Bells Java Stout

Brewed by Bells Brewery
Style: Stout
Kalamazoo, Michigan USA

Serve in English pint, Shaker, Snifter

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Another pitch black baby, but this time one with a nice head. The other November stouts have been a bit sluggish in this department. What starts out as lacing on the glass ends up being sheeting and was a little more difficult than usual to clean. Even left my lips a little sticky. The aroma and flavor are very roasty and fairly dry. The coffee in the beer does more to reinforce and complement the roasty malt than to actually pop in the flavor. A black chocolate is submissive to the bitter roast. The mouthfeel is a bit gritty. The sourness present in a lot of the other November stouts is only a ghost lurking behind the other flavors. This is probably the best of the group’s offerings but it would have benefitted from a creamier mouthfeel with or without the grittiness.

The last of the stouts of Novemeber that I have to try and I think its probably my favorite. Black with a frothy espresso-like tan head and a huge sweet coffee smell. Lots of coffee bitterness in the initial tasting. Very smooth. Definite dark roast coffee flavor but with a lot of sweetness, like strong coffee with caramel swirled into it. Very bitter fininish. Not for everyday drinking but a very tasty stout variation.

I don’t know if this is going to put me to sleep or keep me up all night. Black with nice tan head. Huge coffee nose. It does taste a little burnt. Probably my second favorite of the Bell’s November Stouts behind Oatmeal.

Almost black color, brown head. Huge aroma of burnt coffee and light roast, somewhat vegetal. Very roasty body, big coffee flavor although the coffee tastes somewhat burnt. Long finish. This coffee stout works well for me, reminds me of Tim Hortons coffee, which is of course a good thing.

Very pronounced coffee flavor and aroma. They must have used great beans, and a lot of them, because this beer tasted pretty much like drinking some ultra premium $5 a cup coffee shop stuff. Very bitter and roasty, enhanced with malt and hops. Easily one of my top ten stouts ever.

Dark black color, creamy tan head, leaves a lace in my glass, strong coffee aroma and flavor very,very bitter, kind of like chewing on coffee beans, after it warms gets much more flavoful, the most bitter coffee stout I have ever had, and I like it.

UPDATED: JUN 5, 2003 This beer rocks! The aroma is of saw dust, dark roasted coffee beans, molasses, caramel, rich earth and vanilla. The stout pours as black as tar. It looks like 50,000 mile motor oil. Black hole in a glass. Large, frothy head, deeply-tanned with a copper tint. Mostly lasting with very good lacing. Deep, dark, unsweetened chocolate. Freshly turned earth. Espresso up front. Lightly buttery and slightly pungent on the backside. Full-bodied with lively carbonation and a silky/creamy mouthfeel. Long, dry, clean finish. Another excellent stout from Bells.

Wow - this is like drinking alcoholic iced espresso! Beautiful black pour with minimal head. Super bitter bite to those espresso beans! Interesting - but a little strong.

You have to like coffee to like this Stout. I don’t drink coffee but I do like a hint of it in many of the Stouts I drink and enjoy. There is much more than a hint here though. Dark brown with a thin light brown head. Minimal lacing. Aroma is pure coffee. Flavor is somewhat bitter but not to the point where it becomes hard to drink. Finish is all roasted coffee with a little malt. I couldn’t take this in large doses.

Just didn’t like this one. Bitterness overpowers the coffee flavor. The stout characteristics are somewhat lost except for the color and aroma. Had a full strong body though.