Bells Cherry Stout

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

Brown bottle, 355 ml, gift from Boutip, savoured on August 27 2007; eye: black, opaque, creamy cappuccino-style head, light lacing; nose: roasted malt, soya sauce, dark chocolate, slight fruitiness, big lactic puff of chocolate milk after swrirling the glass; mouth: first sip is destabilizing, lactic, soya sauce, roasted malt, light fruitiness, slight cherry, a bit of burnt is also present, finale is salty in soya sauce with a hint of bitterness, lightly sweet, slightly bitter, medium body, oily texture, not much carbonation, slight astringency; overall: special (extra points for being different) FRANÇAIS Bouteille brune, 355 ml, cadeau de Boutip, savourée le 27 août 2007; œil : noire, opaque, mousse crémeuse style cappuccino, légère dentelle; nez : malt torréfié, sauce soya, chocolat noir, très léger fruité, grosse pouffée lactique de lait au chocolat après avoir fait tourner dans le verre; bouche : première gorgée déstabilisante, lactique, sauce soya, malt caramélisé, léger fruité, très petit filet de cerise, un p’tit peu de brûlé se fait aussi sentir, finale en sauce soya et salée avec une pointe d’amertume, légèrement sucrée, très légèrement amère, corps moyen, texture huileuse, peu carbonatée, légère astringence; en résumé : spécial (points boni pour être différente)

Not sure how much I could drink of this in one sitting. Bottle in trade with Tipsy. Black beer. More dark malt than cherry in the aroma. The flavour is like two beers at the same time. A strong cherry flavour is carried through the teeth while a dark chocolate and coffee flavour digs into the taste buds. A bitter sweet finish.

12 oz Bottle - Pours a dark brown with slight red tint and tan bubbly head. Aroma is chocolate, malts, earth, coffee, and cherries. Taste is same - complex and interesting, but unbalanced. Might be better with aging .

12oz, WOW taken way aback by this one, this has aged fantastically, sweet cherry start then stout then tart cherrry finish, man o man was this good, very enjoyable.

Appearance: Deep, dark brown with a very slight red tint. Minimal reddish-brown head quickly dissipates. Smell: A hint of roasted malt at the beginning is quickly overwhelmed by sweet and tart cherry aromas. Taste: Malt presents mainly as cocoa, with a bit of coffee flavour. Sweet-tart cherry overlays the rest, but the flavour doesn’t feel integrated at all. Sweet with a sharply sour bite from the cherries. The finish is fairly pleasant, and sticks around for a while. Mouthfeel: A bit light for a stout, but a good level of carbonation. Drinkability: Persistently mediocre. Not bad, but not good either.

The sour malt aroma might be mistaken for an over-aged beer. However upon tasting, I discovered the sourness stems (no pun intended) from the Michigan sour cherries added. The flavor favors the cherries, which do not quite blend with the dark malts. The body belies the higher alcohol content. Overall an interesting experiment, but Kalamazoo Stout remains as my go-to beer.

Overbearing aftertaste of bitter cherry and dark dark dark roasted malts. Almost burnt malt. Nice hops, but this one took a long time to get through. It was almost a chore. Butter on a cold night than a hot summer night to be certain.

Rather dark black pour with a lasting tan/red head. Amazing chocolate and cherry aroma along with some vanilla. Full bodied, heavy carbonation. Cherries are strong upfront and into the middle, very tart and almost sour. Coffee towards the finish which was long and bitter. Very good but I don’t think I could have more than two.