Bells Rye Stout

Brewed by Bells Brewery
Style: Stout
Kalamazoo, Michigan USA

Batch 7235. Opaque brown with small head. Aroma of bitter chocolate and earth. Dry taste. Medium-heavy body. Dry finish.

Hazy dark brown color - almost no head at all. Aroma of roasted coffee, hints of rye bread and raisins. Flavor is roasty and slightly sweet, notes of rye, roasted nuts, caramel and a bit of sweetness. Very little bitterness. Dry, clean and slightly resiny finish

Very dark brown pour with a substantial and steady brown head. Lacing nonexistent. Aroma is nutty malts, coffee and toffee, spicy rye, peppery with bittersweet chocolate and mild earthy hops. Flavor is somewhat spicy and dissimilar to the aroma. Noted are heavy doses of rye and caramel, along with mild chocolate, some citrus fruit and buttery malts. Palate is full and unbalanced, spiciness intruding upon the pleasantries. Finishes aggressive and salty/spicy, short-lived as well. This has an underlying flavor that is nice, but confusing. I usually associate the addition of rye to a beer with producing a creamier mouthfeel and I’m just not getting that here as much as I’d like. My least favorite of many Bell’s stouts sampled.

Thanks to JPDipso for the spur of the moment trade at the checkout line of the liquor store. Pours an impregnable black color, a small ring of foam lines the top of the beer. Not alot of aroma on this one bits of chocolate, spicyness from the rye, my brother says some hazlenut. Good balanced flavor, some roast and the rye combine nicely. The finsh is somewhat lacking. I would like a bit more chocolate/coffee flavor but thats just me. Good brew.

Bottle. Batch 7235. Pours respectable stout color with a thin eggshell brown head. Smell is yeasty at first (bottle-conditioned), then turns into cocoa-coffee stout smell. Rye gave it a passing rememberance of wheat malt smell. Taste is a bit odd to start, still a touch of yeast. The foam at the top somehow has the oily texture of Expedition. Then some stout sourness, and finally the spicy twist from the rye. Perhaps a hint of licorice. Interesting to find complex texture in a beer, not just complex taste. Seems to be the basic English hop profile, amped up just a wee bit. Alcohol seems cooling rather than warming. Thanks to Bell’s "Bootlegger’s Special" for us deprived Illinoisians driving to Kzoo for my chance to try this.

04 Bottle. Poured an opaque black body with a brown foam that disappears quickly. Doughy aroma with roasted malts present. Flavor is rye and roasted malts, dark chocolate, and a slightly sour finish. Aftertaste is subtle but quite nice. A very interesting and enjoyable stout.

An interesting brew as it pours brownish black with minimal head given off on the pour. I detect a different taste to this one with a metallic aftertaste. I really don’t know how to describe but it was a nice change of pace.

Rather underwhelming. This beer pours a stoutlike brown. No shit eh? The smell is like corroded batteries, white pepper, and an ashtray. There’s a little hop bitterness as well. The taste is sour and metalic. Rather boring beer. It’s really watery, and I cant get past the smell. Battlekow says I’m wrong and that this beer is Awesome. Piss on that.