Bells Cherry Stout

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

I thought this was great. Strong cherry flavor coinciding with the thick stout is wonderful. I would definitely buy again.

Black and oily like I expect any stout to be. Medium thickness to the tan head. The aroma hints at sour cherries but is mostly dominated by roasted malts. The flavor is a tart cherry syrup combined with super dark bitter chocolate. Smooth and creamy mouthfeel is freakin’ perfect. One or two of these in a night can be VERY enjoyable but I need to switch up to something more traditional after that.

bottle. Black with minimal head. Cherries on the nose. Taste of chocolate, coffee and cherry peels--bitter, tart, sour. Kind of an odd taste for me, was hoping for something rounder, creamier. Interesting, curious to know how aging might change it.

Stout with cherry tartness. Pour was dark with a small tan head. Aroma wasn’t as fruity as I expected. A little more on the stout side, with some choclate and roasted notes. The taste was very stout up front and very tart cherry in the finish. The mouthfeel was a little more carbonated than other stouts, but still thick and creamy. Great change up for someone that doesn’t like fruit beers. Fruit is not too dominant here.

According to the back, this is batch 7734. This will be my first Bell’s, so I am excited to try it. This beer pours very dark, but the stream from the bottle has a very dark red color in it. There is almost no head even when poured from a decent height. There are two equal aromas, cherries and roasted malt. The beer is about 50 degF but the aroma is still pretty weak. The flavor constantly changes as it progresses along my tongue and mouth. It starts off with roasted malt but quickly changes to sweet cherries and then finishes with a great tart cherry flavor. I really like how complex the flavor is and how it is dynamics. By the end, I can almost picture eating fresh cherries, although it is by no means too strong. This is perhaps the best fruit beer I have had. I do have to limit the drinkability because it is a bit sweet to drink a bunch of them.

bottle....pours a dark brown almost black with a thin tan head.....aromas of tart cherries and chocolate.....the majority of the flavor was dominated by tart cherries and a boozy component with little adding in the way of chocolate, roast, and other typical stout qualities. finish was a bit astiringent.....i really couldn’t even finish this which i can’t say is a frequent thing.

Black with thick brown head. Good lacing. This beer looks delicious. Aroma is sweet stout with cherries (a tad too saccharine). Flavor is, foremost, sweet, then cherries. It takes a moment for the roasted malt to force its way through to remind you this is a stout. Mouthfeel is good but has a distracting lingering sweetness. I don’t know if real cherries were used but it tastes artificial. Way too sweet for my taste.

The pour was a black with a thin dark tan head. The best part of this beer was the aroma. It was so sweet and enticing. The flavor was very sweet with the cheeries almost overwhelming it and with just a touch of malt. The tartness of the cheeries ring through on the finish. Ultimately, it was just kind of a slight let down to me.