Péché Mortel Cerise
Brasserie Dieu du Ciel!

 

Dark brown with a moist tan head, low to moderate retention, no lacing. Roasty coffee notes, bakers chocolate, cherry skin. Moderate to thin body, light carbonation. Lovely series of stouts.

 

 

 

 

Got in a BIF from Coronaeus. 11.5 ounce bottle into signature tulip glass, bottled on 12/19/2018. Pours pitch black color with a 2 finger fairly dense and fluffy tan head with fantastic retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lasts. Thick foamy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Fantastic appearance. Aromas of big incredible! Lasting fluffy head retention/thick foamy lacing. Aromas and flavors of big juicy/tart/tangy red/black cherries, fruit skin/pits, milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, dark roasted coffee, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, roasted nuts, toasted biscuit, and dark bread/crust; with lighter notes of vanilla, licorice, molasses, raisin, prune, fig, date, smoke, charcoal, herbal, wood, grass, pepper, pine, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of cherries, dark/black/roast/bready malts, coffee, and light-moderate earthy hop notes; with big strength. Taste of big juicy/tart/tangy red/black cherries, fruit skin/pits, milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, dark roasted coffee, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, roasted nuts, toasted biscuit, and dark bread/crust; with lighter notes of vanilla, licorice, molasses, raisin, prune, fig, date, smoke, charcoal, herbal, wood, grass, pepper, pine, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness. Light-moderate pine, herbal, woody, peppery, charred bitterness; and light fruit tang/tartness on the finish. Lingering notes of tart/tangy cherries, fruit skin/pits, milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, dark roasted coffee, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, roasted nuts, toasted biscuit, dark bread/crust, vanilla, licorice, molasses, dark fruit, smoke, charcoal, herbal, wood, grass, pepper, pine, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Incredible complexity, robustness, and balance of cherries, dark/black/roast/bready malts, coffee, and light-moderate earthy hop flavors; with a fantastic roast/hop bitter/sweet, and tart/tangy fruit balance; with no cloying, acrid, astringent flavors after the finish. Lightly increasing dryness from lingering hop/char bitterness, and tart/tangy fruit. Medium carbonation and full body; with a very smooth, creamy/silky/bready, fairly sticky/chalky, and light acidic/tangy mouthfeel that is fantastic. Minimal warming alcohol for 9.5%. Overall this is an incredible fruited imperial coffee stout! All around fantastic complexity, robustness, and balance of cherries, dark/black/roast/bready malts, coffee, and light-moderate earthy hop flavors; very smooth and dangerously easy to drink for the big ABV, with the mellowly bitter/tart/tangy/drying finish; fantastic soft feel. Amazing balance of juicy/jammy cherries, rich malts, and fruity/nutty coffee complexity; with solid earthy hop presence/balance. Light residual sweetness with lingering dryness. A highly enjoyable offering, and amazing style example as expected. Definitely was better than the coconut I had recently. Less bitter/drying on hops, and not overwhelming on cherries. Really loved it!

 

Bottle: Poured a pitch-black color stout with a large foamy head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma of roasted malt with some sour cherry notes with floral coffee notes is interesting. Taste is also a mix between some sour cherry notes with some floral coffee and light bitter roasted malt notes. Body is about average for style with good carbonation. Enjoyable but I would file this in the interesting folder more than the needs to have again folder.

From a 341ml bottle, dated 12/19/18. Poured into a tulip glass and letting it sit for a bit now to take some more of the chill off.

Pours a translucent old-oak from the bottle but sits utterly black and opaque in the glass with a scant half-finger of mocha foam. Retention is excellent, leaving a creamy curtain of lacing.

A relatively faint nose, smells pretty much like regular Péché but with the volume turned all the way down so as not to annoy the neighbors. Granted, it’s still a little cold, but still. [Waits a little longer...] OK, a little cherry juice.

Tastes of really good cold-brewed coffee and brandied cherries. I keep going back and forth about whether I’m tasting chocolate covered cherries or Luden’s cherry-flavored cough drops and I shall address this matter further in my Overall comments as it concerns both taste and feel.

Feel is smooth but thin, medium bodied but light relative to the style, and brightly carbonated, again relative to the style.

Overall, I enjoyed it. I always enjoy the Péché Mortel variants - well, except for the peach and, even that one, I understood why they just had to brew it. So, the thing is, I couldn’t decide whether it tasted more like chocolate covered cherries or cherry cough drops and I think the reason was that the base beer itself was too thin and fizzy - odd to say about a 9.5% stout. If it had had more heft to it, the cherry would have come through with more richness, smoothness and unctuousness instead of being vaguely reminiscent of a cherry cough drop.

Thanks to swedes21

 

 

Serving: Bottle
Bottled: Dec-19-2018


A:
It pours pitch black with a finger of tan head that drops to a film. Ok retention; sheet lacing. (4)

S:
Nutty, chocolate, toast, some fruitiness. (3.75)

T:
Chocolate covered cherries. Coffee bite followed by tart-sweet cherry and rising chocolatey sweetness. (3.5)

M:
Full bodied, roasty, moderate carbonation, slightly astringent. (3.5)

O:
It pours pitch black with a respectable head. Maybe not quite as luscious- looking as some of the other Péchés, but nice nonetheless with very impressive lacing. The aroma is chocolatey with some coffee and a pleasant a nutty sweetness. The flavor is more coffee-like with sweet and tart cherry flavors and milk chocolate malt flavor. Like a dark chocolate covered cherry. It is fairly drinkable with a slightly astringent feel from the combination of all of it. It is a good beer but I think it could jump to being a very good beer if the coffee were left out. Yes, I know it would no longer be a PM, but the coffee seems to out-compete the cherries and vie versa a little bit too. Not really a "mess", but it could be more balanced and "on the same page as itself" I feel. (3.5)

On tap at Thin Man Brewery in Buffalo, NY.

This one pours a fairly dark black color, with a small head, and not much lacing.

There's not really much cherry on the nose at all here - maybe some slight fruitiness? There's that stale old coffee aroma again - I'm getting it in nearly every Péché from this year. It's not quite as prominent as the Coconut variant, though.

This is also disappointing. I so wanted all of these to be good. I don't really think they added much cherry here, as the taste is barely perceptible here. It's also just too bitter and dry and harsh, like most of the variants this year. It's that same too old coffee taste that just ruins it for me.

This is light and thin, and bitter, and not super drinkable. It's not creamy enough - this is supposed to be a really creamy beer!

I'm honestly sad writing these negative reviews - this is a beer I usually gush about.

 

No matter how subtle you call cherries inside a porter or stout, the style doesn't work for me. The dissonance is so great, that I can't concentrate on the brew as a whole, leaving me dissatisfied, bouncing between cherries (which are not so subtle here) and coffee.
I would not recommend this type of beer to anyone, though some may like it.