Bells Expedition Stout

Brewed by Bells Brewery
Style: Imperial Stout
Kalamazoo, Michigan USA

From a beer trade. Maybe I should stop my american beer quest. I’am always dissapointed in the end. It marks the cultural difference. Maybe european and americans do not look for the same thing in beer. This one is a banal stout for me.

12oz. Bottle from fall of 2007. This is the last of the first Expedition sixer I purchased from Bells. Color is black as pitch with zero head. Nose is fantastic like a rich chocolate dessert with some slightly roasted coffee notes around the edges. Flavor has a bit of everything and is what sets this beer apart from most. First taste is mildly sweet with strong chocolate malt flavor that is quickly followed by a strong dose of bittering hops and a dry, roasted and astringent coffee flavor. Some subtle tobacco, ash and vanilla lurking beneath the roasted malts. Texture is slick, creamy and utterly fantastic. Finish is long, relatively dry and roasty. This is one of those classics that if you don’t appreciate you may as well face the fact that you aren’t really into beer.

12 oz. bottle to snifter. Aroma strong soy chocolate and hints vanilla. Appearance is oil dark brown (black) with nice tan head and minimal lacing. Taste big dark bitter chocolate with hints of vanilla and soy. Palate full slick and dry finish. Overall solid and enjoy very much the taste keeps getting better as it sits.

I’ve never been a big fan of the Russian Imperial Stout style because I often find the intense potency tends to overwhelm the palette and makes it difficult to appreciate. Then along comes Bell’s Expedition Stout - a midwestern example that impressed me more than all other previous examples of the style put together. It’s got everything I look for in a great stout: smooth, creamy texture; prominent chocolate and deeply roasted barley notes and it’s quite drinkable.

APPEARANCE AND AROMA

I poured a 12oz bottle into a tulip glass. This beer has a body that could only be described as opaque jet black. Even the head is very dark brown. It’s creamy and surprisingly thick for an imperial brew. It lasts for the first few swigs, dies down, but regenerates easily with a quick swirl.

The aroma is more along the lines of a chocolate stout with bitter dark chocolate notes as well as a significant alcohol presence. It’s surprisingly mild for such a strong beer.

TASTE

I noticed three separate, but very noticeable, flavor components to Bell’s Expedition Stout. Up front the beer is thick, creamy, smooth and chocolaty. As it finishes there’s quite a bit of heat from the alcohol which is rather dry, but completely tolerable. The aftertaste is almost as strong as the mouthfeel itself with a strong flavor of deeply roasted, or even burnt malts along with dark chocolate. Now that’s what I consider a complex palette.

What I like about this beer is the fact there is no sour red grape taste and the fact the chocolate is more on the bitter side so as not to be overly sweet the way some straight-up chocolate stouts tend to be. The alcohol is probably a little more prominent than I’d prefer, but it actually seems to fade away as the beer warms (usually, the opposite is true of beers like this).

I just wish the roasted malts had been more pronounced, since it this flavor was very pleasing on the tongue in the aftertaste.

DRINKABILITY

What impressed me most about Bell’s Expedition Stout (relatively speaking) was the how creamy and smooth the beer felt in the mouth. As it first enters the mouth, it’s velvety like a nitrogen-charged session stout but without the watery body. It’s thick, but not sticky or heavy. It’s sweet, but not overly sweet like candy or a dessert beer. Even though alcohol is quite prominent on the finish it’s actually rather subdued compared to other beers of the style.

Weighing in at 10.5% ABV it’s not surprising how much heat is generated from the beer, but what is surprising is how hefty the beer is not. Sure, just one bottle gave me a noticeable buzz, but I didn’t feel as though I had a watermelon in my stomach the way some imperials make me feel.

FINAL THOUGHTS

While I wouldn’t consider Bell’s Expedition Stout among the best of the best, it’s quite an amazing beer for what it’s able to accomplish. It’s rare I’m able to get such enjoyable taste and true drinkability in a Russian imperial stout.

(note: this beer was sent to me from a friend in Michigan since it’s not yet distributed here in upstate New York. I’m not sure of the price, but I would say upwards of $15 for a 4-pack is a good value.)

NOTE: Watch the video version of this review at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsxB9FHMA_c

Fruity alcohol aroma, thin head (cask). Very bitter and sweet at the same time. Syrupy mouthfeel is countered with lots of hop "zing".

Rich and meaty stout! Has a wonderful, warm, harmonious marriage of coffee and chocolatey richness. This beer starts out with a hint of roasted coffee then smoothes out to a bit of sweetness. One of my favorite Bells beers! Also try Third Coast Old Ale!

Aroma has hints of chocolate and raisin. Pours black with very little if any head. A full bodied beer that has a creamy texture. Has a long finish. Overall, I enjoyed this beer from start to finish. It is what I would expect from a Bell’s product. I would recommend everyone try it at least once.

Batch 7205 pours black with no head. Aroma is rich dark malt, some dark fruit, and hints of chocolate. Flavor is sweet malts, chocolate, vanilla, light raisin, and light meaty notes. Very creamy mouthfeel with alcohol completely hidden.