Bells Expedition Stout

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

Serve in Snifter

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This is one big beer. It pours very viscous and the bubbles fight their way to the top. Approach this beer like a brick wall of flavor.

Very dark brown - black - looks like motor oil. Pours with extremely small head, creamy, very dark tan in color. Big nose: winey malt, roasted coffee and dark chocolate. Huge, rich and full palate. Big and bold flavors similar to nose: winey, coffee and dark chocolate - nice balance between winey and roasted/bitter notes. Long finish - a bit dry. This is a BIG beer of solid quality - simply delicious. There is alot of competition in the IS world today and I place the Expedition just a touch behind the elites. Bravo!

UPDATED: AUG 20, 2003 So, we meet at last...the infamous Expedition Stout. Pours a deep, rich black-brown with a very thick light brown head. Sedimentation is noticeable, even in a beer as dark as this. Bottle swirled. Aroma is stout in and of itself, giving off an almost palpable malt aura. Smells like semi-sweet chocolate and a roasty double espresso. Incredibly thick, almost burnt maltiness dominates the majority of the flavor profile, with some pine/spice hop flavor, and alcohol adds a nice little kick to the finish, along with a bit of yeast and a nice malty fruitiness. Mouthfeel is unlike any beer I've yet tried, like a melted hot fudge sundae, or heavy cream. Full-bodied is so much understatement as to be laughable. Intense and unique beer.

one of the best stouts i’ve had in a long time. Starts very crisp, almost metallic. Finishes long and smooth. 15 minutes into the glass it really hits it’s pace.huge mouth feel with a complex aftertaste. completely opaque black dark black darkness, tiny, rusty head. beertastic.

Ok, let me take a deep breath and calm down. This beer pours blacker than night with a head equally, if not more beautiful than A. Le Coq. The nose is so thick and sweet I can’t stand it anymore, I must taste this! I think I just came. Thick as melted chocolate. Great smoky taste and complex malt/hop combo. This beer leaves me with a feeling that someone out there really does care. damn this is good shit!

#100! Woohoo! I was hoping to have something special on hand for my 100th rated beer, and this lives up to the task. My goodness, this is such an extraordinary beer, that it would prompt a novice to wonder whether this is a beer and not some other kind of drink, like wine. What does this beer afford for the beer-lover? For starters . . . get a whiff from concentrate out of the bottle before pouring, and you’re peppered with an array of scents. I’ve asked a few friends to help identify what is contained therein, and here’s what we come up with, aside from the coffee/chocolate-type character associated with an Imperial Stout: licorice, cherry, raspberry, raisin, red wine. Warning: the fumes come in pretty heavily from the alcohol, too. In the appearance, you get an expected near-black-to-black of a stout, with a creamy head that’s unassailable. When you finally take a sip after a couple minutes of savoring the aroma, you get a mouth-texture that’s like pure silk streaming from Cindy Crawford’s ass. The drinkability is much like a wine, with an alcohol bite in the throat . . . but it’s still remarkably smooth, soft and silky. It is, however, really overpowering alcohol-wise, and as such, its drinkability is limited to occasional use, and preferably when you can split a bottle with a beer-appreciating friend. It goes down much easier and better that way, I think. First-rate stuff.

A bit thinner stout than I usually like. It’s good, but not great.

A simple and to the point stout. Nothing flashy just good and dark and very satisfying.

Dark roastiness in the nose. Pours nice and thick. Big roastiness with a hint of chocolate in the body. Finishes with a taste of coffe bean.

Little to no head. Wondefrul aroma. Dark chocolate covered hops in the nose. At first the palate makes you think that the body is a little less than expected, but all of the sudden boom, this is a big beer. A wonderful complex IS full of rich malt and hop flavors. This beer gives Storm King a run for the money.