Bells Le Contrebassiste

Brewed by Bells Brewery
Style: Brown Ale
Kalamazoo, Michigan USA

Serve in Dimpled mug

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Poured a clear dark orange-brown. The head was tan with good retention and lacing. Whiffs of brown sugar, pecan, and milk chocolate on a bed of hay. Light to medium bodied and delicately sweet with mild bitterness. Date, roasted nuts, and brown sugar flavors. Very grain/earthy at the end.

Draft at Maduro pre-GTMW, Murky, chunky brown-orange. Steady beige head. Chewy yeast tones. Mellow, odd play-dough flavor. Pretty unique, though the smoke and biere de garde action sort of cancel each other out in a messy way. Fruity, some hoppy amber malt notes. I liked it on the first sip, but really isn’t growing on me. Unique, but not a world class brew.

7/28/11 contrebassiste @ pap. Murky orange tinted brown w/a small pale tanhead. A banana, bs, ,booze, nuts, Coffeee, really yeasty. F coffee-nuttiness, a bit sweet,choco, lots of yeast. Full body, sludgey, meh 7/4/6/2.5/13

On draught at Fourth Street Bar & Grill during the Bells Tap Takeover on 10/12/2011: Pours a murky amber-brown color with a medium white head that diminishes steadily to an outer ring. Thin rings of lacing on the glass. Aroma of peaty, smokey malt and ripe fruit. Medium creamy body with flavors of earthy malt, fruit and nuts. The finish is figgy and malty with a faint smokey aftertaste. Above average overall.

Number three (of three) in the French Jazz series - The Bruin Serving glass: Poured from tap into small goblet. Appearance: Rich, hazy mahogany with off-white head. Aroma: Plum, toffee, slightly smoky. Taste: Smoky, sweet caramel and toffee. Some dark fruit and cherry. With the yeast (while present) pushed mostly to the background, this seems more like a Scotch Ale. Palate: Moderate carbonation, full body, smooth but just a touch cloying. Overall: The strongest in alcohol and flavor of the three Biere de Gardes, but the slightly cloying body means that I prefer Le Pianiste. Still quite good.

Very cloudy brown pour small bubbled tan head 4 Light smoky almost salty butter & pecan sweet caramel 7 Avg pal 3 Nice subtle smoke taste almost like salty meat light chocolate finishes caramel well mellowed 8 I enjoyed 15

At cincinnatis brew haha event of all places. Pours a reddish brown thin off white. Sweet. Wild cheese yeasty aroma. Mildly sweet. Finish is slightly sweet and tart. Oily texture.

Draft sample - pours opaque brown with tan head. Aroma is smoky and a lot like the smell of the liner notes of a new cassette tape. Taste is sweet. Aftertaste is long and a tiny bit bitter. OK but not memorable.

An easy drinking brown with a coco powder finish. really quite nice. Pretty straightfoward but with an odd aroma i can;t put my finger on.

On tap (guest)
After starting with a disappointing pour of Black Note I moved on to a couple of new beers. This one was decent for the style and much easier to finish than the previous beer. As this has been on almost every year I would expect it to reappear again at next year’s Maduro event.

Aroma / Appearance - The hazy body was the color of an espresso milkshake topped by shavings from a plank of maple. Long spindly legs creep down the sides. The smell of musty redwood floors coupled with a sweet texture. Topped by maple and cherry fruit filling from a vending machine it harmonizes well.

Flavor / Palate - Maple, Twix, and nutty touches flow across the palate. The chewy mouthfeel leaves a dry warm finish. Heady after a half pint I decided to move on to the next beer only to save the palate. The Friday before the Great Taste is about pacing yourself not racing to the finish line by 3 PM.