Bells Rye Stout

Brewed by Bells Brewery
Style: Stout
Kalamazoo, Michigan USA

Black with brown edges. Small, tan head settles completely. Nose and taste of burnt, roasty, grainy malt, coffee beans, and cocoa powder. Mocha aftertaste. Medium/full, balanced body. Great dry, roasty stout.

Draft @ Bell’s Eccentric Cafe: Black with a tan head. Light roasty aroma with chocolate notes and a mild tartness. Roasty sweet malt flavor. More chocolate. Medium bodied. I will have to compare this to my bottle and original release bottle.

A bold experiment by Bells, but falls a little short of what I have come to expect from them, especially their stouts. This one is way to thin, and far to spicy for my palate. If it was not called a Stout, I may not have held it up to such high standards and been so disappointed. Smoked Rye Ale might be a more appropriate name.

I kind of expected this one to be lighter in colour, but it poured a brown so dark I couldn’t catch any light through the glass. There was a fizzy soda like head that gave way to nothing but a glass like reflective almost black pool in my glass. Some kind of roast aroma, not coffee like, but what I would guess is the rye. There is a sense of light breadyness while sniffing around also. Interesting flavour that wasn’t all that stout like, I felt. Definate note of spice, with a bias of rye flavours, again kind of like bread, maybe some rye toast. Thie body was a bit thin. I’ve been trying to get some of this for a while, and I must say I’m a bit dissapointed. The flavours are diverse, but uninteresting and it lacks the body and aroma I’ve come to love in stouts.

There is a light roasted aroma with some chocolate and fruit. The pour is a deep black but, the head was virtually nonexistent. The taste is lightly roasted with a smoothness to the finish.

12oz bottle-This is one of the bells stouts that i have been dying to try for years now. Finally, this beer arrived in the St Louis area. dark brown with a small very tight kacki head. chocolate, hazelnut, burnt malt (black patent) and some spicy caracter akin to dark pumpernickel bread, chocolate, light char, anise dominate the flavors. body is a little on the light side, but the flavors are well distributed. Could be a porter to alot of people, at least body and appearance wise. finish is chocolate and light roast. I definately like it, but from what people have told me, its not as good as when it was produced 4-5 years ago.

12 oz bottle, 2006 release, via MikeMac. Very dark brown pour, almost black, with a minimal fizzy light brown head that disappeared instantly. Light sediment in bottle. Aroma has a pronounced rye character with a backdrop of anise, coffee, and black patant malt. Very much like a fresh baked loaf of rye bread. Flavor is balanced between the rye and burnt malt aspects. The rye really takes center stage though. Finish is coffee and burnt rye toast. Mouthfeel is fairly thin with a little too much carbonation, which I find unusual for Bells because I normally love their mouthfeel. A very interesting beer, very prominant rye flavor. Not sure why I like rye beers so much when I hate rye bread.

Pours deep black with a large building ddark tan head. The aroma is full; malty and rye with a dry character. It is a very nice and distinct aroma profile. There is quite a bit of sweetness from the malt. Creamy and full, a pincy of a sharp rye. Definately a bready malt flavor, very clean and with a bit of a clean chocolate and chalky finish.