Bells Rye Stout

Brewed by Bells Brewery
Style: Stout
Kalamazoo, Michigan USA

Black pour that allows a bit of light through at the bottom with a quality brown head. Roast is detected in the nose before I bring it up close. Fruit aroma is under that roast, smells like a roasted plum or somesuch. An interesting one. It finishes dry with a waxy mouthfeel. The flavor is hard to nail down toast, roasted bitterness that isn’t coffee, it’s not nutty but it is a bit wood like, a taste like a softwood smells when it is cut with a dull blade and the friction burns it a bit. A light milkiness to it also. Ap-4 ar-6 tas-6 pal-3 ov-13

Pours a deep, dark, burgundy/brown with a fluffy tan head that collapses quickly. Bitter aroma with prominent rye above well-roasted malts and burnt coffee. Thinly syruped mouthfeel carries a bittersweet flavor. Light carbonation adds a lift to the seriousness of the bitter character. Worth further investigation.

<font size=-4>Purchased at <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowPlace.asp? Liquors, Chicago, IL 60638<font size=-1>

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

Chocolatey, Rye bread nose from a deep dark brown beer with a big frothy head. First sip is creamy and sweet. Some coffee notes and noticeable dryness from the higher alcohol content. The dry finish is then aided by some bitterness and more rye flavor, giving this stout a very quick taste. Just a dash of sweetness before a rush of dryness. A wonderful after-dinner stout!

Bottle, batch 7235. Pours a deep brown, almost black with a ring of tan head. Aroma of strong coffee, and a little chocolate. Taste is roasted malts, coffee, small amount of alcohol, with the dark chocolate taking the back seat. Some smokiness also noted. Creamy mouthfeel. Dry finish. Not their best, but still good.

Pretty tasty stout here. Very distinctly Bell’s.......has similar malt character to Kalamazoo.

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.

Original 12 oz. Bottle at the Michigan House - Calumet, MI. I sit down at the bar, with the coolers of beer on the floor, beneath the counter in front of me and immeadiately I spot the ghostly label of this bottle. I’m blown away that this is still available. Pours a pitch black with a rime of whitish. A little salt and sea aroma, with a rich burst of cream and mellowed hops in alcohol. Some root beer and brandy shine through, with a hint of flowers. Flavor starts as a static salt and roasted coffee, quite watery, but then as the beer moves across the tounge and warms, it explodes into a fury of unencumbered chocolate and fresh ground espresso. Heavily depressed dark chocolate beans erupt into a glowing mouthful of rich notes mingling with light warming alcohols and gentle aged fruit notes. Pretty incredible profile for a beer that’s been sitting at a bar for a few years. Finishes fantastically with fresh coffee and toast. Palate is sweet, but peculiar. It starts like salt water, but then morphs into this hard-to-describe panacea of textures with some oily coating properties and a hint of dryness. Leaves the palate feeling refreshed, but also wanting and tasting more. Re-rate On tap at the Michigan House - Calumet, MI I’ve now had the fresh batch on. More sweetness and caramel, with a dusky and light must fruit and grain, with a touch of woody leather on the tongue. Toothy grain. Some creamy bourben notes., with a different edge. Rye really adds a nice level of complexity.