Bells Bourbon Barrel Double Cream/Expedition Stout

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

Thanks to JW77 for the hand-bottle. Poured flat, but still a surperb stout. Bourbon, vanilla, chocolate and all kinds of other stout flavors are in abundance. Delicious even with lacking carbonation. This is an elite brew.

Sample from a growler. Pours a very dark brown with a medium beige head. I should begin by saying that I am not a fan of Expedition which puts me in the minority group on this site. That being said, this blend utilizes the good in Expedition and blends perfectly with the pieces from the Double Cream that I think are missing from Expedition. The aroma is a wonderful blend of dark chocolate, espresso, bourbon notes, sweet cream, and nice roasted malts. The flavor is every bit as impressive: rich chocolate, vanilla, espresso notes, vanilla, bourbon infused wood, with a sweetness that is balanced by bitterness. The mouthfeel is silky smooth and just a touch thin to stack up to some of my favorite thick imperial stouts (a minor inconvenience). At 11%, this is scary drinkable and would be a problem if it were bottled. I am glad to have tasted this on a couple of occasions.

Rating #145. Another one wayy overdue, that I could have got in sooner. Sketchy notes. On @ Stub & Herbs "Black Friday". The tap list was a dream. This topped it, by far. Had to pinch myself and ask, "Am I REALLY ordering this? At a bar?" [A] Smells of cream, bourbon, wood, vanilla, chocolate, roast malt. [A] Pitch black into a little plastic cup. Some dark brown head. [F] Big bourbon, vanilla, chocolate, malty sweetness. This is so damn tasty, you don’t really want to reach the bottom of the glass. [P] Quite smooth and creamy for being viscous. Finishes sweet and spirity. 11% not an issue. You should know what you’re getting into. [O] Impressive. Really thankful to try this, and wish I would’ve had tons more. I suggest letting it warm up, and savoring. One of the greatest barrel aged beers I’ve had. Missed FoBab this year. Hopefully Larry will keep some for the next session. Very complex, rich, lots of character. May or may not live up to the hype, by some. I definitely should have tried hand-bottling a serving, even if it didn’t work. All the barrel and dark malt flavors come together perfectly, like the bases. Who wouldn’t drink this regularly? Beer of the gods, and geeks.

A: very dark body with a one-finger brown head with decent retention and minimal lacing. S: Smells of strong bourbon alcohol and strong notes of chocolate and some vanilla. Very bold and very attractive, can’t wait to try a sip. T: Similar to the taste, Strong alcohol with a bourbon creaminess along with chocolate, dark berries, and roasted malts. Very good, but didn’t knock my socks off like I had hoped. Overall: Well carbonated and silky mouthfeel. The drinkibility is lower on this one though, It’s delicious and smell amazing but it would be hard to put down a couple pints of this. Great beer though, get it if you can, while you can.

I was very excited to have this on tap at Bell’s All Stouts Day on 11/1/09 known as Black Note and weighs in at 11% ABV. I had two 8 oz. pours of this delicous brew, but I’ll do my review off of my first pour which was into a small 8 oz. snifter. Black Note pour a deep black with a thin tan head that dissipated quickly. Smells of bourban, wood, chocolate, vanilla and roasted malt dominate the nose. I will say that the nose definetly improves as the beer warms. It was actually a bit difficult to smell all the subtle details when the beer was cold, but as it warms the smell does really shine through. The taste is amazing, a great blend here to be sure as the sweet, sharp molasses charector of the Expo stout is balances perfectly by the creamy smooth mouthfeel of the double cream stout. Flavors up front are of chocolate, wood, vanilla and molasses with hints of lactose sweetness. The finish is dominated by a sweet chocolate, bourban flavor. The layors of this stout are quit impressive and for 11% this is sooo drinkable. On a cold winter day I could drink this all day with out one regret. I feel very fortunate to have been able to try this beer as I know supplies are running very low, but I have to say that this is one of the best blended, barrel aged stout combinations that I have ever had. I think to myself this is such a great idea by Larry and the guys at Bell’s I wish they would do a second batch because this beer makes me happy to be alive...well worth the drive and the wait.

On-tap at Stub N Herbs Pre-Darkness Day Party. Ordered two 7oz pours of this, because I wanted to make sure I had a couple before the keg blew. A - Pours black with a thin tan head. Even though there’s only a small ring of head around the edge of the glass, there’s a good amount of lacing draped along the sides. S - Sweet chocolate, roasted malts, caramel, light bourbon, some oak/wood. As it warmed up (and I made it to my second glass), things picked up even more. T - Just outstanding! Lots of sweet milk chocolate mixed with the perfect amount of bourbon. Much like drinking chocolate syrup mixed with a kick of bourbon and some expresso beans. M - Not quite as think as I was expecting, but doesn’t detract much at all from this beer. Very little carbonation, just right for the style. D - Glad I was able to get two of these because who knows if I’ll ever have the chance to try this one again. Easy to drink for the style, but obviously I can only drink so many before I’d fall over.

FoBAB ’09, pours black with small tan head. nose of dark fruit and bourbon. flvors of dark chocolate, bourbon, vanilla, raisins, with some heat in the finish. body is rather thin and watery with a roasty boozy finish.