Bells Cherry Stout

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

Headless opaque brown, like a cup of soy sauce. Pruney aroma with a hint of tart cherry warms to something more roasty and stoutlike.Taste is thin and roasty with tart vinous notes and chocolatey coffee finish. $2.40/12oz

Fresh 2007 vintage, Batch 8219. The body is about as black as it gets. I can’t even pick up any traces of mahogany. A small, foamy tan head settles quickly to a thin film with a thick edge. Random spots and flares of lacing decorate the glass well. The aroma displays big roasted chocolate malts, subtle sour cherries, and a good amount of roasted coffee bitterness. The flavor is a bit of a muddled mess. Its not unpleasant, but the malts and the cherries seem to just trip over one another. The coffee component also seems a bit out of place, as I can’t think of more incongruous flavors as coffee and sour cherries. Still, it all works together somewhat decently. The mouthfeel is on the heavy side of medium, very smooth and silky. Finishes long, with that same strange mix of sour cherries, dark malts and coffee. This is a pretty good brew, but nowhere near Bells’ capability. This is a rare letdown from an awesome brewery. Hey, if your letdown beers are a 3.5, I guess you are doing something right.

Wonderfully black in color. Medium thickness with almost no head. The aroma has defintie sour cherry, but is dominated by roasted malt. The flavor is a tart cherry with bitter malt. Very nice, smooth mouth feel. As with other Bell’s beers, the flavor varies slightly from batch to batch. This is one of my favorites that I look forward to every September.

Sampled from 12-oz bottle at friend home after her moving project. Pours a nearly opaque dark brown with some red highlights brew with a creamy light brown head that quickly dissipates clean. Aroma of roasted dark malt, a touch of cherry and raisins. Taste is medium to full bodied, light carbonation with flavors of dark malt, some floral hops and plenty of sweet cherry. Finish is creamy, smooth with an aftertaste of dark chocolate, dark malt and just a hint of cherry.

the body is very dark with a little hint of red in it and almost no head. There is a strong chocolate scent with just a hint of cherry. The flavor has notes of prunes or raisins as well as chocolate and, once again, with just a hint of cherry. $2.49 12 oz

Pours out a deep dark brown head with frothy light brown head. Aroma is of dark chocolate and light cherry. Taste is full of roasted malt, dark chocolate and tart cherries. Think of this brew as a great stout with a cordial cherry dropped in during fermentation. Alcohol is well hidden and carbonation is light. Finish is very creamy with a slight tart finish from the cherries. Excellent.

Pours black with a medium tan head. Aroma is chocolate, coffee, some tart cherries, and something like olive juice. Taste is coffee, chocolate, with a tart cherry finish. A very smooth and creamy drinking brew.

Really surprising. Unlike anything that I have had before. Strong cherry aroma with a maltiness. Taste was complex...All the makings of a stout except the palate. Tons of tartness and acidic palate. Good stuff