“Deep and dense, Péché Mortel is a stout infused with coffee during brewing. The result is an intense beer, whose pronounced roasted aromas blend with the powerful taste of coffee. The finish is bitter, slightly astringent, and persistent. Designed as a tasting beer, we encourage you to consume it in moderation.”

Glassware: Snifter.

Appearance: Impenetrable black with a finger of light brown head perched neatly on top. Excellent retention and healthy lacing as it ebbs.

Aroma: Smells rich and complex with the coffee integrated beautifully. We detect a certain spiciness from it initially as it lands with a hint of black pepper and charred jalapeno. Gorgeous roasted malt character…dark chocolate, cigar box, woody spice and subtle hints of cocoa and nutty wattleseed. Holy moly, why did we not review this back in the day when their range first hit Aussie shelves?!

Flavour: Absolutely brilliant. It really imitates that harsh but loveable bitterness we get from a shot of espresso or a piccolo. That spicy quality we got on the nose transfers over, as does the heavily roasted malt notes of ash, cigar box, subtle smoke/peat, dark chocolate, raw cocoa and burnt toast. It all culminates into a dry, roasty and bitter finish with heady coffee lingering on the back end.

Mouthfeel: Dense and slightly abrasive. Full bodied, low Co2. The 9.5% ABV is noticeable but pretty well behaved for its size.

Overall: Without a doubt the best brewery to come out of Canada. We’ve believed this since the first beer we tried from them back in like 2012 (route des epices). This impy stout gets a little rough around the edges at times but the intensity of flavour is unbelievable. Solid offering.