Bells Cherry Stout

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

Bottle, batch #8219. Pitch black pour with a nice cream head. Cherries, chocolate and licorice in the nose. Expected. Flavors of coffee, cool cherries, and some chocolate. Warm, engaging, drinkable. Decent, but there are better from Bells, especially better stouts.

bottle. Only a few months into my craft beer experience, this is the first beer I’ve had with enough tart to stimulate the sides of my tongue. Each drink started with a 1-2 second exponential growth of tartness with the sides then acting like duel runways carrying the flavor to the back of the tongue where I experienced a nice bitter stout finish. I wish that the beer was a little sweeter as I’m not sure if I tasted cherries or just associated the tartness to them. Overall, I enjoyed this beer if no other reason than I enjoyed the tartness and plan on trying some sour ales sometime soon.

Quite a tasty and interesting beer. This beer begins with a sweet but sour note that really isn’t suggested on the aroma. Pretty good though I would have liked a little more cherry aftertaste but instead I get mostly malt with only minimal tart. Very nice overall.

From bottle : Pours a quite dark brown, possible black, with evil looking red highlights. Thin light brown head, that dissapates to a little ring around the rim. Nose is a little weak at first, but gets more profound as the beer warms a little. A malty smell is dominante, with small hints of sourness and some cherries finally find there way out and into my nostrils. Taste is really very good. Sweet, smooth, and has a wonderful little tart middle, then finishes with a pleasent roasted aftertaste. Small amounts of cherries are present, but are more noticable as you work your way through the beer, and it warms a little closer to room tempature. Very good though, very impressed, and countinue to love Bells Beers.

Deep dark brown coloured body with a thin tan head atop the beer and as you tilt the glass to the sides, you see a faint ruby tint. Aroma of alcohol, sherry, port, roasted malt, bitter chocolate and some nice Michigan cherries. Medium to Full-bodied; Tang of cherries up front fading quickly into a strong malty finish complete with the bitter qualities of roasted malt and chocolate & coffee. Aftertaste shows the bitterness with a bit of the cherry fruityness throughout. Overall, a decent beer - not as strong in the cherry flavour as I had hoped for, but all-in-all a good beer. I sampled this twelve ounce bottle purchased from Merchant’s in Dearborn, Michigan on 29-October-2005 on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.

Pours a dark chocolate brown. A very little tan lacing. Aroma of coffee, chocolate and cherries. Flavor is a bit tart and sweet with undertones of cherries and coffee. Expected a thicker body but it was pretty light.

12 oz bottle. Pours black with nearly no head, whats there is tan. Aroma of coffee, cherries and alcohol. Initial flavor is sweet cherries, followed by tartness that continues long after the beer is off the palate. Cherry throughout, no other flavors really show up. Light to medium body, no carbonation, no lacing. Not very drinkable and wouldn’t get it again. Luckily there are more Bells selections in my fridge tonight.

Bottle courtesy of ketchepillar - pre batch 8000, not sure of the #. Thanks Sam. Aroma is mildly dry with a touch of espresso and a backside of faint cherry. Flavor is chocolate up front with a lingering dry bitter coffee fighting to shine in front of a superficial cherry tone. Bit soda like in the cherry character and a thin to medium mouthfeel. This seems a bit confused. It’s interesting, but I don’t think it really works well for me.