Bells Expedition Stout

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

12oz bottle. a completely black beer under a medium sized, cream brown head. aroma is a bit vinous with a good dose of alcohol. flavor has notes of burnt, smokey malts, toast, caramel, lots of chocolate chip cookies. alcohol is not evident in the flavor like it is in aroma. creamy body and full. heavy stuff. flavorwise, one of the smoothest, balanced, and best tasting imp stouts i can think of.

Pours like liquified tar w/a tan, halo-ed head from the 12oz. bottle: Full bodied with a thick consistency. And thoroughly smooth in the mouthfeel. Roasted, sweet malts, burnt coffee, licorice, cherry, oatmeal, bitter chocolate, the slightest of hops, and definitely soy sauce!. Warming alcohol finishes. Drinkability: Sweet malted and thick. Rebuy: Yeah. #236 on 03122009 (the day we found out T. Woods officially cheated), DG.

12 oz bottle, aged courtesy of BeerandIT. This beer pours a very dark color with a finger of tan head. Aroma and taste have some significant notes of dark fruit, which has come out a lot more since its been aged. This creates some very strong sweetness from the fig and raisin flavors. There are also some significant notes of dark chocolate which permeate this beer, and keep it from being overly sweet. Caramel malts also add to the sweetness. Though the body is only medium and not as full as many other imerial stouts, this beer ages wonderfully.

Pours black as night with a medium brown head. Syrupy almost. Chocolate malts aroma aplenty. Taste is an aural bombardment. Every taste bud in your mouth is in overload. Sweet malts open the way for a blast of bitter hops to an almost smokey soy sauce and booze finish. This beer was a little piece of Michigan I could bring back with me to Massachusetts.

This is the only beer that I buy to cellar in case quantities, so don’t expect anything even slightly negative in this review. This is an 8845 opened at almost exactly two years. It pours an opaque black with a thick, dark brown head. The initial nose is liquorice with a bit of alcohol. The flavor is initially liquoirce with roasted malts following quickly and then dark chocolate. The alcohol is not evident other than as it warms on the way down, and, in my experience it will disappear in the nose in another year or two. Half way into the snifter and this brew is still releasing carbonation and bringing more aroma to the drink. The palate is smooth with a little hops bite. The finish is a lingering alternating roasty bitterness and something bordering on sweetness, but not quite. This is a beer that it is difficult not to drink too many of.

12 oz bottle, pours a dark opaque color with minimal dark brown head, looks like cola. Very little lacing on the side of the glass. Aroma is sweet and alcoholic, most noticeably chocolate, oatmeal, and a little raisin. Very fresh as well. Taste is bitter and sweet and well balanced. Body is very full and sits well on the palate. Really does a good job of hiding the high alcohol content- excellent beer indeed.

Bottled pitch black with a chocolate brown/tan head. Aroma is coffee, chocolate, smoke, and burnt caramels. Also some hop floral notes add unique nose. The flavor is beautiful...smoked burnt coffee, chocolate with a little sourness and light sweetness that prevails at the end with a note of coffee also. Maybe lightly sour (odd) but otherwise a totally awesome brew... answers a lot of questions other stouts cannot.

Batch 8944 (vintage 2008?). 12oz bottle pours thick oily black, but very little dark tan head. Caramel and chocolate in aroma, some hints of pitted fruit (cherries, prune). Rich, sweet up front, a bit boozy, then a long drawn out chocolate finish. Quite bitter, but balanced. Pretty well carbonated, quite thick and oily and the alcohol and carb leave a bit of stinging on the tongue. Much better with some warming.