Brasserie Dieu du Ciel's Route Des Épices

I apologize for slacking on the updates; I've been real busy at work--the solution's not going to deliver itself after all. This past weekend was chock full of some great beer. On Saturday night in the city I went with some friends to d.b.a. where I had an excellent German rauchbier (I can't remember the name unfortunately), followed by Sierra Nevada's Brown Saison, and one of my go-to favorites, Fuller's London Porter. Afterwards, we headed over to The Rabbit Club, where I drank some great Belgians including Rodenbach Grand Cru on draft, a bottle of the Trappist Achel 8, and lastly a bottle of Christoffel Robertus, and incredible Vienna lager. Clearly an awesome beer night, but it left me less than stellar in the morning (as Sully can attest to). Despite the hangover, we headed over to Zum Schneider on Sunday afternoon for their annual May Fest and some fresh Maibock straight from Germany. I had the Einbecker Maibock and Sully had the Hofbrau Maibock, both in massive 1 liter glasses. We enjoyed some classic German food while listening to a live Oompah band and watching this crazy German dude dance on the benches. Here's a pic of me getting uber-excited about my Maibock:


Enough about my weekend though; let's talk about today's beer! The Route Des Épices (literally Spice Route) is a rye beer brewed with peppercorns from Brasserie Dieu du Ciel, a Canadian microbrewery in Quebec. This exotic brew went extremely well with my shepherd's pie dinner--the spiciness of the beer complemented the hearty "meat & potatoes" meal and enhanced the overall flavor of the dish.

Aroma: Sweet malt with hints of molasses and dark caramel. There's some background spicy notes from the rye and peppercorns, but the initial aroma seems almost cloyingly sweet. No hop aroma.

Appearance: Deep amber to light brown with a small off-white head. Poor head retention overall. There's some lacing, but it falls back into the glass quickly.

Flavor: Not nearly as sweet as the aroma suggests, though there is some substantial maltiness to back up the spicy flavors. I feel the spice in the back of my mouth and on the sides of my tongue, and it lingers into the finish. There's some toastiness and a light toffee-like flavor as well, adding an even further level of complexity to the beer. The spice hinders the detection of any hop flavor, though there is medium hop bitterness supporting the malt.

Mouthfeel: Medium-full bodied and slick on the tongue. My mouth is left tingling afterwards, a product of both the spiciness and the carbonation.

Overall Impression: The peppercorns add a really nice touch to what is already an excellent rye beer. I think this is definitely a "drink with food" beer--the spice is much more pronounced as I drink it after my meal than while eating. I'd definitely recommend giving this one a shot, and I'll probably pick it up again if I see it.