UPDATED: AUG 31, 2023 Backlog September 2011. Good looking dark body under a nice, creamy beige head. Strong aroma of dark, roasted malt, coffee, meat bouillon and some chocolate. Taste has sweet, roasted dark malt, chocolate, coffee, some fruity hops and hint of bouillon. Balanced body with long lasting, pleasant aftertaste. Nice one.

UPDATED: JUL 25, 2023 Taste: malty, roasted coffee, dark chocolate, sly sweetness, dry hint of brewer's licorice. Coffee toffee, cocoa nose. Black, mostly opaque, refined tan head, delicate ring of lace. Medium to med/light body. Smokey, this version was using the original 1988 recipe.

UPDATED: JUN 16, 2023 12oz bottle from Grimes Hy-Vee, in a Pretentious Sequel glass. Subtle aromas of toasted grain, malted milk balls, old wood and ripe plums with hints of caramel and vanilla. Pours oily black with four fingers of frothy chocolate head with excellent retention and lacing. Roasty and rather bitter on entry transitioning to sweeter, well-balanced malt on the mid palate. Finish is long with a balance of creaminess and roast. Kind of backwards to a lot of great stouts that start creamy and end bitter. Full-bodied with some stickiness on the gums and some astringency in the back of the throat. Very solid, a unique twist on a classic recipe. Bell's doing great work as always. Cheers!

UPDATED: MAR 31, 2023 Single from that chaotic mix-a-six section @Ingles. Pint glass at home. Black with brown highlights, hearty malt-colored, sticky, lingering head. Sharp coffee, charred carob, murky veg nose. Frothy, milky, bittergreen coffee & some earthy, unsweet, twiggy chocolate. Stiff pine bitterness long through the finish. Always great.

UPDATED: FEB 14, 2023 Pours a pitch black color with a small short lived dark brown head. The aroma was light roasted coffee with good notes of chocolate that was very nice. The flavor was a nice balance of bitter roasted coffee semi sweet dark chocolate. The mouthfeel was creamy and went down very smoothly. Overall Bell's makes a very nice stout.

UPDATED: FEB 25, 2024 Coffee-forward stout. Caramel and chocolate flavor on the back half of the swallow. Light carbonation and head. Not my cup of tea (beer), but should be up the alley of stout-lovers

UPDATED: FEB 6, 2022 DATE: February 5, 2022... OCCASION: a cold Saturday night deserves a flavorful stout... GLASSWARE: Samuel Smith tulip pint... this pours a jet black body with a dirty tan head whose thickness settles rather evenly and laces the glass with intricacies... coffee bean, chocolate, licorice, raisin, baked bread and subtle spices, all laid out to a palatable degree... the texture is thick, its presence at the teeth notable, its body bigger than its ABV... the finish is memorable, warming and coating... it hints at the creaminess of a milk stout, the dryness of an extra, and a graininess that sets it in a unique space... the flavor melds chocolate, licorice and cake into a dessert-like experience, its lactic qualities downplayed and its coffee comes to the foreground... the raisin and pepper also arrive in time... I like this as a sessionable beer, substantial yet sippable, flavorful yet not too demanding... it checks off the necessary stout characteristics, and though it may not do any of them excellently, it combines them into a quality product...

UPDATED: DEC 28, 2021 12oz bottle at home. Pours oily black with a medium brown head. Nose is molasses, coffee, some slight bit of vanilla. Flavour is roasted barley, chocolate, some espresso notes. Medium carbonation.

UPDATED: DEC 18, 2021 Easy drinking, with flavor notes of roasted coffee and chocolate. Some well balanced hop bitterness at end.

UPDATED: DEC 7, 2021 Pours opaque black with a 1-finger tan head. Mild aroma of roasty coffee, maybe a touch of anise. Full-bodied and smooth. The finish is long, with a mild dryness. Flavor of coffee lightened by a touch of a hop note underneath. A bit if chocolate shows at the back.