There is nothing quite like a beer with a really long French name. But wait! you say, Dieu du Ciel is in St. Jérôme! I found this particular beer as I was browsing the aisles, reading the labels of beers that have won different awards. The Péché Mortel, or “Mortal Sin,” reached out to me … and I share that in complete confidence that you, the reader, will look past the carnal tones of its namesake and believe that it was really the phrase “free trade coffee” that spoke to me.

Though I’m not a huge fan of Canadia, with its ehs and turtlenecks and uncool mustaches, I must say … Dieu du Ciel is an interesting bunch. Can I rattle off the names of some of their brews? Besides the Péché Mortel, you’ve got the Aphrodisiaque, Corne du Diable (Horn of the Devil), Fumisterie (Smoke Screen), Paienne (Pagan), Rigor Mortis ABT (best name ever), and more. Now that’s a lineup.

Back to the beer. Born in 2001 at Dieu du Ciel’s Montreal brewpub, the Péché Mortel is a Russian Imperial Stout boasting 9.5% ABV, but is brewed with fair trade coffee, which the Canadians claim increases the bitterness and power of the flavor, more so than other types of coffee. After you pop the cap off a bottle of this stuff you’ll know what they mean. For a moment, as I sat there with the cap off the bottle, I thought I was staring into a black hole: it’s shadowy and murky and very mortal sinly. The pour revealed a thick black liquid … nay, an elixir straight from Satan’s Café. The head was a little flat, unfortunately, but I admit I was too distracted by the smell to care much, and I didn’t pour it correctly. I could smell the coffee instantly: deep, rich, toasty and bitter. A slight malt sweetness came through as well. This is going to be one hell of a stout.

As far as Russian Imperial slash Coffee Stouts go, this is easily the best I’ve had to date. Deep, rich flavors that make your taste buds stand up at attention, and then scream for more. The initial and lasting punch is the coffee. This beer is loaded with roasted malts, hiding the alcohol superbly. The bitterness is like a mixture of dark roasted coffee and unsweetened cocoa. A lot of us here at the PHM have been riffing on North Coast’s Old Rasputin recently, which I found to be too smokey. The Péché Mortel easily beats Ol’ Rasp in my book, but I do concede that they are different beers, namely because of the coffee.

Two Brothers’ Red Eye Coffee Porter was my favorite coffee brew up to this point but this Dieu du Ciel has really stolen the top spot. The flavor notes in this beer are keen, balanced, yet hardcore. I love the label, I love the name, and, of course, I love how it tastes after 1 hour in my snifter: heavenly.

Can I say that?

ABV: 9.5%

Grade: A