Bells Cherry Ale

Brewed by Bells Brewery
Style: Fruit Beer
Kalamazoo, Michigan USA

On tap at the Blue Nile ( imagine that!) color is a bright crimson, a solid ruby, thick & hazy, too, and capped with a lush pinkish head, solid and lasting...very impressive appearance, very attractive, too! Aroma, light, and sweet, with whiffs of cherry, but not much else. Full feel on the palate, when first quaffed, a rush of sweet fruit, then the tart of the cherry, a bite of sour, then all is refreshment, and total quaffability. My first taste of this made me wonder if I’d really like it. My first pint of it led to another, and so on.. Excellent texture, great drinkablity, a splash of tart to meet every swallow, but not so much to bring down the pleasure of drinking...bright and juicy...it’s an ale full of cherries, what else do you want? If you love cherries in your beer, this is the brew for you! I not, stay away. Solid, tasty, tangy, very well done. Hats off to Larry & Co. Much better than Bell’s Cherry Stout,meets the style of an ale better than the aforementioned does for a stout.

Red/brown with a small white head. Cherry nose with malt and some grassy hop notes. Farily dry, very nice flavor, dominated by tart cherries with a touch of bready malt, slight sugary sweetness, and a balance of dry bitterness.

Bottle. Tart sour cherry and malt aroma. Reddish amber with small head. Sweet-tart cherry flavor - tastes like freshly picked cherries, not a nasty chemical fake cherry flavor - with light malt tones. Nice drinkable fruit beer - just doesn’t have strong beer flavors.

Tap. Translucent and auburn red in color with an expansive dust overlay and a thin, khaki-grey wrung around the edges. Sticky web lacing. Love that aroma. Sweet maraschino cherries nearly predicate a kriek dimension, along with hints of strawberry-watermelon Jolly Ranchers. Mild accents of lemons and cloves for dimension, and throw in some grenadine while you’re at it. Big fresh cherry sweetness syrups its way into the palatary playing field, with a sticky dissipation that leaves a tin soup can reverberating in the background. Sweet cherry pie filling, and the effervescence at the outset is saying "Shirley Temples" - dirty style (which means maraschino juice, pervert.) Mild coriander met with grenadine in the finish. I expected the worst and was pleasantly surprised. Decent stuff.

pours hazzy red. flavor is tart, sour cherries. cherry flavor dominante. cant really taste much else.

Bottle
Pours a lush brown and amber... Aroma is cherry and chocolate. Flavor is a cherry wine spritzer. Very light. Not bad, but I wouldn’t take out a second mortgage to acquire a sixer.

Last six at the store, it was Bells, so I grabbed it even though it was $10. Pours clear sparkling red, with very little head. Nice aroma of cherries and malt. Medium body. Flavor starts sour and watery, and finishes sticky and acidic at the back of the tongue. Somewhat artificial tasting. I was rather disappointed with this one. It’s not that it is bad, I just have higher standards for beers coming from Bells, as they are one of my favorite breweries.

Cherry red with shortlasting head and some lacing. Aroma is malty sweet cherries. Taste started off malty with a mellow cherry tartness and then the finish reminded me of the pit - a bit woody, slightly bitter.