This option has been discussed in a [couple](https://github.com/docker/compose/issues/4841#issuecomment-345242740) of [tickets](https://github.com/docker/compose/issues/745) but never had a ticket for itself. One should be able to execute `docker-compose up --env-file=.env.test` (perhaps multiple env files) to override the usage of `.env` file.