Dieu du Ciel Corne du Diable/Nils Oscar IPA (CAN/SWE)

Two IPAs from unexpected parts: Quebec and Sweden. Accordingly, both are on the pricey side.

Dieu du Ciel Corne du Diable: The devil's horn. It's in the style of "la cote ouest de l'Amerique du Nord," and it tastes it. Pretty golden amber with lacy head, it smells of Cascade dry hopping. Medium-to-full in body and lightly carbonated. Malty, hoppy (though nothing ridiculous), grapefruit and pine. Tingles the ribs afterwards. 

Nils Oscar India Pale Ale: A classier label, I think, although possibly a bit dull. This one also claims a US influence, with "American Amarillo hops to give the exotic aroma of tropical fruit." It seems lighter in color and in body (I didn't drink them side by side), and fizzier. It is in fact vaguely fruity tasting (not citrusy, as I tend to think of Amarillos), and maybe spicy/earthy. No IPA hop blast, but it's pleasant. What semi-spoils it for me is the finish, which is dry and in fact chalky. The effects of a less than fresh bottle? I don't know. I don't regret that it isn't an American-style hop bomb, although others may, but it loses points for the powder. 

For me, this is now two winners from Dieu du Ciel.

Dieu du Ciel Solstice d'hiver (CAN)

We don't get too many good Canadian beers around here, despite the fact that we're just across Lake Ontario. Unibroue is easy to find (thanks to Sapporo), and MacAuslan is around as well. These are both based in Quebec, as is Dieu du Ciel. I don't recall seeing anything from Dieu du Ciel before, so was quick to snathc up Solstice d'Hiver, their winter seasonal barley wine at 9.8% ABV. The label has two scales from 0 to 9 with a couple notches between the 1 and 2 on the second one. So what does that mean? Drink by mid-2011?

The label also reviews the beer. "Brown in color with flaming red highlights...delicately sweet and liquor-like...a very bitter beer." It's weird to describe your own product as "very bitter," especially since it's not that bitter. It probably fits about midway between Anchor Old Foghorn and SN Bigfoot in this regard. Resiny hop bitterness comes through at the end, following an initial big, thick malt sweetness of cherries/berries and caramel. Maybe it's a fruit punch with a grapefruit juice finish. The alcohol is noticeable but not overwhelming.

Barley wine fans have to give this a try. Send more good beer to Western New York, Canada! In return, we'll let you host the Bills for another one of their nine losses next year.