Bells Cherry Stout

Pours with a reddish tint, but after pour is complete, its pretty much brown/black. Aroma is light sweet cherry with some hints of burnt malt. Flavor hits with cherries up front, then softens out with hints of tobacco near the finish. The finish is very abrupt; somewhat disappointing. I will caveat that I’m not a huge fan of cherries, but this was far from the best I’ve had from the folks at Bell’s, but I’ll get another bottle and cellar it for a while...maybe a re-rate in the years to come...

From notes made last winder: Short head, very dark brown. COffe/sweet aroma. The cherry comes through mostly as a cherry-pit flavor for me with a long, though not powerful, finish that i really liked.

10/16/07 On Draft at the Comet: -Pours a very dark brown in color. Has a nice half inch thick head that is mocha in color. Very nice looking beer. Smell is subtle chocolate covered cherries. Taste is much the same. I was told this came from a keg that was about a year old. The cherries were much more subdued than fresh. Full on flavor and mouthfeel. This is a great beer at a year old. 10/16/07 Bottle of 2003(no neck or back label) -Pours a very dark brown with no head. Smell is cherries and some port. Very smooth and delicious. Hardly any oxidation that I could detect. This is a very good reminder on why we age some beers. This is the perfect example.

Batch 8144

10/14/2007: Bell’s Cherry Stout pours a near black, coffee brown color with a tinge of a reddish hue. The foamy brown head doesn’t last very long, but does leave some mild lacing. The aroma is mostly chocolate with a bit of yeast in it as well. The flavor is chocolate at first and then some sour cherry begins in the middle and accompanies the chocolate flavor through the finish. The two flavors blend together fairly well but seem a bit off-balanced. There is also quite a bit of roasted malt in the flavor and some char in the finish and after taste. Maybe a little less cherry would be better. That way the cherry was in the background more rather than up front challenging the chocolate and dark malt flavors. I usually like cherry, but it doesn’t seem to work all that great with really darkly roasted malt and char flavors. This beer has a medium to medium-full body and is smooth on the palate. Overall this is a good stout, but one bottle is more than enough per sitting.

12 fl. oz. oz bottle. Rating #577 for this beer...

Pours black with light brown head. Head diminishes quickly. Aroma has a slight sweetness. Body medium. Taste is tart. There is also a bit of Acidity. Little aftertasts. I was hoping for more cherry and definetly more roasted malt.

Very pretty pour. Aroma is of coffee and cherries. Nice heavy mouth feel but taste is a little too much like cough syrup for me to drink much more than a bottle.

Pours a gorgeous raven-black with decent tan head that diminishes quickly. Nice expletive tan lacing. Nose is surprisingly mild with subtle notes of chocolately malt and coffee. Flavors continue to be subtle in the mouth with mild cherry, more chocolate malt, French-press coffee, roasted toasted toast, and a slight sour finish. Medium carbonation and full-bodied. Not bad. Very easy drinking. Finishes a little dry, but very clean. I enjoy sour fruit flavors with robust maltiness, when in balance. Flavors--although subtle--blend well here.

12 oz bottle. Pours black, tiny tan head. Smells great... milk chocolate and cherries. Not overwhelming with the cherries though... just enough to give it a sweet fruitiness. Flavor... eh. Surprisingly thin. More cherry flavor, less chocolate. Also, a little bit of the "vegetable soup" flavor that overwhelmed their rye stout for me. I thought this was because the rye stout was old, but this is a fresh batch of cherry stout and it’s the same. (Haven’t noticed this in any other beer but Bells rye and cherry stouts.) Odd. It’s okay, but not a favorite for me.