Bells Harry Magills Spiced Stout

Formerly brewed at Bells Brewery
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Kalamazoo, Michigan USA

On tap at the Beer Sellar. Pours pitch black with tan head. Taste is a variety of spices with cinnamon seeming to dominate. Pretty smooth and slightly creamy, goes down very easy. Almost a tad watery at times, but the flavor is very respectable. The guy said the keg blew halfway through my pour, so don’t expect to find this, sorry. The tap handle dissapeared soon after....but the good thing is another Bell’s tap with replace it soon. This place generally has 10 rotating Bell’s. Anyway, the beer was good.

10/29/2009: Harry Magill’s Spiced Stout... Aroma: Wow, definitely spiced! Peppermint, ginger, nutmeg. Appearance: Nearly black, but not quite; no head or crown. Flavor: Dry and spicy, yet a bit sweet and malty; roasted malt, very high-quality coffee; hints of ginger, cinammon, allspice, mint; spice cake crust; roasty coffee/espresso and chocolate finish. Palate: Medium, extremely smooth and mellow. Overall: Wow, this beer has held up AMAZINGLY well; this beer is AWESOME! This is one great beer; I hope they bring it back!

12 fl. oz. bottle from hopdog. Thank you very much, Steve! I appreciate it. Rating #167 for this beer.

On tap at the Eccentric Cafe 7/6/09. Pours a black/dark brown with a cream colored head. Aromas are weak at first but as it warms, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice and some burnt malt show up. The flavor follows the nose, but other flavors seem to mingle the warmer it gets. Some lactose, cocoa, and some flowers. Carbonation is moderate to weak, but it goes well with the flavors. Theres some bitter in the aftertaste that doesnt quite go away. Not too bad.

On tap at Ashley’s. I was excited to try this, and I regret saying that I was disappointed. Poured a nice deep brown, amber color, but it didn’t have a great spiced taste. A little thin and watered down.

This beer still has a ton of life in it as evidenced by the massive khaki head that formed atop the thick brown beer. Boatloads of spice mingled with roasted malt on the nose. Mint, nutmeg, allspice, chocolate. Smells like an Andes Mint. Not exactly to my liking but pleasant nonetheless. Flavor has more dark, tart fruits than the aroma. Plenty of tart black cherries. Dark, bitter chocolate. Clove and nutmeg. A bit of coffee and astringent roasted malt toward the finish. The yeast pour at the bottom of the bottle mellowed out the spices and astringent malt and brought more of the tart fruit to the fore.

Overall... a very well done aged spiced stout. Much more spice on the nose than the palate. Not exactly my cup of tea, but this one has held up beautifully. Thanks a ton, again, Joe for the awesome cellared treat!

(Draught) Pours a murky brown body with small creamy beige head. Aroma of dark fruit, roasted malt, ginger, nutmeg, clove, and light anise. Flavor of roasted malt, molasses, cinnamon, and brown sugar.

On tap @ Maduro in the great city of Madison, WI. Thick, black, mild, slightly sweet, chocolatey, with a burnt finish and notes of cherry and butter. Yup, that’s Bells showing off its stout-spertise, once again. I don’t notice much in the way of spice, although there’s some licorice in there. I very much enjoyed this.