Bells Bourbon Barrel Aged Cherry Stout

Brewed by Bells Brewery
Style: Sweet Stout
Kalamazoo, Michigan USA

Courtesy of ibrew2or3. Pours black, with brownish head. Aroma, bourbon barrel and cherry, and possibly some vanilla. Taste, plenty of chocolate malts to go about. This is couple with soem nice cherry notes, giving the beer some really well used bitterness. Good balance, and for once the cherry is not too pronounced and leaves room for the rest to really come alive in this beer. You get everything from the chocolate - cherry - bourbon - vanilla etc all blended perfectly.

Bottle, once more, with thanks from nbutler11. Smells great: thick sweet bourbon, vanilla-caramel, chocolate-covered cherries. The flavor is more subdued than the un-aged version. By that I mean that while the bourbon overlaps with both the cherry and stout elements, it enhances neither. While it may not eliminate both (and my first instinct was to say so), it certainly competes with both, often to the point of interference. But fattie cheers on a unique brew.

Bottle: (Thanks ygtbsm94!) Pours an opaque black with a deep brown dense thin head. The aroma has lots of bourbon and oak along with dark chocolate, roast, tart cherry notes mesh to make an interesting burnt marshmallow character. Substantial and creamy feel. The flavor is very interesting. Rich malt presence mingles with a tart cherry character and sweet bourbon. Some roasts comes through giving it a burnt marshmallow like deliciousness. Some residual toasted oak is apparent into the oaky roasted finish. A very unique and well integrated Stout. Balanced and complex.

Bottle fresh from a trade with Douglas88. Black with a thin dark brown head. Aroma of cherries starts with the pour. Scent from the glass is a cherry-chocolate liquere with hint of alcohol. A strong bitter quality gives the beer a tasty sour edge from start to finish. Swish the tongue and you get some of the Bourbon characteristics. Lighter in body than expected. Finishes more like a chocolate cherry wine than a beer.

Bottle courtesy of Ibrew2or3. Pours black with a one finger tan head that leaves good lacing. Aroma of bourbon, cherries, oak, vanilla, and a touch of roasted malt. Taste has tons of sour cherries, bourbon, oak, and vanilla. Medium full mouthfeel with a moderate amount of bitterness and slightly warm alcohol. Very good.

Bottle from KingpinIPA, thanks mike. sweet smelling, hint of chocolate and cherries. Taste was all cherries at first with a aftertaste of bitter chocoalte and alcohol. Mouthfeel was kinda thin with an oily film. This is great beer, but must be drank as an after dinner beer for sure

Bottle thanks to John! Timed this one perfectly and enjoyed with an apple crisp after dinner. Big black pour with light tan head and perhaps a slightly pinkish tint? Nose of candy corn, vanilla, toffee, caramel, bourbon, and bitter chocolate. Cherries are almost absent on the nose, but there’s a tartness that you can tell is coming. It hits right before the aftertaste, tingling the back and sides of your tongue. Very sweet but complex beer with a great tingly full mouthfeel. A nearly perfect dessert beer.

Bottle, thanks northernbrews! Rich aroma, cherry, bourbon, roast malts. Pours black with a prominent coffee-brown head, spotty lace. On the tongue, tart cherries blend perfectly with the roast malts to explode on the tongue. Sweet bourbon, vanilla, and bitter oak complement the backbone nicely. Finishes with coffee, chocolate, vanilla, a little bit of bitter melon. Carmelly smooth on the palate, carbonation is subdued but prickly. This is a nearly perfect beer.