Dieu du Ciel Péché Mortel

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

The aroma is coffee, a little toasted caramel.The head is light brown, creamy, mostly diminishing with good lacing. The color is black. The initial flavor is coffee, bitters - nice. Hits the back of the tongue with a nice long finish. The body is light to medium, the texture creamy, just a hint watery and the carbonation soft.

Bottle (brewed 11/07): Near black pour with a large, creamy brown head. Tons of lacing. Aroma is rich with coffee, bits of chocolate and roast. Flavor is true of a coffee stout. Bigtime coffee flavors, light chocolates, and bits of roast. Light smokiness. What I like best was what wasn’t there; that bitter/sour coffee grounds kick of lesser coffee stouts. Very pleasant. Top tier coffee stout. Thanks Ucusty!

BB 2011. Pours coal black with a full, tan, creamy, frothy, somewhat rocky head; longevity is great and lace is sporatic. Nose is nice with lots of rich mocha notes to match molasses, a lightly scorched maple wood, and some chocolate shake notes; coffee beans which are nicely roasted BALANCE the sweet notes and are not overly roasted. Flavor is less sweet than the nose suggests but still nice; burned maple wood and lots of moderately roasted coffee beans are most dominant with underlying notes of mocha, resinous hops, and faint molasses. Bitterness is moderately high from the coffee notes and only a bit of itterness noticable from the hops; the acidity is moderate from the coffee but not offputting, it fits in the style well. Palate is nice with a soft carbonation, a full body, and a coating, silky feel; somewhat chewy but falls shy becoming syrupy. Finishes long and dry with plenty of burned and roasty notes including roasted coffee, burnt caramel, and faint burned maple wood. A very nice example of the style and certainly a coffee lovers dream but not the most complex, considering the style. A little more dry than I like in an Imp, but certainly carries enough sweet malt notes to balance the dry coffee notes. While it’s not my favorite of the style, the intense coffee notes create an interesting twist on the ever-expanding syle.

12oz bottle poured into a small glass. True to style, this stuff looks just like motor oil, except for the dark tan bubbles on top. Black, opaque, sticky. Imagine the strongest and most complex French roast from your favorite coffee shop. Next, imagine a massive beast of a stout, bursting with roasted malt flavors and balanced by subtle yet powerful hops. Now, bring those two mental images into a unified experience, and you’ll be imagining the Peche Mortel. I’m not talking about some half-and-half blend of coffee and stout -- what I’m talking about is a true union of the best of those two beverages, a union on the molecular level. For those who love both coffee and beer, this is paradise.

According to the edge of the bottle this was bottled in August of 2005 and that makes it about 2.3 years old. A: Jet black body that no light can penetrate. While pouring, there was a bit of light mocha colored head but it faded away. It would have been nice to have a bit more head. S: Coffee, espresso, dark chocolate, and more coffee. This has some seriously dark roast coffee in it. It’s hard to tell if most of the roast aroma comes from dark malts or a coffee addition. T: This is definitely a dark beer. The flavor is filled with dark chocolate, roasty coffee, and dark heavy malts. The coffee was much more pronounced in the aroma than the flavor but it’s still in the flavor none the less. Damn good flavor. M: Nice and heavy, but not ’thick’ like some other Imperial Stouts are. There is a bit of creaminess but it isn’t as much as other beers in the style. Very nice indeed. D: Amazing example of an Imperial Stout. I really love how they combine this much coffee and chocolate without overwhelming bitterness.

Thanks to whoever brought this to us on DLD 08! Pours near black, a little bit oily, with an unexpected larger beige frothy head. Incredible cinnamon coffee ground aroma with notes of chocolate, raisins and licorice as well. Great coffee flavor that is just sweet enough. Low dry bitterness. I like this better than Bourbon Kentucky Breakfast. Slightly creamy, but somewhat thin, body with low carbonation. This is a very very drinkable IRS.

Bottle gift from Stegosaurus. Beautiful black motor oil pour with generous beige head. Mild aroma of Roast, chocolate and hop. Good mouth feel with a strong but balanced roasted malt flavor a hint of coffee and a nice bitter hop finish. Well done and the cerimonial bottle hump is about to take place.

Bottle. Pours a very dark brown with a big, beautiful brown head. Aroma is a phenominal gourmet cofee and a touch of chocolate. Flavor is again, gourmet coffee, a little creamy and bitter chocolate in the background. I was so glad to finally try this beer, it certainly lived up to the hype. Good thing I have 5 more to get my fix again in the future.