ISSEKI NICHŌ ~ BRASSERIE DIEU DU CIEL! 

Isseki Nichō is an Imperial Dark Saison made in collaboration with Tanamura Honten Co., a microbrewery from Nagano, Japan. The name of the beer translated roughly means, “two birds One Stone” in Japanese. Some tout this brew as a hybrid between a stout and a dark saison. Sampled on draught, in a tulip glass the beer poured a rich dark brown-black with a finger of tan head. The head receded after several minutes leaving lacing along the glass and finishing in a ring around the glass. The nose like the beer has a fair bit of complexity containing notes of roasted malts, dark fruit, molasses, faint smoke, coffee, dark chocolate, leather, touch of funk and peppery spice. The taste is fairly bitter, matched by strong dark roasted malts, under this cloak other flavours emerge: molasses, spicy Belgian yeast, coffee, cocoa, dark cherries, liquorice, and fruit. The finish is off dry and has a lingering bitterness - a spiciness lingers as the booziness warms.The body was creaming and medium and the fine carbonation was average. This was quite an interesting brew, not for the faint at heart, but definitely worth a try.

9.5% from St. Jerome, Quebec

MORALITÉ ~ DIEU DE CIEL! & THE ALCHEMIST BREWERY

Moralité is an IPA, created in collaboration between Quebec’s Dieu de Ciel! and Vermont’s, The Alchemist Brewery. Sampled on draught, the beer poured a slightly hazy golden amber with a generous frothy off white head, that left lots of lacing. The nose is bursting with hops and tropical fruit (pineapple, papaya, mango). Notes of resinous pine, citrus (lemon, orange and grapefruit), bready grains, caramel, earthiness, and yeast also make appearances. The flavour follows the complexity of the nose. Pine, grapefruit, caramel, fruitiness (citrus & tropical), floral, grass, combined with a slight sweetness swirl and party on my palette. The finish is somewhat dry with a lasting bitterness. The body is medium-full and the texture is creamy and smooth. The carbonation was on the soft side. It is rare that I have a beer from DDC that I don’t enjoy, this was no exception. Quite quaffable for such a high IBU and ABV. I loved the complex flavours and the balance between the bitterness, sweet fruitiness and the malts. Bravo!

6.9% from St. Jerome, Quebec & Waterbury, Vermont, USA 100 IBU
Hops: Simcoe, Citra and Centennial