Bells Porter

Brewed by Bells Brewery
Style: Porter
Kalamazoo, Michigan USA

Serve in English pint, Shaker

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Dark brown with a huge head that seems to swell indefinitely after it’s poured. I had what looked like a mound of coffee flavored ice-cream on top of my glass, and I ended up drinking through it. The aroma is rich, malty, and sweet and slightly spicy. Notes of coffee and toffee highlight the smell. The flavor is really nice. There’s a sweet, chocolate malt character with a bit of cereal and toast in the finish. Mildly hopped. I liked this quite a lot.

From tap. Pours a black silky color with thin tan head. Aroma is chocolate and coffee. Taste follows but you taste the roasted malt and deep coffee taste. Complex as you drink and you start tasting more flavor. Excellent porter from a great brewery!

36cl, American brew, thx to Secret Santa!, complex Porter, malty/roasted and slightly sweet/smoked, easy to drink, balanced, hazy, good head, nice brew, yet expensive

Pours near black with hints of ruby when held to the light. Finger and a half of khaki creamy looking head that dissipates quickly. Scent is of chocolate and robust coffee with a hint of fruit from the hops. No unpleasant odors. Smells warm and inviting. Taste is moderately sweet with a good deal of roasty bitterness just the way a porter should be. Beer is medium bodied and creamy with a pleasant amount of carbonation and long bittersweet finish that reminds me of extra dark chocolate. This is an outstanding beer and one of the worlds great porters. If you are into the darkside and haven’t had Bell’s Porter then you are missing out. I highly recommend this brew.

Sample at brewfest. Very nice porter. Dark roasted malts, coffee and chocolate included in this one. Very solid.

Bottle. Nice dark pour with a decent amount of head. Very faint aroma and similar taste. A little roast malt, coffee flavor but not much. Body of the beer seems a little light.

Pours dark with a light foamy head. Faint malty aroma. Lacing falls down the glass as with most Bells beers, Bitter taste with coffee roastyness. A bit thinner than expected but still the quality expected from Bells.

I poured a 12oz bottle into a nonic pint glass. It was bottled on 11/27/12 making it just over four months old.

Appearance: Opaque black body with ruby red highlights. Forms a large, tan, frothy head which retains and laces wonderfully.

Smell: Closer to a milk stout aroma with a distinct dairy-like scent and a general dark malt smell.

Taste: This is a beer that could be mistaken for a stout. Whereas most porters tend to have a milder, toasted malt flavor, Bell’s Porter is a bit bolder and significantly more bitter than your average brew of the style. A light, faint milk chocolate taste throughout most of the first half with strong bitterness through the middle. Reminiscent of robust coffee and maybe a touch of bittersweet/baker’s chocolate. The bitterness doesn’t let up on the finish, either, which is rather bold for the style. I’d prefer more distinct flavors that simple a sweet/bitter repetition, but this tastes good to me and never got old so I like it.

Drinkability: What’s nice about this beer is how remarkably easy it is to drink. The mouthfeel is quite comfortable with a thicker, softer texture, but calm energy level. There is only slightly dry aftertaste, but it’s as tolerable as eating dark chocolate. At 5.6% ABV, Bell’s Porter has a lot of character for such relatively small body and it’d be tempting to drink several of these in one sitting.

Reserved aroma, but good, standard, fresh, roasty scent. Dark, dark brown with a perfect brown head. Dry, earthy, fresh rained on forest bark in initial flavor. On the palate, a bit too dry. Awesome, if very standard.

Very dark pour with a coffee aroma and taste right off the bat. There is also chocolate present. Very robust with a touch of smoke and considerably malty. It goes with lots of foods you may not consider a porter suited for. All around good performer.