Bells Expedition Stout

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

Well, I had to get around to rating it sooner or later. The beer pours a beautiful deep black color with a nice big darker tan almost reddish brown head. The beer leaves a little lace on the glass but really it leaves more "sheets" than anything. The aroma is dark chocolate, plenty of floral hops, some toast, some raisins, plenty of earthy and woody notes, there is some ash and some licorice in there as well. The flavor is woody, like new wood. I wouldn’t have been surprised if I found out that this was aged in wood. The beer is very bitter with lots of fruity hop notes and is all around insanely roasty. All of this is comprised of or complimented by flavors of chocolate, licorice, burnt toast, and raw coco. A few things strike me as special and unique about this beer first off it seems to be balanced, but not between bitter and sweet flavors as there isn’t a lot of sweetness here, but there is a lot of fruitiness seemingly from the hops, which is kind of wild because this seems to balance the bitterness both from the roasty malt and the copious hop content. The palate is full and big without being syrupy, this beer is a kind of feat. I don’t mind syrupy or sweet imperial stouts but this is clearly better than almost if not every single one of those.

A - Nice think black color with a small head of foam that fades quickly. Not a lot of lacing. Lots of yeast sediment in the bottom of the pour. S - Roasted malts and chocolate at first sniff. As beer warms starts to smell like playdough, very odd. T - Dark malts, slight rum flavor, chocolate, not a lot of dark fruit flavors. A sharp bitterness on the finish from the amount of yeast in the pour. M - Nice thick/slick mouthfeel. Not too carbonated (how I like my big stouts). D - Given the sharp bitterness, this one is not real pleasant to drink. Certainly not meant to be a sessionable beer, but the sharp bitter flavor really takes away from the overall experience and is hard for the beer to show any complexity with such a dominating force to compete with.

i was excited as hell to try this. i dunno if my palette is a little off today or what but this thing is just giving off way too much alcohol for me. i love imperial stouts, but this one reminds me of the the breakfast stout i drank last night with a shot of booze mixed in.. it does look pretty in the glass, and has some nice hoppy notes, but the drinkability on this one of very poor for me tonight.

batch 7740. deep chocolate brown body, minimal head, considerable legs, oily, thick and viscous. nose is bright chocolate coated chestnuts, fudge-like cake and inky black patent malt. hops are mild but noticeable, but what drives the nose is the dense german chocolate cake and fudge notes - exquisite. tangy ink and zesty chile-infused chocolate in the approach. chewy fudge and cake across the back. coats the mouth with a dense and decadent chocolate syrup note. never tries to do too much, alcohol is mild, sugar level is moderate, the malt drives this one completely. creamy and chewy in a long-lasting finish. one of the best imperial stouts in the world.

Jet black hole pour with nice tan vanishing head. Motor oil anyone? Nice roasty malty scent. Taste is wonderful, coffee chocolate caramel....with a sharp finish. Good stuff. Year round please.

Bottle. Awesome beer. Thick rising frothy tan head over dark dark dark body. Aroma of dark roast with a sweet fruity note, very pungent. Taste of sweet malts, coffee, and a liquorish sweetness/bitterness. Heavy flavor that stays on the taste buds a long time. Low carbonation, very thick and creamy. One of the best from Bell’s I’ve had.

12 oz bottle. pour was all black, with very little brown head. Dark chocolate and coffee dominate the flavors. More sweet than expected with soy sauce, but it seems to make the flavor even stronger. The alcohol is very well hidden.

12-oz bottle. Coffee, soy sauce, prune aroma. Black color with dark, one-finger head that dissipated quickly. Sweet and heavy but dark chocolate finishing notes keep the sweetness at bay. Thick and chewy on the palate. Good carbonation keeps the beer alive in your mouth despite its heaviness. Long finish. A very big beer.