Bells Bourbon Barrel Aged Cherry Stout

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

12 oz. bottle poured into shaker- poured non transparent black, razor thin tan head bubbled away a little too quickly, light carbonation. Aroma of cork, cherries, and yeast- ugh. Hits the mouth with a medium body, malt is underpowering while the bourbon taste just steam rolls the tongue, cherries can barely be found, finish is dry and drops off like a cliff. Not one for me- hey traders!!!

Bottle from . Wow a great aroma. Lots of buttery oaky notes. Some cherry. Continuous cascade of small bubbles rising to the center of black liquid. The bubbles eventually reform to a thick microfoam ring around the edge of the glass. Heavier body, and vanilla oakiness when I sip. Leans a little dry despite heavy body. Nice.

Carolina Crew Gathering Greenville, NC. Thanks to Sprinkle for this! Black viscous pour, thick tan head and some spotty lace. Wood and cherry aroma. Lots of vanilla, tart cherry, wood, and a touch of bourbon. Velvety mouth-feel, slightly dry finish

Deep brown to black in color this poured a thin brown head that quickly dissipated. The nose showed tart cherry along with wood, mocha, vanilla and spice. In the mouth it was well-balanced and medium-bodied with wonderful tartness provided by the cherries along with bourbon and chocolate.

12oz bottle shared thanks to thickerfreakness. pours dark with a brown head. Nose is of black cherries and oak. Taste is of cherries and some bourbon. Mouthfeel is medium with carbonation and some tartness from the cherries and a hint of alcohol.

Bottle sampled at sliffy’s and again at mgumby10’s - thanks guys: The aroma of this beer reminds me of cartoons, where there is a pie in the window and the tantalizing, animated steam coming off of that pie wafts into the nose of an unsuspecting passerby and it blissfully lifts him off of the ground and he floats, salivating, through the air toward said pie in the anticipation that the olfactory deliciousness of the aroma could hope to match the taste of it. That kind of sums up this beer for me. If you could capture the aroma of this beer into an extract, it would be the best-selling candle at Bob Evans. Tart and sweet cherry pie filling, perfectly spiced with just the right amount of warm vanilla wafts on top of lightly bourbon-soaked oak. It smells at first like pie, then like icing. The flavor is just as complex, with dark malts swirling with vanilla, tart cherry, and light bourbon. Dry character. A very interesting blend that far surpasses the plain Cherry Stout.

tasted with the phoenix crew. batch 7777 bottles opened by sparky27. pours near black with a medium shade of brown head. light lacing is present as it retreats. aroma is really cheesy... barrel woodiness, spice, dark grain, vanilla, cherry skin and a touch of alcohol warmth. the flavor is fruity but not necessarily cherry at first... it is more like a gigantic tannic structure. as time goes on and dave gets sillier it develops into red cherries, cinnamon, caramel, barrel dry goodness, chocolate and some mild bourbon. nice and tart. medium to full body... tartness keeps it mellow. smooth mouth feel. this was quite impressive considering that i really didn’t like the regular version...

From a 12oz Bottle, Batch #7777. Bottle courtesy of CharlesDarwin. Dark black, chalky opaque colored pour, edged in ruby, topped with a creamy finger of tan foam. A butterscotch diacetyl aroma jumps out in the nose right away, but after the initial negative impression, it starts to fade into the background. Doughy, pretzely bourbon notes accompany tart black cherry skins and some dry dark chocolate. Lots of cherry in the nose, along with some harsher higher alcohols. Medium full bodied, creamy carbonated mouthfeel with a slick, velvety texture. The diacteyl, while still present, seems to be much more restrained in the flavors, leading to a more enjoyable drinking experience. Rich mid-malt flavors of toffee and caramel up front on the palate, along with some lighter vanilla barrel notes. Chewy fudge and hints of plum come out mid-palate. The cherry comes out strong on the back end, along with bourbon soaked caramel flavors. The combination of bourbon and cherry seemed a little strange to my palate at first, but I really warmed up to the flavor combination as I sipped this beer. Both bold traits seem to be well balanced and work well together. Unfortunately for me, the diacetyl was a major detractor, but I would imagine another clean batch of this would be simply stellar. It seems very uncharacteristic of Bell’s (at least in my tasting experience) to sell a beer with an obvious flaw, especially one that was likely present before the beer even went into the barrel. Nonetheless, I really hope this beer gets brewed again, as I can imagine batch 2 being a real treat. Thanks a ton, Tom!