Bells Kalamazoo Stout

Brewed by Bells Brewery
Style: Stout
Kalamazoo, Michigan USA

Batch 7571. Beer is very dark brown, almost opaque. Head is initially large, beige, frothy, mostly diminishing.<P> The aroma is soft, dessert-like alluring. Malty with mellow moderate roasted grain, sweet milk chocolate, light café au lait and toasted bread crust; Hoppy with a light note of resin/pine; Yeasty with a light-to-moderate note of dough; Miscellaneous moderate note of vanilla, trace of cola.<P> The flavor is moderately sweet, lightly bitter with a long, building, moderately-to-heavily bitter, lightly acidic finish.<P> The body is full, texture is velvety and the carbonation is lively.<P>Smooth, soft, plush and creamy.

Bottle. Pours dark chocolate brown with thin caramel head. Aroma is chocolate, vanilla, caramel, coffee, and a hint of alcohol. Flavor is very smooth coffee, vanilla, caramel, and chocolate. I can barely detect any alcohol-very smooth.

Pours a really dark brown with only a thin layer of foam. Nose is like going around the corner from where I live and they are roasting coffee beans.Roasty and a little smokey.Thick and rich. The roasted flavor is very well defined.Dee-lish

Interesting and licoricey beer. Pours motor oil black with a thick dark head. Aroma is coffee, vanilla, licorice, and some spice. Immense licorice presence. Flavor is coffee, licorice, and a twinge of hops around the swallow. Lots of dark malt. Finish lingers licorice and some milkiness. Thick mouthfeel and decent carbonation. Complex beer.

Bottle courtesy of csbosox: Black body that appears dark brown when held up to light, small, tight light brown head that fades to a small creamy ring. Aroma is roasted malt, chocolate, and coffee. Full bodied, creamy, somewhat oily and sticky, medium lively carbonation. Taste has a lot of roasted dark malt, some bitter bakers chocolate, light coffee, and caramelized sugar. Finishes with some roasted bitter malt notes and just a hint of sweetness. A great bottled stout.

This was an excellent beer. Very smooth and rich, full bodied with a creamy mouthfeel and gorgeous appeaance. Lots of chocolate and coffee on the nose and the flavor. Some hints of smoke and almond extract with a touch of toffee. Lots of carmel malt in this it seems as well. Excellent beer.

Bottle courtesy of masonjer poured into a Bells snifter. Pours dark, dark brown, almost black with very little light showing through even the edges. The head is two fingers and tan and lingers as a cap for a while leaving some sporadic lacing. Wow, does this smell great - big roasted malt backbone with hints of coffee and dark, sweet chocolate. It all melds together so well as a single wonderful aroma. The taste didn’t quite live up to the aroma, with the sweet chocolate and dark roasted malts still dominating. The main reason it falls slightly short is the bitterness of the coffee which is a little overpowering in the finish. The mouthfeel is as good as I have ever experienced for a stout of this style. It’s so decadent and smooth with a perfect amount of carbonation that accentuates the taste. Beautiful feel on the palate. Bells knows how to knock their stouts out of the park and this is no exception. This is a fantastic stout and one of the best of its style. Highly recommended.

Much thanks to theisti for this one! Dark as night pour with nice burnt-colored head. I can already smell the roast and I haven’t even sniffed it yet. Good lacing. Beautiful smell of deep roasted malts...some chicory as well. Medium bodied, creamy mouth feel. Stong, powerful flavor of roasted malts...some molasses and coffee notes as well. Finish is wonderfully bitter. theisti...this is worth every beer I gave you! Thanks!