Bells Java Stout

Brewed by Bells Brewery
Style: Stout
Kalamazoo, Michigan USA

Serve in English pint

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Batch 9462. So glad to see this in the Illinois Valley. Dark pour with a brown head. Aroma of roasted coffee. Taste was wonderful. A perfect marriage of two of my favorite things- stout and coffee. Coffee added some bitterness to the end, but it worked out nice overall.

I’d offer a formal review on this batch 9562 bottle of beer, but this is now the 3rd time I’ve had type how black it poured with light brown foam that exhibits decent retention and fantastic lacing. The first time I tried to express how the coffee was pretty much the sole aroma, the Bell’s website crashed my browser a couple hundred time while I tried to figure out when this beer with some serious malt that nicely complements the somewhat acrid coffee flavors was bottled. Once I gave up on that endeavor, Steve Jobs decided that I had simultaneously hit some magically sequence of keys that deleted the entire rating where I gushed about how glad I was to see this beer back in rotation.

Appearance is black with a tan head. Aroma is strong coffee, almost, but not quite burnt. Flavor is also overwhelming coffee taste, also a little burnt in the finish. Slight chocolate flavor as well, a little bittersweet. Overall, this beer can be a little overpowering, but if you like strong coffee taste definitely check it out.

12oz bottle. dark pour with a fluffy tan, lasting head, nice lacing. great aroma of coffee and roast. the coffee isn’t as out front as i thought it might be from the aroma, just a nice solid taste of black coffee, roast, bit of chocolate. not overpowering at all. mmmm coffee and beer....

Bottle pours a near black with a thin tan head. Strong aromas of roasted malts, chocolate, and coffee. Heavy bodied with coffee flavor dominating but not overpowering in taste, with chocolate, roasted malt, and caramel flavors present as well. Very enjoyable Stout with coffee notes dominating but not overpowering this complex beer.

Bottle via trade. Pours black like coffee with a small creamy tan head that lasts quite awhile. Aroma is lots of coffee, roasted malt, and chocolate. Pretty intense. Flavor is really good and coffee-dominated. Intense mocha with some nice sweet caramel malts and sharp roastiness. Medium bodied with coffee bitterness on the palate and somewhat low carbonation. I’m a sucker for coffee beers, and this is a very good one.

Coffee. More overwhelming notes of espresso than founder’s breakfast stout. This is pure roast, malt, and sumatra. Tan, caramel head that pours a very dark, thick-bodied brew. Great beer to taste, but not the most pleasurable beer to the palate, a bit too intense.

Bottle thanks to Dakine. Pour is an oily almost-black with a thin brown head. Aroma is vanilla, roasted malt, light ash, and coffee. Flavor is also roasted malt and coffee with a long ashy and espresso finish. It is what you would expect. It’s done well as one would expect from Bells.

Black coffee black with a light tan head. Aroma is sweetened coffee, and the taste is nice and even, but more of carbonated coffee than beer, with alcohol well hidden. Carbonation is as perfect as it could be.

12 oz. bottle from Ludlow Wines. Pours very dark brown with a small brown head that leaves some brown around the edges. Big roast coffee aroma, with notes of burnt toast, smoke, and ash. Flavor is also a lot of roast coffee, with notes of dark chocolate, brown sugar, smoke, and burnt toast. Smoky finish and aftertaste. Bitter, but mostly roasty and smoky- a little sweetness helps make this more palatable. Light-medium bodied, with a gritty roast coffee mouthfeel. I’m not much of a coffee drinker, but regular coffee drinkers- especially those that like it black- should like this a lot.