Bells Cherry Stout

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

Bottle - Pours black with no head. A pleasant cherry and chocolate smell leads into a taste that is cherries and not much else. There’s a bit of a malt backbone, but the tart cherries just dominate from the first taste through the finish. It’s a good taste, but there just isn’t much else going on. The surprisingly thin body was a little disappointing. I’d be interested to see how this would cellar.

Pours black with a tan/dark red head... Aroma of cherries and roasted malts... Cherry tartness dominates the flavor of the beer, totally masks any kind of malt finish... Not that enjoyable... Don’t think fruit and stouts should go together...

Pours brown with a whitish head. Aroma is tart cherry and sweet malt. Tart flavor and metallic. Thin body. Not good.

12 oz bottle. Pours brown amber with a thick beige head. Smells a little like coffee and some dark cherry sweetness. Tastes like dark fruit, coffee, and some chocolate. Slightly tart, this beer is both refreshing and fullfilling. Not bad.

Bottle. Aroma of coffee, sweet cake malt cherry, maybe some other dark fruit notes. Flavor is quite a shock after the aroma as suddenly an immensely tart cherry quality takes over. At first it blends with the roasted/chocolate flavors nicely, but by the time the swallow and finish comes around it’s just too much for me. I really can’t categorically call it bad in any way, but a stout with all this sourness turned out to not really be my thing.

Black pour with not head and a very tart and roasted malts aroma. The aroma is very unusual. Wow the tartness is huge with a monster coffee finish! This is soooooooo unusal. I have been drinking bells for years and this is definately one of their more unique offerings. I am enjoying this.......it is sooooo complex. The sweetness only comes through in the slightest. Its a touch thin on the palate. But other than that its outstanding.

12 oz bottle, Batch# 8870. Pours a heavy black color with a thin brown head that quickly disappears. Aroma is all chocolate and cherry. Initial taste is roasted malt and milk chocolate. Its all tart cherries from here, leaving your mouth with a pucker finish. I could pick up some lingering hints of coffee after the cherry taste subsided. Thinner on the the palate than I expected. Very unique and definitely worth a try, especially if you like fruity beers.

Bottle shared by Ryan & Felicia @ Daknole’s. Deep rich brownish-red, hardly any head. Lovely black forest (cherry-chocolate) aromas. Very pure Bing cherry and cookie. The tart cherry overpowers the dark malts a little but I find this combination complementary, and the cherry flavors are pure.