Bells Expedition Stout

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

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.

Pours thick and black with a very thin, brown head. Aroma is rich in chocolate, dark fruits (prune, fig and raisin) with a nice roasted dark malt undertone as well as a good dose of alcohol. Flavor of the beer starts off with the sweet prune fruitiness and moves into a very well rounded roasted malt character - chocolate with a slight coffee flavor. Beers ends in a very unique flavor in my mouth for some reason, a tuna fish sandwich flavor. The beer feels very full and oily in your mouth with very fine carbonation, a dry finish and an alcohol presence to melt with the roasted notes that carry on after the drinking. Overall a very good beer and one I look forward to aging a bit in the cellar to see how the flavors meld even more.

Bottle shared with mgermani, pours blacker than the night itself with a lovely rich brown head and lacing. Nose is a festival of chocolate, roast, malt, biscuit and molasses with herbal notes at the end. Flavour develops chocolate and resinous alcohol and dries out on the long finish exposing a nice bittering hop profile. Mouthfeel is extraordinarily creamy and rich. Holy sweet mother of pearl.

Pours a motor oil black with a thick brown head... Nose is rich with fig, molasses and chocolatey malt. Taste is like dessert in a glass - chocolate, licorice, coffee, and malts with the alcohol hiding in the background ready to come out and kick your ass if you don’t pay attention. Raisins come through for me in the after-taste. Nice thick mouthfeel with decent carbonation but not overwhelming. Overall, an awesome brew. I’ll have to pick up some more to store for a while to be enjoyed at a later date to be determined....

I’m very surprised to see the high ABV on this and not taste it. A wonderful mix of coffee, licorice, chocolate taste to mention a few, with a perfect blend of malts. This isn’t a beer its a soup and I agree with all the high ratings. Almost a shame that it has such a high ABV because i would like another but am sure I’d have to take a nap.