Dieu du Ciel Péché Mortel

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

341 ml bottle. Pitch black. Tall browni fine-laced head that clings to the glass. Strong juniper and piney aroma. Bold coffee flavour. Smooth milky chocolate flavour. Flavour much in contrast with the aroma. Sharp vs. soft. Texture is really soft with a smooth mouthfeel. Lots of coffee. Very delicate and sharp at the same time. Extremely interesting beer with a lot of facets. Oily finish. Lots of malts. Very nice.

I’ll start by saying that I usually don’t care for nitro beers, but this was luxury in a glass. liquid decadence. as this was sampled with MartinT, I’ll try to rate it in the style of the great poet himself:

pounds of coffee beat the living piss out of a flourless chocolate cake with caramel sauce. all goes dark, but bitter chocolate gets up to finish and draw a tie. dried fruit, icing sugar and malted milk spectators slowly leave the scene.

12 oz. bottle - even at almost $6 a bottle, this recent appearance locally was much appreciated; motor oil black with thin tan head and just an unadulterated coffee bomb; this just knocks your socks right off; coffee aromas are so deep and smooth with touches of chocolate, roasted nuts; drinks with mild bitterness and rich texture; slightly hot, but otherwise nearing perfection; please send a keg out this way!!

12oz bottle for breakfast on Christmas morning 2008 (hell yeah). A nice RIS - not the best but very good. Black and heavy with a two-finger brown head. Strong coffee/roasted malt aroma. Flavor is lots of coffee, dark chocolate, roasted malt, and alcohol on the finish. Palate is pretty thick, not quite as heavy as some "extreme" RISes.

Bottle, thx to NoiZe. Pitch black colour, tan head. Aroma has bitter chocolate, coffee and roasted malts. Flavour has initially bitter coffe, but gets smoother with roasted malts. Long lasting aftertaste of bittersweet chocolate malts. Impressive!

This is maybe the most coffee made stout before it’s too much, but it keeps the balance right on the edge. Huge roasted coffee and black as a night added with notes of chocolate, tar, smoothness, heavy bitternotes and a funny easy drinkability. For further investigation.

22 oz bottle, 2005 version, sampled in October, 2005: hugely fluffy, large bubbled, brownish, taupe head. Thins, but never disappears; remains a gray layer of bubbles. Outrageous milky coffee aroma, with roasted toffee, peanuts, chocolate, bitter chlorophyll. Intense, milk chocolaty flavour with a long, slow, sweet bitterness. Opaque, reddish brown with slightly transparent, golden highlights around the edges. Smooth, exceptionally clean palate, that is missing what I truly love about imperial stouts – the vinous dark fruity, silkiness. Bits of grain fleck the texture and though it doesn’t de-tract from the flavour, isn’t what I am hoping for…still, this beer is among the top of a harder and harder style to compete for the top spot…

Pours a deep black. Aroma of chocolate and strong coffee. Taste is dominated by coffee at first, then finishes a bit sour. Pretty awesome Imp Stout.