Bells Kalamazoo Stout

Brewed by Bells Brewery
Style: Stout
Kalamazoo, Michigan USA

12oz. brown bottle with no date, poured into a pint glass. This beer is like squid ink, black without any light penetration. A thick, fluffy, chocolate milk head leaves a heavy lacing behind. A very mild beer on the nose. Chocolate malt and currants are most distinguishable. As I drank, I began to pickup a smoky backdrop the deeper my nose got into the glass. The currant sweetness fades quickly to leave a long roasted coffee bean aftertaste that just sticks to the back of the throat. A tad bit too long for me. It’s a heavy, creamy, medium carbonated stout. Great balance. This is a definite sipper that grew on me. I decided to hold off on tasting notes until I had a second later in the week. The aftertaste is a bit much, but the subtle nose and delicate palate made up ground for me. This would probably pair well with sweet desserts to help cut that bitter closing.

Bottled. Oil black, opaque colour. Tan film on top. Nice aroma of sweet honey combined with roasted malt and chocolate. Flavour was more coffee plus licorice and gentle smoke. Great stout.

Nice black pour with a tan head. Looks kinda like coke, but thicker, thought not quite as thick as the Expedition stout. Really strong aroma of coffee and malt. I can smell it from a few feet away, Real nice stout flavor. Bitter and slightly sour. Hints of coffee and chocolate. Slight alcohol aftertaste. Quite good.

Bottle. Pours an opaque black with a 2 finger creamy thick tan head that dissipates quickly but leaves nice lacing. Nose is cocoa and coffee. Palate is dark chocolate, coffee and cocoa. Creamy mouthfeel. A nice easy drinker – quality stout.

12 oz bottle (Batch 8007)

For some reason it took me a long time to get around to cracking this open. I regret doing so. While it is not quite on par with Expedition this is still a world class stout that deserves all the accolades heaped upon it. It might be interesting to take a bottle of each, age them equally and see how they change. The results couldn’t be that disappointing unless one does a poor job of cellaring.

Aroma / Appearance - The temporary head was the color of freshly fallen walnut shells. The body could have been mistaken for Expedition, being equally dark in color. The scent of coffee, smoke, licorice and nuttiness stand out most. There are other active smells as well which combine to form a very dense and complex experience.

Flavor / Palate - Anise/licorice, black coffee and slightly dry plain cake form the basis of the first sip. The experience is very consistant. It wraps up with the same black licorice taste. For a regular stout this is an excellent world class release. I can definitely see myself returning to this one in the future.

Pours very dark brown almost black. Not a whole lot going on in the nose. Very dark malt, molasses and bitter chocolate in the taste. A little thin, but smooth in taste. Decent beer, but there is not much that can hang with the Expo. I’ll stick with it.

Bottle. Dark beer, with the slightest hint of a ruby ede, tan head, some lacing. Aroma is very malty, milk, coffee, caramel, chocolate. Flavor is similar, creamy, but roasty, nutty, caramel, and chocolate, coffee; I can even taste some molasses. Aftertaste is still roasty, with good bitterness from the roasted malts. I don’t taste the licorice, but that’s probably a good thing.

Poured from a 12oz bottle (Batch 8237) and served in an English pint glass. This stout poured an extremely dark brown with a one-finger thick head of dark tan foam that quickly settled down to a thin layer that lasted throughout the entire glass. A fair amount of spotty lacing was left behind. The aroma of the beer was made up of rich milk chocolate, freshly ground coffee, roasted malts, and a hint of dark fruit. The flavor consisted of cold coffee, bittersweet chocolate, a touch of burnt malt, and some mild molasses. The mouthfeel was full-bodied and creamy smooth with light carbonation. A really clean and flavorful stout. Kalamazoo Stout makes regular appearances in my fridge.