Bells Expedition Stout

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

pours a pitch black with a tan head. Aroma is dark roast malt, obligatory chocolate and coffee tones, some nutty tones, molasses. Flavour is very complex. Bitter coffee and chocolate tones mixed with tobacco and sweet malted milk, dark chocolate. Mouthfeel is a little slick. very interesting bitter finish with a slight sticky alc and a lingering burnt smokey malt.

Bottle. Thick black/brown pour with a foamy, light brown head with clingy lace. Head reduced as it warmed & the lace became spotty. Aroma is of smoke, roasted, almost burnt coffee beans, dark chocolate, & molasses. Alcohol is pronounced & not at all mellow in the flavor. The coffee, chocolate, & smoke continue in the flavor in addition to roasted malt. Bitterness is heavy & almost a little biting. This is definitely a full bodied stout with a syrupy texture, a lasting bitterness, & a little metallic note in the finish.

Bottle pours a pure black color with a very thin tan head. The aroma includes cocoa beans, pipe tobacco, roasted coffee, dates and prunes. It has a very smooth, yet syrupy mouth feel. Sweet flavor includes a nice combination of all the aromas listed above, but also a faint hint of smoked teriyaki jerky with a bitter aftertaste. It’s a very interesting medley of flavors. The 10.5% is quite noticeable.

This is such a wonderful old friend that was first tasted many years ago, and only now is getting my rating. this stout goes so well with a piece of Hersheys Special Dark.....words cant describe it. Its no wonder I have set Bells as my benchmark. It has a wonderful chocolaty ,roasted malt aroma, with an even better flavor. Good lacing on the glass, almost pitch black with dark tan head.Wonderful infusion of hops .Finishes nicely with a coffee chocolate mix, with the slightest smattering of vanilla.

A great imperial stout. Good in the bottle, even better on tap at the brewery. Dusty, chocolate, cherry, coffee raisins. Small head. Not heavily carbonated. Creamy taste. There is some slight taste of hops, but not much. More citrus I would say.

Bottle. Very dark brown body, small to no head, lightly carbonated, light coffee nose. Citric hops, moderate bitterness, not particularly sweet, coffee/chocolate roastiness, slight sourness, not really much different than the much-lower-rated Victory Storm King.

2007 Version Poured from a 12oz bottle, Pitch Black with ¼ inch dark tan/light brown head. Smell of carmel/toffee malts, coffee with hops in the background. Totally black with no light able to show thru. Heavy, heavy lacing. Strong coffee taste of espresso along with a lot of hop bitterness. Mouthfeel is creamy. Not my favorite of this style. The hop bitterness does not balance well with the rich malts and coffee. It’s a clash, like an unhappy marriage. Why can’t they get along? This beer is not very complex.

Pour was black and thick with thick brown head aromas of heavy malts and hops,from the first taste you know you were drinking something special a world class imperial stout, taste were of heavy malts a shit load of hops coffee undertones,molasses and honey