Bells Rye Stout

Brewed by Bells Brewery
Style: Stout
Kalamazoo, Michigan USA

Serve in English pint

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This beer pours very dark, almost black and formed a nice light bubbly brown head that subsided quickly and left trace lace. The aroma was of malt & rye and the flavoer of rye and chocolate. A silky body and medium finish. Not as good as their other stout's like expedition and kalamazoo, but not bad.

An interesting brew as it pours brownish black with minimal head given off on the pour. I detect a different taste to this one with a metallic aftertaste. I really don’t know how to describe but it was a nice change of pace.

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!

11.09.06 12oz bottle, batch 7235. Mostly dark brown beer with light cola edges and very little head after the initial pour. Aroma is weak coffee, dark chocolate, and mild toasted nuttiness. The nuttiness must be the rye because that’s the closest thing I can find to a grassy or grainy anything in this beer. Very slight acidity near the finish of this otherwise plain (though tasty) stout. The palate is fine with a nice, mild carbonation and somewhat slick but full feel. I can’t knock if for flavor, because it’s good, but I’ll be damned if I can find even a trace of rye anywhere in the flavor or aroma of this stuff. Meh, I’m gonna go drink a bottle of Triumph Roggenbock -- boy am I glad I saved some of that stuff!

Dark brown pour, thin, sparse creamy light brown head. Aroma is mostly roasted grainy beer. Flavor adds some sweet, rich coffee with fruit hints. Flavor is better than the aroma, but I wish it was a little richer, especially since it is Bells.

Opens with a nice "Pssst!" then the pour. My first thought: Coffee, anyone? Pours an almost black color with minimal head and little lacing. Smells like wonderful coffee (another passion of mine) and chocolate with a hint of rye. This was its highpoint. Taste was disappointing. Coffee is hidden in the back, as well as toffee and a bit of caramel. Rye is there as well. As a stout it's missing bitterness. Well, not the bitterness, but the balance of hops I usually expect with the sweetness. It's okay but nothing special. And as for the rye, I can only compare the flavor to what I've had in Hop Rod Rye, and this is lame in comparison. Mouthfeel is a bit more watery than I expect or like. Drinkability is okay but nothing I'd ever seek out.

Pours a black color with a reddish tint and a medium light brown head. Malty aroma with rye and cocoa hints. Taste is dry malty flavor with hints of baking chocolate and rye. Average.

Bottle from Pailhead, batch 7234 or so. Black colored, perhaps a touch of light passes through. Thin tan head barely has the gumption to form and then fades quickly to an interrupted ring at the edge of the glass. Modest lacing is left behind. Aroma is full of rye and modestly spicey. A dose of roasted grain blends fairly nicely in the nose. Medium bodied, slightly thin at times. Modest carbonation. Roasty chocolate rye bread is my take on flavor. Blended well the slight peppery rye balances out well with the deeper roasted grain and hops used. Decent, certainly worth drinking again.

UPDATED: JUN 28, 2006 Bottle: Aroma has lots of coffee and roasted grain along with a moderate chocolate balance. Pours a dark brown with a tan head that fades quickly. Moderate chocolate up front quickly fades to a point where there is no taste at all for an instant and then light rye and coffee appear in the finish and then those flavors quickly disappear. Not all that flavorful. Nice creamy smooth mouthfeel.

12oz. bottle. Opaque brown-black with a thin light tan head. Dark chocolate, some roastiness, and a grainy spiciness. Weak coffee, some chocolate flavors. Mild roastiness and hints of rye in the finish. Mouthfeel is medium light, somewhat dry.