Bells Rye Stout

Brewed by Bells Brewery
Style: Stout
Kalamazoo, Michigan USA

Serve in English pint

Pours black, with a light brown head. Aromas are roasted malt, coffee, and chocolate. Flavors are roasted malt and rye, coffee, chocolate, and hops. Pretty good, but it seems to be missing just a little something. Thanks to MikeMac for this bottle.

Pours black with ruby edges and a quickly fading light brown head. Mocha, smoke along with a sour/ashy character in the nose. Tasty - sweet caramel, roasted malt, chocolate, mocha, light smoke and a pleasant slight touch of sourness. Medium bodied with a smooth texture and moderate carbonation. Pretty good stuff.

Black with brown edges. Small, tan head settles completely. Nose and taste of burnt, roasty, grainy malt, coffee beans, and cocoa powder. Mocha aftertaste. Medium/full, balanced body. Great dry, roasty stout.

UPDATED: DEC 9, 2010 Pours a dark brown with minimal light tan head. Aroma is roasted and malty with earth tones and spices. Not all that pleasent of an aroma actually. Flavor is roasted malt and some coffee as well as rye and wood. Mouth is medium in body with no bitterness in the short finish. Not the best Bell’s I’ve had. A little on the plain side, though its not bad.

2009 Bottle, Batch 9370 - Thanks mibirder! - Pours an opaque dk brown with a large tan head...aroma is roasty and woody, cocoa and plum, with a pronounced graininess...flavour is similar, sweet caramel malt, coffee, a great amount of rye taste without becoming one dimensional, finish is somehow a lingering char bitterness, but the mouthfeel is completely sweet...odd brew that I completely enjoyed!

Very dark brown blackish color with an immensely thick and crispy cocoa brown head that grew to about a finger high only to subside fairly quick to a thin ring, leaves a good amount of spotty lace all over the glass as it goes. Smell has a big time sweet roastyness, tangy dark cherryness with sweet chocolate, vanilla, and cookie dough notes, but mostly a very heavy roasted black malt heft on top with some coffee beans and a juicy tart-like sweetness. Taste is more of the same, light roastyness starts it out but is headed off quickly by a major tangy sweetness of dark cherry and maybe some dark orange that coats the palate and mouth with a chewy tanged sweetness which resides some as it fades out bringing in some light sweet chocolate and notches of coffee. Trails of the tangyness lead into the finish which dries out slowly bringing in a touch of bitterness of hops and coffee. Feel is a solid medium body, pretty smooth and creamy with a moderate sweet/tarting bite and a lightly dry finish showing through late. Its a fine stout with a sweet/tart effect thats OK, maybe if that tang were held off by just a bit it would be better. Seems to closely resemble the Cherry Stout, with a bit bit more roastyness in the nose. Possibly the same ingredients as the Cherry with a slight twist in the recipe?

Appearance: dark black-brown with a meager head of khaki proportions. A slow trickle of bubbles makes their escape from the bottom of my glass to the top. Slightly see through.
Nose: dry and spiced at the same time. Spice and dry wood dominates the back while crumbly, slightly burnt chocolates dapple in the front of the line. Ash is a shadow just barely noticeable. Dark fruit stones and black root add more depth and earthiness.
Palate: surprisingly smooth given her roasted palate. Hershey’s chocolate is a slow stream making its way from first quaff to last. Dry in the back; lingers long in the finish with chocolate graham crackers and chocolate truffle powder. Rye spice and fruitiness in the middle along with black cherries and plums. The dark fruits are interchangeable while the rye and chocolate are a solid presence throughout.
Final Thoughts: another tasty stout from Bells who seems to be the king of stouts, not that I am complaining. I missed this rye train in Vero but was lucky enough to find it in Melbourne, a hop-skip away from my hometown and a drive I have done hundreds of times over the years. If you like stouts and you like rye, this is a no-brainer. And even if you don’t, try and you may just find it to your liking.

(Bottle via trade with BBB63, thanks Mike!) Pours very dark brown with about 1/2" of tan head that fades to a film. Aroma is possibly warm rye bread with some coffee and chocolate in the background. Mouthfeel finely prickly making it a touch harsh, dry, also a little "blunt" feeling. Sloppy lacing. Tastes lightly of coffee and chocolate, then light rye and sourdough in finish. Not really rich and tasty.