Dieu du Ciel Péché Mortel

Brewed by Dieu du Ciel
Style: Imperial Stout
Montreal, Canada

Courtesy of wetherel who opened this gem at the fordest tasting sharing it with fordest, toncatcher, padrefan98 and wetherel. Pours very dark with deep amber and thin head. The aroma is a fist full of coffee grounds and cigar ash. There’s mild roasted malts and burnt malts out the back. The taste is an initial bolt of rich chocolate followed closely by coffee grounds, some mild astringency from the coffee and a hit of licorice. It is smooth and ends rich and creamy. YUM.

Black, of course, with a faint brown head. Aroma is of coffee and red wine. Smooth, rich chocolate flavors, and of course fresh roasted coffee. Lots of coffee, in fact. But I like coffee flavor in stouts, so I liked this one quite a bit. The aformentioned chocolate and red wine play a role, as well, but remain in the background. Update, Nov 29, 05 - I had this again, and this time a full bottle, after Thanksgiving dinner. Man, this stuff is good.

The aroma...that aroma...that is one coffee aroma, like I’m swimming through the grounds of a coffee pot maker, though in that respect it is a bit rough. Pitch black with an off-white/cream head, it is very dry with immense flavors of coffee and chocolate, although it is also a bit thin in texture where I have come to appreciate (if not expect) more silky/syrupy qualities in the body. Still, this was hedonistically first-rate. I think, on balance, I only want imperial stouts to be coffee-based in the future! Thanks a ton, Tad. Original Rating from bottle: 9-4-9-3-17 (4.2) // Re-rate from tap at Dieu du Ceil in Montreal: un-fricking-believable. The moment I put it in my mouth, my tongue leaped in orgasmic joy. It is so creaming, coating, smooth...and yet, for all of its obvious strength, it is so well balanced. Incredibly drinkable. Fabulous beer--completely world-class, in my opinion.

Bottle shared with Enniskillen from his secret Santa; Thnaks Big Time; Noe of coffeeand light chocolate mixed with caramel; opaque black with a big glass lacing tan head; flavor heavy, strong coffee with some light background chocolate and some faint hop bitterness. Excellent, but mostly coffee, could use more complexity!

Draught. A beer does not, could possibly not be more beautiful than this! Best lacing EVER. Black body with a mocha head and black roasted coffee bean aroma. Pure, unadulterated coffee blended with dense mocha delight and a hint of cherry. An absolutely splendid drink worthy of the gods.

11.5oz. Bottle: Aroma of roasted (or even slightly burnt) malts, dark chocolate, and coffee. I am not sure why everyone seems to think this deserves such high aroma ratings. Poured black in color with a large, dark brown head that lasted throughout. Opaque. Excellent lacing. Flavor is lightly sweet and lightly bitter. Tastes of dark chocolate, roasted (or even slightly burnt) malts, coffee, and a little cream. Full body. Tingly texture becomes chalky. Soft carbonation. Dry, chocolate and coffee finish.

Bottle. Black colour with a nice head. Extreme aroma of coffee. Great smooth roasted flavour with a lot of coffee, if you are in to coffe this is it. Ends up with a tasteful and dry finish.

(22 oz bottles: Obtained in trades with BierBauch and shadey, thanks Ron and Shane!) Finally, a bottle all to myself! This way, instead of rating this in poor conditions (eg, a dimly lit bar), I get to rate it in the comfort of my own home. So, the legendary Péché Mortel. As the beer departed the bottle, heading toward the waiting tulip glass, the color was pretty much your basic brown, but once in the glass, it’s definitely black, except at the edges where it’s a deep mahogany. Tan, creamy head is very active on the pour, but eventually settles to a thin layer. As expected from the beer’s name, the nose is all coffee, a powerful, deep, darkly roasted, bitter coffee. I really can’t smell anything else with this beer, just the coffee. And also as expected, the flavor follows suit, dominated by the very same intense coffee. It’s moderately bitter and very roasty, but it’s not at all sweet, and I can’t really taste much in the way of hops or a traditional maltiness. Alcohol is pretty well hidden -- it certainly isn’t very noticeable to me. By now, I only have a few inches of beer left in my glass, and the liquid is now translucent and dark brown, so this isn’t nearly as dark as some other Imperial Stouts. But the thin layer of head is still maintaining itself. Oh, and a modest complaint with this beer is that it’s a bit thinner than I expected, not even full bodied in my book, so let’s call it medium "plus". Overall, I really like this beer. It’s probably the most coffee-dominated beer I’ve ever had, so it gets props for that. But it loses props with me for being so one-dimensional. Ultimately, it’s too much bitter coffee and not enough of anything else to balance the beer out, and I wish it wasn’t so damn dry. Frankly, I find the astringency of the finish to be a bit harsh. Since they call it an "Imperial Coffee Stout", maybe we should interpret that literally. It’s not a coffee-flavored Imperial Stout, but a mega-coffee flavored regular stout. In any regard, very good stuff, but contrary to its reputation, not nearly one of the very best Imperial Stouts in the world, at least not according to my tastes.