Bells Cherry Stout

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

Serve in English pint

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12 ounce bottle shared at the July Santa Cruz tasting. Pours dark brown with a light tan head. Aroma is chocolatey, but sort of salty too, like, uh, those salted chocolates. A touch of soy and smoke, coffee, and a mild cherry tartness. Flavor is dark chocolate and cherry juice with a nice dry finish.

A: The pour on this one is almost black with a tall tan head. S: Strong notes of roasted malts and a bit of dark chocolate, too. The cherries really stand out and there is a big fruitiness. Strangely, there is a slight tartness to it, but I like it. T: Woah, the tartness on the palate is rather strong. Quite acidic, much more so than just some sour cherry juice/fruit flavor. There is a lot of cherry flavor and a fair amount of roasted malt. M: Medium in body with a medium to high carbonation. O: The tartness on the nose was nice and added some depth, but it really took over on the palate and became too much.

Tried this one out last year on a whim. Talk about the quintessential dessert beer...Michigan, particularly the area around Traverse City, produces some amazing and flavorful cherries, and Bell’s found a way to bottle them. Rich and decadent, bursting with cherry and chocolate...not too dense, though, so it’s an easier sipper. Imagine it with a slice of red velvet cake and a scoop of Cherry Garcia on the side...

Pour is black like stout with a little tan head. Nose is of cherry. Taste is of cherry and chocolate mostly with some coffee hints as well.

chocolate, coffee, roasty malts. some serious bitter cherries in there. Kinda like a roasted, smoky chocolate covered cherry.

Säuerlich würziger Antrunk. Die Malzigkeit ist zwar das wichtigste Aroma, kommt aber kaum über den Hintergrundstatus hinweg. Säuerlich bleibend, von den Kirschen bzw. dem Kirschsaft ist nichts zu erkennen. Im Abgang etwas würziger, die Säuerlichkeit nimmt leicht zu. Wenig harmonisch, die Säuerlichkeit passt kaum zum Stout. Zuletzt malzig-säuerlich. 9/8/9/8/10/8

12 oz bottle, poured into 8 oz. glass. Aroma: Roasty and Toasty Malts. Some notes of chocolate. Appearance: Typical stout appearance, with a tinge of red when it’s being poured. Taste: Wow. Much better than I expected. Starts sweet, with definite chocolate overtones, finishes very sour, with a burst of cherry flavor. Palate: Slightly undercarbed for my taste; appropriately full-bodied. Overall: This beer was SIGNIFICANTLY better than I expected. I will be anxious to try additional Bell’s beers in the future.

Bottle from Cavie. Dark pour with a small tan head. Aroma is roasted and chocolate. Taste is cherries, cherries, a little roasted, some chocolate, and a sour little pucker on the finish.

Bottle via trade. Pours a dark brown color with a ring of tan head. Aromas is smoky for sure. Light fruity notes of cherry. Dark malts. Flavor is cherry sweet and tart at the same time. Dark malty flavor. Sweet notes for sure.

Bottle into a snifter. Big head dissipated quickly, very dark. First I get a lot of tart cherry taste, pretty thin, tastes nothing like a stout. Then a huge wave of stout flavors, I was getting a lot of roasty chocolate. A very strange beer.