Miasmatic Review

Bell's Cherry Stout

I was going to review another beer tonight, but when I poured it into a glass, there was some kind of unreasonable floating bits in it. When I say bits, I mean chunks! I went online before drinking the beer to make sure that wasn’t normal. (I’ve had beers that were supposed to have floater) After confirming that no, it was wrong on so many levels I had to dump the beer down the drain. (Sorry Petey, it was one of yours) Fortunately last week Bruce and I went to a Beer tasting here in town and I happened to pick up a six pack of beer to do a review on based on the tasting. So tonight I’m reviewing Bell’s Cherry Stout by Bell’s Brewery in Comstock, MI.

Mine came in the standard 12 oz brown bottle. There is a tan paper label that has a picture of a cherry tree with three huge cherries under it. The company logo is at the top, the beer name is at the bottom. They have a brief description of the beer, “Stout brewed with cherry juice.”

The color is a nice dark ebony. There is a slight reddish tint to it. It’s so dark and thick that light doesn’t pass through the beer. Even when held to the light you can barely see light passing through the edge of the beer. Almost no head formed when poured into the glass. What head formed was thin and tan. It faded quickly to nothing. There was some very minimal lacing on the side of the glass.

The smell is a combination of Chocolate and rich Coffee malts. A mild cherry mild scent enhances the malt scent. The flavor was much like the scent. The main flavor is a strong coffee and chocolate malt combination that is common with stouts. A slight tart cherry flavor rounds the flavor out. The cherry flavor really does enhance the rest of the beer. The aftertaste is very pleasant and fades quickly.

This is a full bodied beer. There is some creaminess, but for a stout there could be a bit more to it. Still there is more than what you get in most American stouts.

Anyone that has been drinking with me has heard me say, “Fruit does not belong in beers” or “If you have to add fruit to a beer to make it drinkable, then it is not a good beer.” This, however, is the exception to the case. The cherry flavor is so mild, that it just enhances the richness of the malts. It opens up the taste buds to really appreciate the total experience. Even if you are like me and am not a fan of fruit beers, I would recommend at least giving this one a chance. Overall I give it 7.5 out of 10.