hefig-kräutriger Beginn, leicht oxidiert. Wenig würzig, konstant, mittellanger Abgang. Ok. 9/7/8/7//7
Tried
from Draft
on 11 Nov 2023
at 15:35
7.4/10
Nice classic good style definer. Quite a nice beer. __ Billie’s craft beer fest 2023__
Tried
on 11 Nov 2023
at 14:05
7.5/10
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Appearance 7
Aroma 7.5
Flavor 7.5
Texture 7
Overall 8
2022 bottle from Livonia Liquor. Pours a deep chestnut brown with a half finger of beige foam that dissipates. Dark caramel sweetness with hoppy bitterness on the nose. Dry on the palate with bitter hops, pepper and lightly charred toffee. Finishes dry with a nice bitterness.
Tried
from Bottle
from
Livonia Liquor & Fine Wine
on 06 Mar 2023
at 02:24