Bells Expedition Stout

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

12oz bottle. Pours very thick dark black with an amber, tan head. Smells of alcohol, chocolate, and molasses. Tastes of alcohol, chocolate, molasses, and some aftertastes of super dark roasted coffee. Just a little to medicinal flavor for me, but otherwise very good.

As described by George at Redlight Redlight - "Heaven in a glass" and he’s right. If you like stouts this is top notch. The flavor of the beer subdues the alcohol very well. None of the flavors in this beer are over-powering and the subtlety keeps the beer interesting to keep picking them out. Fantastic finish as well.

Very creamy for a stout. On cask at the redlight redlight. Pours black as night. Sweet on the nose with a strong coffee and roasted malt follow up. Alcohol content is well hidden behind the sweet, roasted, goodness of this beer.

some are bothered by the lack of head, but the black color and sticky lacing make up for that part of the appearance; boozy chocolate and coffee flavors coat the mouth without being too syrupy; preferred last year’s on tap to this year’s; always consistently good in the bottle

Thoroughly enjoyed in a small whiskey snifter via draft. The beer pours an opaque black color with a small but fairly long-lasting tan head. Notes of roasted malt and alcohol to the nose. The palate carries a fairly complex malt depth: roasted malt, medium and high English chracter malts, and some alcohol that, rather than being an annoyance, is quite pleasing. The finish is fairly sweet without being cloying and allows the aforementioned malt character to linger for several minutes. Overall, it is clear why the beer garners praise.

Cask at redlight redlight. Pours black/opaque. nice nose with lots of cocoa, coffee, some molasses, and lots of roasted malts. very smooth for a high alcohol stout with some boozy notes coming through in the finish. it begins with the sweet malt flavor up front, then works its way into a good bitter roasted malt middle, and finishes with a great bitter hop content, especially for a stout. Very creamy and delicious.

Many a years had been spent waiting to see if they would bring it to Jax. The one time I was in Michigan, with every intent on sipping on this, I was too late for last call, with it laughing at me from behind it’s translucent, 39 degree encasing. Well, I’ve finally found one; and what better beer to drink to my sending-off 6 month stay in Germany for school, as well as my 550th brew. Onto the beer: Pours deep, dark soy sauce black. No sign of light entering or exiting, like a black hole. Head was dark coffee and soda colored. Nose is fragrant coffee, vanilla, with lots of molasses and hops. Very clear with each item separated, but not deviated. Taste is a heavy smack across the palate. Thick, chewy, yet silky and smooth. The first bite is sharp, evening out into an artists palette , with dabs of chocolate, molasses, coffee (colombian), clove, more chocolate, more coffee, a nice abundance of hopes, and some sugar and spice for measure. Vanilla notes lead into frequent earth tones and at some point I felt as though I was describing a wine. No real off-setting areas, other than maybe a tad too sweet. But damn, I hope I can find something like this over here in Germany

12 oz bottle, $17 for a six pack at Total Wine. Its been a long time coming to Jacksonville, but here it is. I have searched high and low for this beer for years. Poured into my CASK Brewclub pint shaker glass. Small skim of a brown head that doesn’t last long, on a deep black beer. Aroma of coffee, chocolate, licorice, and molasses... smells great! I got a sense of deja vu on the smell. Taste is almost too much to take in at once. Bursting with flavor... heavy on roasted coffee, bittersweet chocolate, licorice, molasses, sweet dark malts, and hops throughout. Very thick and heavy to drink, a real sipper. The intense flavor completely covers the 10.5% abv, can’t even tell its there until you get a buzz. The realization hit me like a hammer.. I brewed a beer like this 3 years ago and thought I had ruined it by loading it up with too much malts and hops and molasses and other stuff, until it matured about a year later, and then it tasted fabulous. I still have about a case. Larry Bell and I think alike on Imperial Stouts! World class beer worth the wait.