Bells Cherry Stout

Good stout. Nice balance of cherry, but not overpowering. Tart and smooth. Sampled at the St. Pete Florida Craft Beer Fest.

(Bottle) Pours black with a light brown head. The aroma is of light tart sherries with a backdrop of light to medium roasted and light caramelly malt tones. Some chocolate is also present. Undertones of wet tobacco and liquorice. The flavour is light to medium tart and sourish with tones of unripe cherries alongside a late coming dry roastiness of chocolate to mild tar. The mouthfeel is soft but tart and dry at the same time. Light to medium carbonated. Medium bodied. I am not a fan of sour stouts.

Courtesy of Quake1028. The first sniff reveals an odd combination of chocolate and veggies. Hard to pull much more out of it aroma wise no matter how long I sniff at it. The body is full black and holds a rapidly diminishing mocha head. Tart chocolate fore followed by espresso and dark fruit. The flavor lingers with cherry skin and sweet, creamy milk chocolate. Very still with low carbonation and that aftertaste of tart/chocolate is nice.

Bottle from Foodery, Philly. Black cherry soda color with small dark tan head. Aroma of chocolate cherry and roastiness seems coherent. But the tartness/sourness of the taste doesn’t fit the choclate/roasty supporting cast. Innovative. Thick and slightly medicinal after warming. Odd taste is left on the tongue.

12 oz. bottle into sniffer. Jet black pour with a minimal mocha brown head. Aroma is strange - reminds me of a Sam Smith with its dusty notes. I can sort of detect cherries on the aroma, but funky sour cherries. Lots of molasses, smoke, and bitter chocolate too. Flavor is funky as hell: smoked meat, no cherries, almost sour ale finish. Starts off gross but gets more tolerable. weird stuff though. Nice and rich on palate, pretty coating. Overall: strange. Worth tasting just to experience the weirdness of it.

bottle. Pours a solid, opaque black with almost no head. Aroma on the light side, dark semi sweet fruits, some raisins, a hint of cherry, and some burnt toast. Flavors don’t work too well... some acidic tartness and hints of cherries, heavy over-roasted malts. Lots of bittersweet flavors overwhelm any other flavors. Eh. Full bodied on the palate, with a bit of an oily slick finish. Not one of the more impressive offerings from Bell’s. [edit] Gah... as it warms... this brew, uch as I hate to say it, ventures into the realm of drain-pours. I’m sure some enjoy it, but for me, this is one of the few offerings from Bells that just thoroughly craps out.

black body with brown highlights.nice light brown head.lots of molasses in the aroma,with a bit of chocolate and coffee.flavor is much of the same with some thick cherry syrup shinning through at the end.its interesting if its anything.

Bottle. Batch 7821. Pours a very dark brown, head that disappeared almost immediately. Aroma is soy sauce and a slight cherry note buried in there somewhere. Taste was an assault on my tongue ! Big, up front notes of soy sauce and a very unleasant medicinal cherry flavor on the finish. I checked the brew date, begininning of 2007, so it’s a little over a year old. I know I cellared it correctly, I’m wondering if the place I bought it at (place in Ann Arbor, MI) took care of it while they had it. If I’m feeling brave in the future, I think this deserves a re-rate. But it’s going to take awhile before I risk abusing my tongue again. Not what I’m accustomed to coming from such a great brewery. I tried very hard to finish this one and unfortunately I couldn’t.