Bells Best Brown Ale

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

Serve in Dimpled mug, Shaker

send corrections   |   shelftag   |   edit barcodes   |   update pic

Brownish amber, small head (typical to Bells?). Very light in aroma, slightly malty .Flavour got some more malt character with grassy notes, medium roasted. Long lasting bitter brown mouthfeel .

I find this to be best with food. It helps bring out the taste of the food as well as the food bringing out the taste in the beer. Not being a big fan of dark beers, I didn’t rate it incredibly high.

Too sweet for me. Nice malty finish but cloying and only mild/low nuttiness. Not as good as other examples I’ve tasted.

12oz. Bottle: Smelled a bit fruity and malty. Nice dark brown/red color. Perfect kakhi head. Some lacing. Tasted of choclate, nuts, malt. A little sweet. Pretty good drink. Strange finish. Overall, an ok brown ale.

This was a smokey brown ale. I don’t know if that is due to the Belgian malts or not. I was expecting a something a little lighter, but it was rich and thick.

I've had much better brown ales. I've also had much better beer from Bell's. What happened?

Smells malty and sweet. Looks reddish brown. Tastes slightly nutty, more sweet than bitter.

It's not often that I have a chance to compare a brew for a brew, but since I still have a bottle of recently rated Brooklyn Brown Ale in the fridge, why not? I have equal glasses of Bells "best" Brown and Brooklyn Brown in side by side glasses. Well, the Bell's is lighter and overall I think less impressive than the Brooklyn. ANOTHER overated brew from Kalamazoo! Folks, don't believe the hype! -Lot's o'balls for the "best" on the label! (Nods to PsychProf anyhow for this one).

Bottle courtesy of Styles: Orange/brown that turns to a murky amber/orange when held up to the light. Small light tan head that quickly dies down. Aroma is earthy malt with some carmelized scents, moss, toffee, lightly roasted. Light-medium bodied and softly carbonated. Taste is a bit sweet up front, caramel, toffee, medium roasted malts, is this some peat-smoked malt I’m tasting?, there’s some mild hops towards the middle (lemon, berries, grass, orange) and some light spice notes. Finishes medium dry with some hops on the tongue. Not very exciting.

This ale poured a ddark orange colour with a big frothy, tan coloured head. To the nose there are scents of candy, caramel, sweet malts and a little ripe fruit. First taste was very smooth and medium bodied with flavours of caramel, malt and a very small hopp flavour. Finish is slightly bitter with hopp and caramel flavours lingering.