Bells Bourbon Barrel Double Cream/Expedition Stout

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

On tap at the Bell’s dinner at Brews. Dark beer with a thin brown head that shank to a whispy film pretty quickly. The bourbon barrel flavors are much more subtle in this mix then in the Third Coast Old Ale or the Java. The bourbon is still a strong flavor, with oak, vanilla, coffee, some bitter chocolate and some dark juicey fruits as it warms. This beer comes with a lot of hype and while it didn’t rock my world, for a beer with so many stong flavors everything balances and blends with finesse. This is a great example of how a barrel and two beers can be combined to make an excellent drink.

#500. Draft. Pours pitch black with a surprisingly sturdy dark brown head. As soon as I smelled this I knew my hopes were not going to be let down. Super rich, thick chocolate aroma complimented (not overpowered) by a strong vanilla, oaky bourbon note that melds nicely. Coffee, dark fruits, marshmallow are also noted, all being weaved together nicely. This smells remarkably similar to Goose Island’s BCS, one of my favorite beers. Thankfully this tastes as good as it smells. Rich, full bodied and sticky with that super roasty flavor of Expedition being in the forefront, though calmed from its time in the barrel and the addition of the bourbon and vanilla flavors. I want to say this has a chocolate flavor and aftertaste but really it is more like fudge. Again, the bourbon is a strong component in the flavor but it doesn’t overpower. The body is full and chewy though obviously a little less than the regular Expedition. I taste a lot more Expedition than Double Cream. I wondered why they even bothered to blend the two because an oak-aged Expedition sounded better to me but I think the DC cuts out some of the intense roastiness and bitterness of the Expedition and lends a nice drinkability to this. This is certainly one of the best barrel aged beers I’ve tried, I might like the BCS just a tad more though this is certainly less hot and more drinkable. Either way this is just spectacular.

On Tap @ Oak Cafe Bells Stout Fest Pored Black little to no head Roasty bourbon aroma some vanilla . Sticky mouth feel Nice choclate sweet bourbon flavor littl licorice twords finish.

Black pour, medium brown head. Aroma is woody with some bourbon. Flavor is really like a 3:1 ratio of Expo to DC. Roasty and intense Expo flavor like roasted malts, and licorice but with the chocolate DC creaminess mellowing it out. Very woody with just a subtle touch of bourbon. Just balanced perfectly, very smooth and very delicious. This was awesome!

On draft at Buckeye Beer Engine. Pours deep black with a small brown head ringing the snifter. Smells very boozy with chocolate and roasted malt. I thought there would be more bourbon in the flavor, but it blends in nicely with just a slight burn. Other flavors are dark malts and chocolate sweetness. Slight bitterness and maybe a little fruit too. Creamy and smooth. Nice beer.

On tap at the beer engine. This beer is fantastic!!! Enjoyed several snifters of this brew over the course of the night. Poured a very dark viscous black with a very roasty and toasted brown head that receded after a short little while. The nose of this beer is top notch...filled with aromas of wood tannins, vanilla, roastiness, marshmallow, and some bourbon. The flavor profile is unbelievably good. Some borubon, some woodsy flavors, lots of roasted dark malts, some chocolate, coffee, and some darker fruits even make their presence known. The alcohol was not all that overbearing for such a big brew, and it was really quite welcoming in this fantastic sipper of an imeprial stout. The blending of both the expedition and double cream stout left the palate and mouthfeel of this beer ever so creaming and rich. A really really fantastic beer!!

On tap at Buckeye Beer Engine for the special Bells event on 2/13/08. Poured pitch black with a thin dark tan head that was gone in a minute, never to return even after a big swirl in the snifter. Strong booze aroma, and not much else, a little roast, vanilla, but mostly bourbon. Smooth, robust flavor, not as bourbony as the aroma would indicate. Flavors of vanilla, oak, dark roasted coffee, rum soaked pit fruits. An absolutely delicious beer. Mouthfeel is quite smooth for such a large beer, no doubt due to the blending of the Double Cream with the Expedition. A masterpiece of a beer from Bells and I am extremely glad I was able to have a couple snifters when it was available.

Rating #1300. Black body with a small tan head, fading to a ring. The nose is light bourbon, oak, chocolate, light coffee, dark fruits and light molasses. The flavor is lightly sweet, lightly bitter with milk chocolate, lactose, vanilla, brown sugar and plums. Medium/full body is soft and creamy with light carbonation. Outstanding.