Bells Bourbon Barrel Double Cream/Expedition Stout

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

Had this off a hand pull cask @ the Dilly Deli in Hamilton last Holiday season. Wow awesome Bourbon ,oak,vanilla it’s hard to say anything that hash;’t already been said about this beer. Seen this pop up and thought damn i’ve had that so I guess I need to rate it! Smooth the way a stout needs to be and the hand pull with the low carbonation make it that much smoother and creamier..A real treat!

Thank you Glenn for cracking this incredible growler. Super bourbon vanilla in the nose. Chocolate. Awesome. Rich, rich chocolate and bourbon in the taste. Incredible. Smooth as butter. Amazingly drinkable beer. Wow. Low carbonation but perfect for this beer. One of the best beers i have had in a long time. Once again, thank you Glenn for opening such an incredible beer.

On tap at NOTB 09. Pours deep dark black with full sweet bourbon notes immediately present. Smokey, roasty, dark chocolate, vanilla, oak, and coffee- complex enough to hold its own against a powerful bourbon backbone. Flavor is similar, with a bourbon punch on a malty backbone. Cream stout presence is really subtle. I would love to try this without the bourbon barreling. Very good though.

From a handbottle sent by Indy Crew. You guys are so generous and we appreciate it. Unlike ross, I do rate 1oz samples. This was a very nice stout, the ounce I got to try. Tastes like an aged expedition with some nice bourbon and vanilla notes thrown in. The double cream stout also shows, especially in the palate which was phenomenal. Really wish I could have tried more, yet again, fee privileged to have tried this wonderful beer.

Special thanks to the Indy crew for sending a handbottle to the crew! Inky black pour with no head. All around this beer is extremely complex. The barrel aging really balances this out. Rich full bodied flavor. Big velvety creamy mouth feel. Vanilla, bourbon, oak, chocolate, coffee, roast and hazelnut.

Ah, the baby. Bottle generously sent to the lowly NC mooks by the upstanding gentlemen in the Indy crew. Thick black pour, no head and very little carbonation. Dank and still, inviting. The nose is very complex, with the array of chocolates from the double cream blending marvelously with the subtly used barrel and with the sharper notes (molasses, e.g.) one gets in Expedition. There was some wood prominent in the flavors too, which nicely brought out the more bitter roasts. It’s all held together by a fine, smooth mouthfeel. This is one of the better impy stouts I’ve had, and I was really impressed at how nicely the cream stout benefited the barrel and the beer as a whole. Thanks Indy friends!!!

On tap at Eccentric Café. I’m not usually a fan of these bourbon barrel concoctions, but this one is a winner. Black with a thin beige head. Aroma of roasted malt, bourbon, chocolate, vanilla and mild oak. Smooth body tastes of bourbon, chocolate, coffee, roasted malt, oak, alcohol and a hint of vanilla. Noticeable warming effects.

Thanks to the Indie crew big time for shooting this one our way. Pours an inky black with no head. Nose is pungent/fantastic, bourbon barrel is extremely well integrated. Nice vanilla, creamy, rich, chocolate, coffee, bourbon, molasses, mild warming alcohol. Flavor is very rich and warming, vanilla, bourbon, rich chocolate and molasses, has a nice hop feel with bitterness and alcohol coming through with warmth. Palate is velvety, mildly warming, very nice tannic bite on the palate. Fantastic brew.