Dieu du Ciel series: Aphrodite

A bonus second review today from the Dieu du Ciel series: Aphrodite. Interestingly, the name for this beer on the French version of the label (found on Dieu du Ciel's website - http://micro.dieuduciel.com/en/beers.php) is "Aphrodesiaque" which translates obviously as "Aphrodisiac". I'm not entirely sure why they altered it for the English label to be Aphrodite.

BEER: Aphrodite (Dieu du Ciel brewery, St-Jérôme, Quebec) - Strong Stout brewed with "organic fair-trade cocoa and first-rate vanilla beans"

ABV: 6.5%

SERVED: 341mL brown bottle bought at the LCBO, poured into an Innis & Gunn slightly-curved footed glass

APPEARANCE: Deep black in colour, even darker than Guinness: when held to the light, Guinness will actually show a deep amber colour - this beer, when held to the light, is still black as night. Creamy, caramel-coloured head, which dissipated after a couple of minutes.

AROMA: You can definitely smell the vanilla they brewed this beer with. There's a faint, almost-sweetness to it as well. The smell is more akin to cookie batter than to beer!

TASTE: I expected a strong flavour, given that the alcohol content is up more around the level that you'd expect from an imperial stout, but it's actually quite mellow. The first thing you taste when you take a sip of this is the cocoa, but it doesn't taste at all artificial or overpowering... quite nice in fact, and complements the dark roasted malts of the stout quite well. The vanilla returns for the aftertaste, coming in slowly. This blend of flavours works really well together.

OVERALL: Much better than the last beer I tasted. This one is beautiful, well-balanced, and very easy-drinking, especially considering that it's a stout, and higher in alcohol as well. I think a lot of people who "don't like dark beer" could be very impressed with this one. I can just imagine a small glass of this pairing excellently with a nice dark chocolate dessert. Don't be afraid of the dark colour of this beer... if you see it on the shelves at your local LCBO, pick one up, or better yet, buy two! You won't regret it! 9.5/10