Bells Bourbon Barrel Double Cream/Expedition Stout

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

I like most of Bell’s beer. This one was a little less than I expected. The nose was very heavy, and maybe too much of the bourbon coming thorough. But Bell’s has yet to make a bad beer.

Draft over at Capital Ale House. Silky palate, with a great ending. Nice burbon accent in the aroma with a great dark fruit accent, probably from the Expedition part of the mix. Great beer and I’m happy I got the chance to try it.

Hand-bottle from Maniac, I guess about a week old now. Unlike Hopscotch’s, mine is completely flat, although there was a small burst of CO2 when I opened the bottle. Does not taste oxidized at all. Flavor is a hefty bourbon and stout kick, with a thick, cool body that makes your throat sweat. Nose is heavy bourbon and cheese, grassy, pretty different. To me, this is a solid beer, but the bourbon is a bit powerful and the beer lacks the finesse of either expedition or double cream. I hope to try this again straight form the keg, but, living in NY, that will likely never happen.

Hand-bottled (keg)… This beer rocks!… Pitch black with a minimal, bubbly, light brown head. The aroma is an intoxicating swirl of chocolate, bourbon, coconut and caramelized cinnamon sugar. Full-bodied and ultra-silky with almost no carbonation. Sweet and bourbony with big chocolate notes. All the bitter, rough edges of the traditional version of Expedition Stout are mellowed, if not completely washed away, via blending and oak aging the two base beers. Creamy, smooth, bourbon and chocolate finish. At no point did the bourbon or heat overwhelm my palate. World class all the way! Many thanks go out to maniac for hand-bottling a hefty sample last weekend in Richmond, VA, and going through the trouble of shipping it quickly to Florida!

Courtesy hopscotch. Thanks Eric for sharing this rare gem with me! Hand bottle. Pours pitch black, with a tiny, bubbly, light brown head. Smells pretty powerful with a good amount of bourbon, and a pretty big dose of chocolate. Some sweet, syrupy dark malts, light molasses, and sweet sugars all about rounded out the aroma. The flavor had pretty big chocolate, although the bourbon was more subdued in the flavor making it very creamy. Its bark was worse than its bite seemingly. It made it incredibly drinkable and still had good flavor going on. The carbonation was not low, but seemingly had lost a little of its sting. pretty chocolatey throughout especially in the finish and lingering aftertaste. This turned out to be an incredibly creamy and easy drinking brew comparedto what I thought it would be. Still very tasty overall. Thanks again for sharing Eric!

Draft, Capital Ale House Innsbrook Kerstbier Festival, this was the one I was waiting for, and I didn’t think it could live up to the hype and anticipation. But it did. Black, slight head, brown at edges. Aroma is loads of chocolate, bourbon, slight cherry, alcohol, very nice. Flavor is bourbon, cherry, oak, vanilla, and chocolate, all in an absolutely perfect balance. One of the best bourbon treatments I’ve ever encountered. Rich but not cloying, a sipper without needing to be pampered for an entire evening, it was just amazing.

Had this one awhile ago and never got the rating in but courtesy of moejuck. Aroma was incredible and had a nice balance of chocolate, malt, and bourbon. Really unique flavor but not living up to the hype from the handbottle we tried from.

Multiple big draught pours at Birreria Paradiso the night after the Bells Dinner. Pours into the snifter a deep oily black with a thin head (although not much room for a head since they were giving full pours)- head is orangey brown- shiny and sticks to the glass nicely. Aroma is tons of black licorice, toffee, chocolate, coffee and cream- hints of vanilla, and dominant chocolate liquor and smooth mellow bourbon. Great luscious dark chocolate flavors, tons of coffee, tar and tobacco with lots more licorice, vanilla, very light oak, but moderate bourbon character. Smooth as hell on teh finish. Awesome beer! I liked this one better than the batch 7000 BA, but after drinking the 7000, and coming back to this, my mouth had been destroyed by the power of 7000 and thus on the second time the flavors seemed more subdued. Still awesome. Reminded me a lot of the bourbon aged Jolly Roger from Ottos.