Bells Porter

Brewed by Bells Brewery
Style: Porter
Kalamazoo, Michigan USA

Thanks to Illinismitty
Aroma has a good roasted malt aroma. Dark body with red hue and decent head at pour but was gone fast. Flavor was like drinking cold roasted coffee with hint of alcohol on the end with a little sweetener. Good body texture as it was not watered down as some porters are for my palate. Good roasty aftertaste good brew.

Toast and balsamic in the nose, dark opaque brown color, light tan head. Roastedness and smoke in the body with a hint of licorice. A little farty and buttery. Bells is just a great brewery but this one surprised me - not so good. Did I get a bad sample?

12 oz bottle, via trade w/ Drnk-McDermott. Pours a dark brown with a 1/2" light brown fluffy head. Left nice lacing. Nose is chocolaty with some roasty notes. Flavor is largely foretold by the aroma: bitter chocolate with light roastyness. Finish is bitter with a mineral quality to it. Fairly light bodied with moderate carbonation. Pretty decent stuff, very clean and drinkable.

Dark ruby-brown colour with a small tan head. Aroma of dark toffee and roasted coffee. Good, sightly creamy mouthfeel. Malty flavour with notes of coffee and chocolate, and a slightly acidic finish that I've noticed with many of the dark Bell's beers.

Very dark brown coloured body, almost completely opaque with a medium-sized brown head with large bubbles. Aroma of roasted malt, coffee, a light bit of chocolate and some fresh caramel. Medium-bodied; Nice full roasted malt flavour with a good coffee twang and some chocolate (a light touch of 50% cacao) in the taste. Aftertaste clean and very fresh-definately a good tasting & finishing porter! Overall, a damn good example of a porter (even over a year & a half old too) showing some dark roasty tastes, but finishing without bitterness or harsh flavours. I sampled this twelve ounce bottle purchased from Merchant’s in Dearborn, Michigan on 16-October-2004 (but purchased over a year & a half earlier by my mom--THANKS MOM!) on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.

12oz bottle. Pours a dark brown center; light tan head with good retention. Plenty of milk chocolate and marshmallow in the aroma. Medium carbonation. Medium-to-full, chocolately mouthfeel: milk chocolate and roasted malts; hints of an oily smokiness; my archetype of a solid porter; not over-the-top, but very tasty. Medium, milk chocolate and roasted malt finish.

Brown chocolate color with a tan frothy head. Toasted flavor yet not a super heavy brew. Very drinkable and hard not to drink the whole 6 pack.

Bottled July 2006, Sampled November 2006
Definitely an opaque, black colored brew. It is topped by a frothy, almost creamy consistency, initially two-finger thick, brownish leaning tan colored head. The aroma is quite burnt and roasted. It even has a note like burnt grain husks, in fact it is quite husky in its grain aromatics. Notes of chocolate cover malt balls add a bit of roundness to the harsher burnt notes, which actually are not all that harsh in this beer. Towards the end it picks up a note that reminds me of the acidity in a sweetened espresso.

The mouthfeel on this is quite light up front, after the beer has left my mouth it takes on a touch of fullness. It actually leaves a chocolate like mouth coating that has a touch of malt sweetness to it. There is some burnt grain acidity to this beer, but it seems just enough for the sweet chocolaty malt and the body to balance out. This beer is defined by the dominant roasted grain flavors, they even add bitterness to this beer (though some of the bitterness in this brew is certainly hop derived).

This is really quite the quaffable brew, especially as it warms a bit. As it warms the roast character becomes a bit more balanced by the sweeter chocolate like maltiness and a mouthfeel that picks up a bit more heft to it. Quite the enjoyable brew, definitely a good beer for this "Arizona chilly" evening.