Bells Best Brown Ale

Brewed by Bells Brewery
Style: Brown Ale
Kalamazoo, Michigan USA

Bottle sampled. Pours ruby brown with a small light tan head. Aroma of nuts, caramel malts, and spices. The flavor is nutty, caramel, and sweet brown sugar. Thin body, Good brew.

actually quite red, but i love the appearance nevertheless. semitranslucent. small bubbles form a tiny layer over the surface. a bit too cold to get full aroma, but a bit of nuts in there, some malts. how can the rating before me, milewide compare the hops in this to 2hearted ale? ridiculous comparison to draw... i was thinking about what we look for in beer styles and i realized i don’t really know what we look for in brown ales in terms of taste/aroma other than perhaps nuts. and it doesn’t even say a thing about it. what a weak style. nothing but color going for it (and the hazelnut brown). anyways, it’s a decent beer. not a lot of flavor, but certainly not unappealing. medium body.

Almost the brown color of a stout, but with a much drier taste and thinner body which I like. Still, a bit light on hops compared to Two Hearted Ale, which I consider Bell’s best.

This has a wonderful, molasses appearance. I can hardly smell anything at all--maybe it’s my glass, I don’t know. The taste--warm, clean, complex. The malty taste is comforting and truly full of goodness. There is a hint of molasses in the taste as well, but everything finishes clean, with an aftertaste combining hints of smoked almonds with the taste of german dark wheat bread. I like the low carbonation content; it allows one to taste the beer more than feel it.

Bottle. Pours dark amber with a very small tan head. Caramel and nuts in the aroma. Caramel, toasted malt , and brown sugar in the initial flavor, sort of like a belgian brown ale. This transitions to a bold finish, that is sweet and has a semi dry bitterness. Nice.

Dark amber colored, little light brown head. Chocolate and fine hops in aroma, also fruity caramel tones there too. Medium bodied, mildly carbonated palate. Flavor is sweet with chocolate and hops, aftertaste has some caramel. Slightly one-dimensional, but still ok brew.

Bottle from Josh (daalamar) Thanks! Pours out a brown color (shocking, i know) - not much head on it. Smell is sweet, full of malts, and nuts. Taste is similar, easy to drink, with the roasted malt flavor coming out in it pretty well. A decent brown beer that competes yet does not topple Hazelnut brown. Nice good solid bells brew though.

Pours a reddish brown with a nice tan head. The aroma has notes of crystal malt, nut, and fruit. Nice balance to the flavor with a nuttiness and sweetness being dominant.