Bells Rye Stout

Brewed by Bells Brewery
Style: Stout
Kalamazoo, Michigan USA

Serve in English pint

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Good looking dark beer with a tan head. Aroma is malty, sugary sweetness, grainy/nuttyness and even spicey. Its a complex, enjoyable aroma. The flavour is unique, but unfortunately too watery. The maltiness isnt immediately apparent, but the other elements of the aroma are. There is a bit of a roasty finish, some sourness and even a hint of chocolate. A lot going on here.

Looks like a pretty nice stout. Dark black with a diminishing white head. Pretty dark indeed. Smells interesting: spicey, almost grassy, with the usual roasted malts. There’s definitely some rye bread in there! Well, or it’s my mind playing tricks on me. The palate is a little thin and CO2 abbrasive by stout standards, but with the rye character going on, it complements the flavor to some extent. The flavor is spicy, maybe it’s the rye? There’s also something grassy, the hops are at the high end for a stout, but I really do like it. There’s a slight bittersweetness to this to go along with the roasty near chocolatey flavors. There’s a lot of complexity here--at least a lot more than I expected.

Dark brown pour with brief off-white head offers a nose of mostly roast and a faint sweetness. Palate is thin. Flavor is mostly roast with notes of coffee and a noticeable dry finish. This is enjoyable and remarkably easy to drink. That being said, it is one note to the extreme with little depth or character. I like rye brews but more was expected from Bells.

Aroma of stale coffee and sweaty socks. Taste is not much different, with the rye being so strong that the darker malt of a stout is almost lost. Finish is short and dry, and couldn’t come soon enough.

On tap at Richos, Poured pure black with very little head with slight coffe like aroma. good medium body but rather bland in taste.

Bottle. Poured black color with a moderate brown head that diminished slowly with small lacing. Solid roasted malt and alcohol aroma. Medium body with a smooth texture. Good roasted sweet malt flavor with a small spicy bitter finish. Good rye change of pace stout.

Poured and inky black with some reddish-brown on the edges when held to light. Very fizzy light brown head. Very thin looking. Robust and grainy aroma. No hops. Chocolate with some spice from the rye. The rye character is evident in the flavor. Blended with bitter chocolate and coffee. Thin and fizzy on the palate. Watered down. Not very impressive. My least favorite of the Bell’s stouts.

Bottle: Black coffee in color, brownish edges, small beige spritzy head, dies quickly, sparce lacing.   Heavily roasted malts on the nose, slight campfire, but also a bit of pasture.   Balance of milk sugar sweetness, subtle hop bite, softly roasted malts, and grains on the tongue.   Moderate body, mouthfeel is rather thin tho.   Seems more of a sweet Porter or Dark Ale than a Stout.   Somewhat dry/chalky finish.   Fairly average, cross between weak Milk Stout and a Rye Ale.   Thanks goes out to Styles for the bottles!

Tap at MacNiven’s. As stouts go, this one is good. Opaque black body and nice brown head. Smells like, well, rye. Some toasted notes along with brown sugar. Tastes like, well rye. Again good toasted quality malts shine throuh and linger in the relatively short aftertaste. Rye is present, but doesn’t overwhelm the rest of the beer. A bit watery, but this is something I usually find in stouts.

I always jump at the chance to try a new Bells, especially a stout. Had this on tap at the Map Room. Pretty full of chocolate flavor, more than I was expecting. Medium bodied. On the palate this is a pretty solid tasting stout, though probably the least good of all Bell’s stouts. The rye definitely kicks in on the finish and I don’t really dig it. Definitely worth checking out, though.