The Best Part of Waking Up... - Dieu du Ciel, Péché Mortel (Montreal) and Troegs Java Head (PA)

Coffee. The veritable counter-balance to my beer mania. If there is one thing that I am more of a pretentious pain about than beer (and vodka), it's coffee. I can't stand a weak cup of it, I prefer it produced fair trade (social awareness just tastes much better, right?), and if it's any good, it should be enjoyed pitch black without the contamination of those pesky creams and sweeteners. No day starts without it, and many days end with it. Luckily, some sick and twisted individual thought it was a brilliant idea to blend two of my liquid obsessions, and in the case of these two beers, it produced some damn tasty results.

I'll start with the Canadians (*ducks, assuming some independently-minded Quebecois threw something at him*). Péché Mortel is from "Brasserie Dieu du Ciel!," a small brewing company in Montreal, Quebec. I got this beer from a great spot in the Northern Liberties section of Philadelphia called "The Foodery" (http://www.fooderybeer.com/). The small store boasts over 800 varieties of beer. The cynic in me did not believe this at first, and then I went there; they aren't messing around. This place is practically "buy by-the bottle" Mecca. There was very little that I couldn't find at The Foodery, thus leading me to believe it might be the greatest thing Philadelphia spawned since the cheesesteak and the Philadelphia Flyers.

I picked this beer out of curiosity. The image - as pictured above - has something just...intriguing about it. You just don't pass up a beer featuring a Medusa drawn in the style of Picasso. Plus, the name alone means "Mortal Sin." It's gotta be good, right?! Either way, I got home that day and selected a pint class and poured.

I might as well have French-pressed this beer. There are actually coffee grounds floating around in it. As a result, I knew I was in good company with the people at Dieu du Ciel. Hell, this is the way I like my coffee! If they make a coffee stout this way, they're clearly doing something right. Enough blabber. Let's get to the coff...I mean...beer.

It smells like - go figure - coffee. We're not talking Starbucks either. Picture the best cup o' joe you've ever had. There you go! You're on the right track. Kicking it back, half expecting to have to wait due to breakfast-related warmth, you get to the true nature of Péché Mortel. The taste is outstanding. Not only do you have a fantastic coffee-flavored beer, you also have a great Imperial Stout. While coffee is the primary flavor, you're also tasting some very solid malts.

On to our friends at Troegs. I'm drinking this beer right now, so it's safe to say it's on my mind. This is pretty much the same deal as the Péché Mortel, up to the point of taste. The Java Head is a bit weaker in flavor; in other words, it doesn't blow you away with coffee taste balanced with a ridiculous amount of malty-goodness. It's just enough coffee, and just enough malt. If this were simply a stout, I might be inclined to rate it incredibly high. However, it's a coffee-based stout, and I've had the aforementioned Quebecois beer, so unfortunately, it's not ringing as many alarm bells. Overall though, it is increasing it's position in the ranks of Troegs brews. This falls just short of Mad Elf in my opinion.

So here's the idea. If you like coffee, you will like these beers. If not, you'll probably still like these beers. Try them out...you won't regret it.

Brasserie Dieu du Ciel - Péché Mortel ****1/2/***** (4 1/2 out of 5 stars)
Troegs Brewing Company - Java Head Stout ***1/2/***** (3 1/2 out of 5 stars)

Images accessed at: http://www.troegs.com/assets/images/troegs/pictures/beerPhotos/troegs-beer-java-stout.jpg and http://www.vif.com/users/spongiana/PecheMortel.jpg