Bells Porter

Brewed by Bells Brewery
Style: Porter
Kalamazoo, Michigan USA

This is a nice beer with a somewhat smoky malt aroma with hints of coffee and a saltiness. Rich and black in color. Very opaque. The flavor is rich and smooth with smokiness and a slightly acrid bitterness that is not unpleasant. The finish is superb with a smooth and slightly slick feel and hints of cedar and an organic earthiness. Overall this is a very fine porter.

On tap at Bell’s Eccentric Cafe. A nice porter-- nothing too exaggerated in taste or profile. Well balanced-- although I’m not big on roast malts in my porter.

From bottle... poured translucent reddish-brown with medium tan head. Nice roasty aroma. Roasted malt taste with beautifully smooth finish. Very impressed. I love this.

It has a nice smoky, coffee aroma. Roasted malts and rather pleasant. It pours a nearly opaque black with light just shining through to give a caramel tone and a beige, small head that persists through drinking. The flavor is rather sweet with chocolate malts and a slight bitter finish. It has a disappointingly thin mouthfeel to it however.

12 oz. bottle, Batch # 6844. Black color with a light tan head. Nice roasted grain, nutty smell. Medium bodied with a smooth mouthfeel. Flavor is not a surprize with roasted grains and chocolate malts. Has a light bitterness to finish. A solid, robust Porter here. July 2005

Sampled from 12-oz bottle at Cellar’s Wine & Spirits in St Paul, MN. Pours an opaque dark brown brew with an off-white head that quickly dissipates to a tan ring with some decent lacing. Aroma of sweet dark malt, some flowery hops, a touch of coffee and dark chocolate. Taste is smooth, medium to full-bodied, to creamy with flavors of dark malt, some dark pitted fruits and chocolate. Finish is smooth and creamy with a semi-dry dark malt aftertaste. Didn’t pick up too much smoke flavors but it is still pretty solid porter.

12oz bottle from ealdent. Pours a very deep and dark brown (nearly black and opaque, but not quite). The head is thick and tan, but quickly fades into a very thin, spotted layer of foam that persists and laces the glass. The aroma is strong with coffee. There are also some sweet malt tones in the aroma and faint hints of both smoke and fruit (prunes?). The beer starts bittersweet with flavors of crystal malts and dark chocolate. Towards the middle of the tongue, the texture thins, and the flavor becomes strong with roasted grains and burnt toast. The finish is very dry and reveals lots of roasty bitterness as well as some earthy hop bitterness. The texture begin medium in body, but the roasty flavors become so dry by mid-palate that the body is like a phantom, disappearing as it goes down. The carbonation is relatively high, but lends a creamy texture to the beer. It combines with the burnt flavors in the mid and back of the palate to become almost acrid. Overall, a very drinkable and very roasty brew - though I would have called it a stout instead of a porter (I’m used to porters having a little more body and sweetness and less burnt character - closer to dark chocolate than to unsweetened espresso).

Dark pour with a foamy dirty white head about two finger thick that goes down quickly. A lot of malt on the nose. Very malty and a bit of smoked malt in taste.