Bells Rye Stout

Brewed by Bells Brewery
Style: Stout
Kalamazoo, Michigan USA

Sampled from 12-oz bottle and shared by Bobby91w and Bulldogp04 during Surly D-Day. Pours a clear dark copper amber brew with a fast dissolving off-white head that dissipates to a thin off-white ring. Aroma of a dry and powdery multi-grain malt with rye character, a touch of vanilla and some milk chocolate. Taste is actually quite smooth for a three-year old bottle with some powdery malt texture and flavors of milk chocolate, rye, and a light biscuit. Finish is slightly metallic with a mild rye and chocolate aftertaste. Surprisingly not too bad for a alternative malt stout.

Pours dark brown with almost no head. Aroma is somewhat sweet with notes of rye and dark malts. Initially some rye grains up front with light roasted and sweet dark malts following. Smooth with medium carbonation and a nice body. Well made but did not do much for me in terms of breaking any groud.

A deep dark brown stout with ruby hues, and big floaties, with a thin creamy moka head. A strange concoction of coffee, metallic notes, and potted meat. In mouth, a restrained sweet chocolate, with light bitter notes, a bit buttery. Medium bodied. Tasted Dec. 2006.

Bottle; batch 7235. Poured black with a thin tan head. Nice mocha aroma with a light rye background. The flavor is an enjoyable coffee and milk chocolate mix with hints of spices. Full body, smooth but dry. Sweet throughout with a mocha aftertaste. Nice!

Batch 7235, February 2006; Sampled August 2008
Quite the viscous appearing brew, it definitely pours with a certain thickness to it. I easily rouse a full three fingers of a light brown colored head that fills my 25cl tulip glass to the top. The beer is a deep, almost black, concentrated brown color that shows just a hint of light in its depth when held up directly to the light. The aroma has quite a bit of spicy grain character to it, though this is not the most prominent note. Instead a nice, mellow roasted character is most notable; aromas of dark chocolate, toasted whole grain bread, smooth espresso, an earthy burnt note. A touch of fruitiness (almost a bit of prune juice) and a sweet malt note are just noticed in the nose towards the finish. While the aroma is mellow, smooth and well integrated, I would never have guessed this was two years old from the nose.

A fullness to the body does not keep this beer from having a quaffable character; this definitely has a viscous rye character to it though. A smooth roast character delivers flavors of roasted prunes, blackened raisins and a rich, deep, darkly toasted grain character that comes off with quite a bit of a biscuit / cracker character. Up front, there is a nice cocoa quality to this beer that doesn’t quite become lush chocolate flavors before a touch of roasted grain acidity kicks in. This last is quite light and the acidity actually helps to counter-balance the viscous body of this brew. This really has a nice fruitiness to it as it warms up and it definitely reminds me of a dark, sweet dried fruit (like those mentioned previously plus some fig). A significant nutty note (almost toasted hazelnut really) is in the finish and adds quite a bit of another dimension to this brew. This nutty note is likely a touch of oxidation showing through, but it adds a really nice touch here.

This has held up quite well and I am quite enjoying the cocoa notes and the bright, concentrated fruit flavors that are offset by the smooth roast character.

Thanks to my 2007 Secret Santa for this. Batch 7235. Black, with a bubbly head. Initially hoppy/ rye nose, then mostly toast. Roasted malt, chocolate and rye. Very interesting

12oz bottle, batch 72xx, flavors have faded a bit, rye still smooths out the beer, but the in your face coffee,roasty flavors are subdued greatly, not bad by any stretch, nice easy sipping even on a hotter midsummer night.

Bottle given to me from Robert. Not what I was expecting.. But suprisely good. Dark in color, no head. Aroma that I cant put my finger on. Taste is sweet and smooth. Rye, chocolate, small amount of coffee, roasted malt, but has a nicy spiceyness that suits it well. Texture is a little thin for a stout. Hats off to the brewers at Bells for trying something unique. Good beer! Thanks robert!