Bells Expedition Stout

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

Bottle from batch number 8944 at Mellow Mushroom. Black pour with a medium light brown head. Malty coffee nose with touches of alcohol, chocolate and dark fruit. Boozy malt flavor up front, giving way to chocolate and dark fruit with a dry and creamy coffee finish. Sublime.

Pitch black pour, clear amounts of lacing. Small head with a dark tan color. Aroma is slightly musty; it definitely has an aged feeling to it. This is quite thick and coats the tongue. Decent flavor with a nice roasted taste. Finish is alittle rough, it’s bitter and roasted. I had higher hopes for this beer.

Incredibly thick, dark pour. Butterscotch, licorice, and hazelnut aroma. Dark chocolate, brown sugar, molasses, dark roasted coffee, bourbon, and, of course, black licorice. An impeccably balanced, flawless beer. I find myself returning to it again and again.

Pours black with a nice half inch of brown head. Very appealing and ominous in appearance. Strong complex aroma that smells like creamy caramel, coffee, dark chocolate, hops, dark fruit, alcohol, and roasted malts. Unbelievable. I could sniff this all day. The taste is so strong and complex. It’s sweet, but also bitter. More specifically I taste plenty of bitter hops, wood, dark chocolate, coffee. The bitter, woody finish lingers on the tongue for nearly a minute. Mouth feel is rich and sticky. This is so creamy with light to medium carbonation. There is a slight alcohol burn on the way down. This is an outstanding beer. This is craziest imperial stout I’ve had to date. This will take me at least and hour to finish. Not for the weak.

Nice chocolate head. A nice viscous beer. Very good looking beer. Had the opportunity to try this a year ago, but did not accept the offer. Very pungnet wood, chocolate, coffee, and ash aroma. Not hard to smell this one. Wow, that is a thick beer! Nice deep wood, hoppy, and sweet flavor. This beer is extremely complex. Not overrated at all! Slight alcohol taste, but a very complex roast flavor that I love. This beer has a nice bittering hop at the end. Purchased at Bruisin Ales in North Carolina. This beer just has a nice complex flavor that develops after you have finished drinking it. Overall, awesome imperial stout, that I will probably age if I get this one.

I have had this beer many years ago. Welcome back to Illinois Bells! Pours a deep dark black with a brown head. Notes of roasted malts, sweetness, and alcohol. First sip tastes sweet, slight alcohol. You think the flavor is gone then the aftertaste kicks in. That aftertaste seems to linger forever. A good thing. This is a beer to enjoy over a period of time. I bought a 6-er with the thought of cellering a few. Patience usually losses out to desire to enjoy again. One of many beers that makes Michigan brewers well recognized in the beer world.

A delicious stout. Not too hoppy for the strength. I tasted a lot of flavoring hops that didn’t impart too much bitterness. This tasted better with every sip. This was bottle conditioned, it appears, as there is a lining of yeast in the bottom of the bottle. I would like to buy a few for saving to see how they age.

Pours thick and viscous. Deep black with almost no head. Complex aroma is chocolate with figs, raisins, coffee and alcohol. Flavor is very chocolatey with little fruitiness. The alcohol is apparent in the flavor though the beer is not hot. Probably could have used some age.