Dieu du Ciel Péché Mortel

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

Bottle brought back from Portland, but thanks to golubj for originally getting me a bottle that I broke. Poured a black color, a bit thick, with a compact and long lasting tan/khaki head. Aroma was quite strong with coffee, roasted oats, and earth; less pronounced notes of cocoa. A pretty tasty and drinkable brew, although I wasn’t overly in love with the aftertaste. Flavor was undoubtedly dominated but coffee, but that soon gave way to roasted oats and chocolate. Only a mild sweetness. REally nice beer.

Sampled on 1/14/2007 from a 22 oz bottle at Lance’s house after the "Harvest Ale" homebrew day. A VERY special thanks to Lance for sharing this precious bottle of beer with me...

Bottled 04/05... I think my heart skipped a beat when Lance pulled this beer out to share. At first I thought that it might be some homebrew (labels are sometimes too much extra work to remove when reusing the bottles), but it was the real deal! With wide eyes and disbelief, I took my first sip of Péché Mortel... THIS IS THE BEST COFFEE BEER EVER! I am truly amazed at the composition of this beer. Usually coffee beers are like drinking straight up cold black coffee which isn’t neccessarily bad, but they do seem to be a bit one dimentional. However, Péché Mortel has shown me that coffee beers can be so much more than that! So, without further delay, on to some details... Péché Mortel pours out a dark brown coffee color with a thin tan head. This beer looks black in the glass, but it’s true dlear dark brown nature is evident around the edges. The aroma is coffee with some dark chocolate and vanilla notes. The flavor is rich and robust and full of premium coffee, dark chocolate, roasted caramel, and a very small touch of something creamy or vanilla-like that brings the whole coffeeshop experience togethre! The finish was slightly dry with some of the roasted bitterness coming out to mingle with all the other great flavors. This beer isn’t quite full bodied, but is more than medium. However, it isn’t too heavy or have too much carbonation, so it was quite smooth and velvety on the palate. This is a very memorable and impressive coffee beer - probably the best one out there!

Bottle. Black color with a rich foamy brown head. A strong freshly roasted coffee aroma with chocolate and vanilla. The bitter chocolate jumps off the palate and follows up with a smooth coffee, salty, molasseses and vanilla finish.

12 oz bottle at Pikkulintu, Helsinki. Black color. Good strong coffee aroma with balancing sweetness. Strong coffeish and chocolatey flavor with bittersweet finish. Good rich coffee flavor but the downside is the lack of complexity.

So, here we go, the unattainable maiden is at my command at last! I like the label art. If this is "mortal sin", then is the woman with the snake in the picture Eve after the fall? Is that why she not naked? And how could a coffee stout be sinful? Why, they’re heaven on Earth to me! But, I ramble...less thinking, more drinking, starting...now... Decadent black sheathing, not a trace of light shining through....a solid crown of fluffy brown foam stands guard, like a mochaccino cap. Very nice. Ahhh!!! Aroma reeks from the start withcocoa and espresso, riddled with earthy, bittersweet tones, redolent of richest chocolate, turning soft and creamy...very, very nice. I could smell this all day, etcetera, etcetera... Over the lips and in the mouth, it’s beauty, indeed. Fills the entire orifice, and seeps into all the cracks and corners, spilling this dark deliciousness far and wide, reverberating long after the liquid has slipped down the throat. All those flavors in the nose resound and rebound, roasty malts and tingly hops conspire to create an exquisite sensation on the tastebuds. Though fully flavored, it’s never overbearing or unapproachable...though, clearly, enemies of stouts or coffee are urged to stay far away from the contents. This is a sly and sophisticated thing, the 9% hiding well, the flavors resting happily, comfortably on the palate, long and wide. A beatiful beer, an excellent indulgence. And a rare one, as well. Though, on reflection, the $16.59 I paid for this bomber could have got me a 6-pack of Bell’s Batch 7K. The price, and rarity, remains the only drawback I can think of, but I remain glad to have tasted it at last! and, happily, this is a sipper, which means I get to enjoy it longer than other beers that slip down the gullet with more ease. I just might be set for the night.

Thanks to Secret Santa jimmack for hooking me up with this, my 1200th rating! Poured pitch black, light not penetrating, with a good sized beige head that lasted throughout. Big, rich coffee aroma, with hints of chocolate and liquor. Flavor was a straight match to the aroma. The alcohol, although present, gave a rich liqour texture to this otherwise medium bodied imperial stout. The coffee flavors were excellent, marked by earthy notes with a decent acidic backbone. All in all, a very enjoyable beer. I remember reading that at the brewpub they serve this on nitro. This sounds fantastic to me, as I think in this beer it would be the equivalent of adding a touch of thick cream to a strong cup of coffee. As it is, this was slightly overcarbonated by the bottle conditioning.

22oz Bottle at The Moan and Dove. Official USA release party. This beer smells like a high end coffee shop. This thing is immensely quaffable. I sniffed this beer for about 15 minutes. It is truly a great aromatic beer if you like coffee. Pitch black with a small brown/tannish head that is smaller than I’d expect. Very roasty and extremely coffee-full. I cannot imagine the coffee flavors in this. It actually tastes more like coffee than beer. Alcohol in this? No way. No alcohol detected. Tastes just like an espresso that’s more cabronated and roastier. A truly unique beer. Is this a classic Imperial Stout? No. Will coffee-lovers enjoy this? Yes. Will non-coffee lovers enjoy this? That is to be determined. For me, this was a bit thin as well.-----DRAFT at DDC RBSG05. This beer isn’t as opaque on draft as it is in the bottled for. With that said, the aroma is still delicious and the flavor is a bit sweeter and not as dominated by coffee. On draft, this is full-bodied and very very very smooth. I did not re-rate this, but I’d give it 10/4/9/5/19 if I did.

07.09.05 Tap at brewpub, RBSG. Black. Large, thick , dense tan head. Ridiculous coffee aromas make it hard to believe that it is indeed beer, not coffee. Very dry, you can feel it on your teeth. A real treat. Some caramel, cark cocoa. Crazy stuff and utterly fascinating, but only because it so well approximates a thick cup of bitter, old, thick diner java. Very full body overcomes the nitrous.