Péché Mortel - Brasserie Dieu du Ciel (Canada - Quebec - St Jerome)

Péché Mortel - Dieu du Ciel (Canada - Quebec - St Jerome) 9.5%

Opaque and black in a glass with a tan head. Strong coffee aroma as well as dark chocolate with some dark dried fruit hanging about as well, some black licorice and maybe a touch of leather.

The taste is very strongly coffee at first sip. Then dark chocolate flavours bloom along with red and dark dried fruit, a bite of alcohol, leather and wooden earth tones. I found that with subsequent sips Péché Mortel began to taste less of coffee and more of the dark and red fruit tones. There are still plenty of coffee flavours to be sure but it is nice that this beer isn't one dimensional - not that I would expect such a thing from Dieu du Ciel. The coffee flavours, which as I have said are always there, seemed to reassert themselves as the beer warmed but the interesting mix of dried fruit flavours and other dark malt flavours I have mentioned remains. In short, Péché Mortel is a very nice coffee infused Imperial Stout and quite delicious but still maintains a complex mix of flavours throughout.

Grande Noirceur - Brasserie Dieu du Ciel (Canada - Quebec - St Jerome)

Grande Noirceur - Brasserie Dieu du Ciel (Canada - Quebec - St Jerome) 9.0%

Black, black, black in the glass. Completely opaque with a finger of brown head. The aroma is thick with dark malt flavours of smoke, prunes, a bit of coffee, an earthy sweetness with wood tones and little leather as well.

The taste is bitter and loaded with dark fruit flavours, no lighter esters of cherry but prunes and raisin flavours, as well as smoke, just a bit of grain and some molasses. The aftertaste is very bitter, smoky as well as a little boozy. The alcohol flavour fades quite a bit as the beer gets a little bit warmer. All in all, a strong and very nice Imperial Stout.

Barrel Full of Monkeys - Paddock Wood (Canada - Saskatchewan - Saskatoon) 10.0%

Barrel Full of Monkeys - Paddock Wood (Canada - Saskatchewan - Saskatoon) 10.0%

Super dark in a glass and completely opaque. A hefty, thick, delicious, dark and strongly malty aroma: raisins, dates, a bit of pear, chocolate, wood tones, some alcohol as well as a hops impression that adds only bitterness and balance. At times this tasty aroma reminds me a bit of molasses cookies.

Coffee and dark chocolate for an instant but then washed over by a spectacular flood of dark dried fruit flavours of raisin, prunes, dates and smoky wood notes; chocolate returns only with a little alcohol which puts me in mind of liquere and fruit filled chocolates. The beer definitely imparts a alcohol glow right away but the alcohol doesn't do anything but accentuating the flavour; Barrel Full of Monkeys doesn't taste at all like it is one tenth pure ethanol (at least). The malty, smoky aftertaste with touches of the aforementioned dark fruit is very appetizing so while this beer deserves to be savoured on it's own it would go very nicely with some darker olives and other such strong flavoured finger food.

Words don't seem to do it justice in describing how tasty this beer is and they also make a cherry version. Paddock Wood's Barrel Full of Monkeys is only an annual release so if you get the chance to buy some DO IT!

Cherry Barrel Full of Monkeys Imperial Stout - Paddock Wood (Canada - Saskatoon)

Cherry Barrel Full of Monkeys Imperial Stout - Paddock Wood (Canada - Saskatchewan - Saskatoon) 10.0%

Opaquely black in a glass with a dark brown head of foam. Dark cherry aroma, a little alcohol, dark chocolate.

Toasted bread, nearly smoky, just a bit of green hops, black coffee, dark chocolate and quite a tart cherry taste, plenty of cherry really. Between the strong, tart cherry flavour and the chest warming high alcohol, Cherry Barrel Full of Monkeys Imperial Stout seems a little like a chocolate desert made with a cherry wine.