Péché Mortel (Imperial Stout Au Cafe)
Poured from an 11.2 oz bottle into nonic pint glass. A - Jet black, completely opaque. Three fingers of dense, dark brown head rise. Retention is decent with moderate lacing. Certainly one of if not the darkest beer I can remember seeing. S - Espresso as others have pointed out is the dominant aroma. Perhaps a touch of roastiness and sweetness hiding out but this is unmistakably a coffee infused brew. T - Expectedly, huge coffee/espresso taste. After the main flavor subsides a bit there are traces of caramel and earthiness. The alcohol quickly takes over and leads into a roasted and coffee-like bitterness that lingers for minutes afterwards. M - Oily and full bodied with a moderate carbonation. I was surprised that the carbonation wasn't a bit softer. D - Peche Mortel is an excellent coffee beer but in the end this isn't one of my favorite styles. However, I can certainly see how it excels over many of it's counterparts. Ultimately big strong coffee flavored beers with the added big ABV make this a little less than drinkable for me. Objectively the experience is an intense one, and personally these just aren't flavors that I care to gulp down too quickly. A decent beer, but not worth the money for my palate.