Bells Java Stout

Brewed by Bells Brewery
Style: Stout
Kalamazoo, Michigan USA

12 oz bottle. Wow is this stuff good, way better then the Expedition in my eyes. Poured a viscous dark black with an inch of creamy light brown head, from a rather vigorous pour, into my Lucifer snifter. The head settled down to a small lacing that remained on the edges of my snifter the entire time. Aroma was awesome, Hersheys chocolate syrup, not straight from the bottle but the stuff that would remain on the bottom of your glass if you put to much in, coffee and upon warming some vanilla and even a sligh essence of wood. Flavor was fantastic lots of chocolate with hints of coffee. Mouthfeel was full but a little to astringent on the back of my throat where I wouldof liked it to be a little creamier for being only 7.5%. This is one fantastic beer however and I will grab some more of this next time I see some.

12oz bottle poured in a shaker. This beer is like a Rottweiler in a glass. It has a black body and a tan head. The head has small bubbles and leaves a nice lacing. It smells like coffee and vanilla. It’s a nice coffee stout with an agreeable flavor, chewy body and pleasant lingering finish. All in all I’d say this is a very nice beer. Why does this sound so weak? ..pleasant ..nice ..agreeable.. Because it’s a good solid beer that would make a great flagship beer or local favorite but not a beer that would stand up to the "big boys" that you can find with a little work. It’s the "girl next door" of beers. Like Nicole Kidman, it pretty for your home town but not anything to get excited about.

Wow. I don’t get the popularity of this beer. I love good coffee and I love good beer. Unfortunately, in my opinion, this beverage doesn’t possess the qualities of either. It pours a dark brown with a sizable, frothy, mocha head; pretty enough. The smell, however, is less pleasant. While roasted dark malts and tobacco sit in the background, the dominant aroma in this brew is wet, old coffee grounds. The mouthfeel is medium-bodied, creamy, slick and soft with a bitter coffee finish. Sweet roasted malts along with faint chocolate and cream front a god-awful coffee finish. The finish makes me think of what it must be like to suck on twice-used burnt coffee grounds. Dump the coffee portion of the brew and you’d have a very creamy and satisfying stout. With it, you have my least-favorite Bell’s offering.

Rated 12/31/06: Talk about deja-vu, I tweaked an oatmeal stout recipe last year and brewed up a coffe stout that was extremely similar to this one. Choked down about half the batch and ended up dumping the rest, just too many coffee beans used. This one is much smoother and tastier, but still not to my expected liking. Aroma is intriguing, lots of ground coffee bean to the nose but with a decent amount of dark malt to make it enjoyable. Dark pour, head soon diminishes, and no lacing very sub-par for a stout. Thin mouthfeel even a touch watery, happens more often than I allow myself to admit w/ Bell’s beers. Flavor is a solid blend of dark and roated malt with a ton of coffee, again just too much focus on the bean it really detracts from the decency of a good stout. I applaud the effort but not something I’d spend my cash on again.

Courtesy bdigi66. Pours a very dark brown, with a small white head. Big coffee roasty smell as expected. Some chocolate as well. Very creamy. The taste has big coffee roast, some dark chocolate, and dark malts as well. The taste seems to be a little too much coffee, and not much else going on. A little bit bitter in the finish and the aftertaste because of this. Maybe needs a little more body.

This beer exhibited a very nice dry-roasted aroma, like nice coffee. Flavor is also very pleasantly coffee-ish with a bit of sweetness and a dry mouthfeel. I thought this beer was very drinkable and delicious. This beer is a beer that is highly sessionable, yet offers up a serious amount of dry roasted coffee-ness. Highly recommended.

Quality stout in all respects---but I don’t smell or taste anything but coffee! It overshadows everything else. Really black color.

Pours an opaque black with a brown head. Aroma is dominated by coffee, and roasted malts. Flavor is roasted malts, coffee, slight ash flavor. Pretty good coffee stout.