Bells Expedition Stout

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

Sweet, soft, dough-like aroma with fruity notes and plenty of charcoal-like roastiness. Opaque brown-black body is topped with a decent brown head that recedes slowly to cover with some lace. Very sweet, thick and chewy malty flavour. Heady. Some alcohol apparent and strong warming. Decadent and dessert-like the texture is smooth and creamy in the mouth with gentle carbonation. Bottle enjoyed with MartinT and Rastacouere. Thanks, radiomgb!
Had the chance to sample a 2001 vintage bottle (in late 2005) and found that it has not held up all that well even though one would expect it to age. Not that it becomes bad, just that it is nowhere near as good. The hops recede and it becomes vinous and roasty with a sticky sweet finish (8-3-7-3-15=3.6).

Opaque (really this must be the beer version of a black hole) with no head, extremely heavy mouthfeel, full-bodied. Caramel, maple, woody, chocolate, vinous are the many wonderful aromas that hit the nose. Rich and creamy on the palate, all the complex aromas also come through on the tongue. Nirvana! The stout characteristics linger on, just as a reminder that this beer is a powerful statement of the craftmanship of the brewmaster. If you enjoy stouts, you MUST have this beer! Rerate: another bottle, another reminder of how great this beer is!

Bottle at Aukurat Stockholm ... Deep solid black ... light smoke deep fruit and roast coffee little spice nose ... Meaty heavy body ... some spirit evaporation ... lots of sweet roast malt ... quite syrupy ... bitter chocolate little tartness ... little spirit burn ... Nice but not worth the £16($32) i paid for it.

With thanks to Inveglier. I had this with a Good King Henry Imperial Stout and a Harvey's Imperial Extra Double Stout. There was much they all had in common, but this was the one with the fullest mouthfeel, the least carbonation, the least sweetness, the least complexity, the most bitterness and the most chocolate. The initial fruit juice flavour is swiftly overcome by the bitterness, but it can be teased out as a red fruit of some sort. There is also some orange peel and some nutmeg in the finish. The aftertaste is a lingering pleasure, and is the best aspect of this otherwise overpoweringly single-minded brew. When comparing the nose with something of the complexity and wonder of Harvey's classic this just doesn't match up, however it does produce some delightful chocolate, plums and licorice. A very tasty brew, but the huge unbalanced bitterness and thick as two short planks mouthfeel mark this down for me.

Shared a 12-oz bottle with joebrew at Cellar’s Wine & Spirits. Pours an opaque, motor-oil, nearly black color brew with a thick, creamy tan head that has good retention at near room temperature. Aroma of rich dark molasses, dark roasted coffee, some bittersweet chocolate and rich Californian figs. Taste is smooth, creamy with very little carbonation. Flavors picked up were dark molasses, toasted dark malt and some milk chocolate. Finish is bittersweet, smooth with a burnt oak aftertaste. Sampled with three other Imperial Stouts. Bells Expedition Stout is in a class of its own. Awesome!

Poured a powerful opaque black with thin caramel head. Aroma consisted of a massive amount of roasted coffee and chocolate malts. Coffee, chocolate, caramel, nutmeg, and a hint of cinnamon assaulted the taste buds. The complexity of this beer enveloped and assaulted each and every one of my taste buds. There was bitterness from the hops and the dark chocolate... roasted chocolate and coffee from the malts... and various spices. Very well balanced. Beer was creamy and thick, almost to the point of being chewy. Aftertaste was as if I just finished a fine cup of coffee or some espresso... only the warming effect was not from the temperature of the beverage :) Fantastic!

This is a huge beer. Dark black. Small tan head. Aroma is roasty with chocolate, coffee and dark fruit that carries over to the flavor. Thick chewy body. Oily and smooth. Big hop bitterness balances all the sweetness. It also helps hide the alcohol leaving you with a nice warming sensation. Long finish.

Beautiful chcocolate brown. Bittersweet. Similar to Rogue stouts perhaps a touch better. Unpasteurized.