Dieu du Ciel Péché Mortel

Bottle. It’s totally black with a small but lasting brown head. Aroma dominated by coffee and chocolate malts with some notes of dry wood. Taste also has strong notes of coffee and burned malts with a long lingering dry aftertaste of coffee. It is complex yet easy to drink and very well balanced. It is a very enjoyable beer.

I love coffee and I love beer, and this is the most amazing combination of the two I’ve ever had. Bitter, chocolatey, lots of coffee flavor and a deep, roasted goodness. Really an amazingly tasty brew.

Smell is dominated by coffee, followed by bitter chocolate and roastiness. Taste is more balanced, the coffee is really well blended into the other flavors. Body is smooth, rich, full and satisfying. Some hop bitterness and light citrus fruit, orange specifically, as well as subtle cherry. Quite drinkable, alcohol not obvious. No rough edges on this one, warm and smooth, a touch sweet but not at all cloying. Not the most complex flavors, but very enjoyable.

Bottle. Mahogony-black beer with a brown head. Coffee and rich malt aroma. Coffee/toffee flavor with light roast. Medium-plus bodied. Coffee lingers with rich malt and caramel. Too much coffee. Bottle was aged about a year.

341ml bottle at our KW group tasting, I don’t know who brought it but big thanks to whoever you are. Pours a very dark brown with a small mocha head. Aroma is full of dry chalk, paint, hops, and of course coffee, but not nearly as much as I was expecting. The flavour is much better, waves and waves of roast, mocha sweetness, coffee beans, alcohol, a touch of sweet malts. The roast is just very intense and satisfying, but at this point in the night my lips were pretty much on fire from a number of things so I couldn’t fully enjoy this one. Definitely something I’d like to have again, a very well done Imperial Stout. EDIT: My own bottles now, this stuff is fantastic, great roast the whole way through with a sweet hint of vanilla in the finish. Goes down way too easy for something at 9.5%. Will try on tap someday in its proper format. Bitterness is on par with an IPA, if not greater.

Bottled at Haket, Gothenburg. Black with a creamy brownish head. Slightly sourish aroma with chocolate and coffee-beans. Soft, smooth and milky palate. Vinous with a lot of sweet fruits and some coffee-beans.

Bottle at Nørrebro Bryghus. Pours pitch black, with a finger of dark brown head. Aroma is huge, with loads and loads of coffee, chocolate, vanilla. The same notes return in the flavour, with a pleasant, warming alcohol sting, brown sugars, and it alternates being bitter and sweet several times in one sip. A lot of flavour. Lovely mouthfeel, full bodied and smooth. Wish I could have this more often.

12oz bottle, 1 year old. Completely black with a big, creamy head that leaves rings of taupe lace to seamlessly coat the sides of the glass. Mouth is medium-full with soft, creamy carbonation--much lighter than expected. Aroma is rich, roasted coffee, vanilla and chocolate notes, a touch of musty cellar, and dark fruits cured in alcohol. The smell is luxurious and unified. The flavor is dark fruits, cherry notes, dark-roast coffee that is superb (not bitter or harsh, but smooth), creamy milk chocolate (almost like a mousse) alcoholic undertones and warmth. The finish is slightly acidic, like that of coffee, with a building roastiness, continued cherry notes, and woody hops. Everything about the beer is indulgent and decadent: the appearance, the smell, the palate, the flavor. While the body is light, the beer is thoroughly impressive. Imagine a fine restaurant and a slice of chocolate mousse-cake or tort in front of you with a raspberry drizzle, and this beer in a tulip glass to enjoy at length as a fine meal winds down in celebration mingled with ever-growing satisfaction.