Bells Best Brown Ale

Brewed by Bells Brewery
Style: Brown Ale
Kalamazoo, Michigan USA

Serve in Dimpled mug, Shaker

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suprised to see such a high rating. could have been an older bottle that I had- didn’t seem to have much life left. Pours a translucent brown with a thin white quickly disappating head. taste is malt with some interest on the finish with a hit of hops- website says "generous use of hops" but does not list actual ibu’s. the light color sort of threw me off- expected there to be a bit more to it. does make sense of the commercial description though- could pair with a cool fall evening or work on a warm summer evening. definitely not heavy, just not quite enough to it. maybe a bit wimpy?

One of the better brown ales I have had, has the malt, but also the hop, perfectly balanced IMO. Great from start to finish.

12oz bottle. Pours a hazy chestnut brown color with a light tan head. Aroma of toasted malt, carmel, nuts, and chocolate. Taste follows the nose. Malt forward, nutty, hints of chocolate, with a slight mild hop bitterness.

UPDATED: APR 22, 2013 Dark Hazy Red with a 2 finger head. Smell has notes of caramel, floral hops, roasted malts and chocolate. The flavor has some mild caramel, rum raisin, chocolate and roasted malt notes. Body is moderate yet thick and the carbonation is somewhat mild as well. It’s a unique beer but it could use some more flavor.

Pours ambr with a beige head. Can catch both a mild sweetness and bitterness in the nose, which continues into the mouth and the swallow. Pretty consistent and smooth with a pleasant crisp finish. I like Brown ales and this is a nice one.

Pours brown with thick tan head that dissipates quickly and some lace. Aroma is roast malts. Taste roast malt, light cocoa, some bitterness, nutty medium body, sticky finish

This is one of the better brown ales I have had. I guess the name is pretty fitting. Reddish brown pour. Full head. Nutty aroma. Slight bitterness in the finish. Good all around.

They call it best brown ale for a reason. Well balanced hop and malt characters provide a very drinkable brown ale. Pours brown with small head, diminishing. Slight tastes of chocolate and caramel finished with nice hop flavour.

NIce and well brewed. Somewhat watery. But nutty in aroma and very brown alike taste too.

I poured a 12oz bottle into a nonic pint glass. It was bottled on 9/13/12 making it six months and 16 days old when I drank it.

Appearance: Beautiful mahogany/chestnut hue. Translucent with visible sediment suspended. Forms a huge, beige, fluffy head which is slow to dissipate and leaves plenty of lacing on the glass.

Smell: A mild, muted nose with light malty sweetness but not distinct ingredients or aromas.

Taste: Once again you’ll have to take this review with a grain of salt as it’s based on a bottle that was pretty old at the time. However, much like the Amber Ale, I can tell Bell’s Best Brown Ale is a pretty solid beer on the core. Of course, simply being "solid" doesn’t equal high quality, in fact a more cynical synonym would be "passable." That’s definitely accurate here, though. This is a drinkable beer that conforms to the brown ale style nicely, but no more.

Trying to describe to the taste of the palate is a bit of a challenge. The brewery suggest notes of caramel and cocoa, but these are mostly afterthoughts. It’s probably best described as mildly sweet with just the faintest hint of confectionery flavors that emerge strongly right on the finish. Not much in the way of hops or bitterness, though there is some tang to the palate (I’ll chalk that up to the bottle’s age, though). No repulsive qualities, which is good, though trying to appreciate what’s here is challenging but not impossible. I’d imagine a fresh serving would be pretty amazing.

Drinkability: A lot of people consider brown ales to be acquired tastes, which I’ve never understood because it’s one of the most drinker-friendly styles I can think of. Bell’s Best Brown Ale is very comfortable in the mouth with a soft, smooth texture that’s not too thick and definitely not thin and fizzy. It goes down smoothly and has a mostly neutral aftertaste. It doesn’t seem to take full advantage of its 5.8% ABV weight, though, but at least it’s not overboard in any way. A versatile brew I’m sure, but good enough to enjoy on its own merits.