Bells Rye Stout

Brewed by Bells Brewery
Style: Stout
Kalamazoo, Michigan USA

Pours dark brown with a brown head. Aroma is roasted malt and coffee. Flavor is rich malt, cocoa, coffee, spicy notes, and a bit of hop. Easy to drink, but not their best effort by a long shot.

Bottle. Poured a jet black color with a two finger tan head. Beer left a little lacing on the side of the glass as it went. Aroma wa coffee, chocolate, and roasted notes. Flavor was chocolate, nuts, coffee, and roasted malts. Very rich and complex beer. Another great beer from Bells.

On draft at RFD in D.C. Normally I am huge fan of Bell’s. A very solid brewery who rarely does something that I don’t like. Unfortunately I didn’t care for this one. It poured very dark brown with a tall, tan head and it left decent lacing. Off to a good start. It has a potent nose full of coffee, malt, rye, and licorice. The flavor closely follows the nose. After the first few sips, I feel like I’ve been eating licorice chews all day. Sweet and with lots of coffee, there is a lot going on here. The flavors all seem strong fighting each other for dominance instead of playing together nicely. That palate didn’t detract but it didn’t seem to help things out either. A valiant effort at something different, but not one I will be indulging in again.

Bottle from batch 9399. Pours a very dark brown almost black color with a small tan colored head of foam that settles quickly to a thin film of bubbles. The aroma shows notes of dry cocoa, caramel malt, some earthy roast, and fresh rye grains, This one really opens up once it has warmed up. The flavor follows with the dark cocoa and caramel malts, earthy roast, and fresh toasted rye grains. Some spicy hops add a nice bitterness on the finish. The ry and the cocoa really work together nicely. Medium bodied and smooth and a lengthy, dry cocoa and rye finish. This is a really nice and easy to drink stout.

Wow, after the DFH this was very good! Kinda a Storm King light. Anyway, looks good smells good and was easy to drink.

Had this in the bottle thanks to my pops. It poured a dark brown with small tan head. The aroma is a lot more coffee than I expected. This actually reminds me a lot of the java stout I had recently from Bells, although this was lacking balance as well. It comes as a surprise, as Bells makes 2 of the best stouts I’ve ever had. Oh well. Cheers!

12 oz. Opaque chocolate with a small ring of bubbles. Aroma is sharp rye, light cocoa and dust. Flavor is cocoa, rye and wood. Medium-heavy body is watery and fairly smooth.

12 oz. bottle from Ludlow Wines. Pours very dark brown, near black, with a tny tan head that fades immediately and leaves a thin ring around the edge. The aroma isn’t strong, but what’s there is mostly rye, with notes of coffee, roasted malts, nuts, chocolate, and figs. Flavor is roasty, not much different but certainly stronger than the aroma, with notes of rye, roasted malts, chocolate, molasses, nuts, smoke, and dark fruits. Medium bodied and smooth, with not enough carbonation to keep it from feeling flat on the palate. Light, roasty finish. Okay, but overrated- this brewery makes a lot better stouts.