Review 141: Bell's Black Note Stout

Review 141

2/21/13

Bell’s Black Note Stout: 11.8% abv

Background: Bell’s Black Note Stout. This is a sought after beer in some parts, and for a moment, I lost the review for it. Silly mistake. Bell’s is a pretty big company, and as far as microbreweries goes, this one is an old one; Bell’s has been around since 1983. Back then, Bell’s was called the Kalamazoo Brewing Company and was founded by Larry Bell. In 1996, Bell’s changed its flagship summer beer’s name to Oberon and in 2005 Bell’s changed their name to Bell’s. What’s most impressive is Bell’s 500,000 barrel capacity as of last year, and the availability. Bell’s is available in 14 different states and the District of Columbia. This makes Bell’s huge, taking tons of money into the market. Now, Bell’s provides us with a unique stout offering. Black Note Stout combines the Expedition Stout and Double Cream Stout and throws it in a refill bourbon cask to let it age. That’s the story behind this brewing beast, and now the results. Is it worth the high price tag?

Nose: Yeast, slight must, chocolate, cocoa, coffee, butterscotch, oatmeal, vanilla, rich caramel, raisons, oak, molasses, nutty, and slight malt influence

Arrival: Wood, bourbon notes late in arrival, roasted almonds, vanilla, lemon-lime citrus, bitter rind, spicy, coffee, cocoa, slightly hot

Body: Caramel, thin mouthfeel, wood, slight earthiness, bit of hops, touch of cinnamon, chocolate, hot spice, Rock N’ Rye soda, molasses

Finish: Caramel, wood, vanilla, lingering spice, butterscotch, dark cherry, sweet wheat flavors, malt and rye, medium length

Final Comments: This is a complex beer. There is no arguing with that. We enjoy the complexity of this beer, but there is a caveat. This beer is not dynamic. We don’t know what it is we are missing, but everything seems pretty flat, and there isn’t a great progression from the arrival to the finish. It is a dry and sweet beer, with rich, unique character to it. Our one reservation is that the beer doesn’t have a dynamic taste to it. We are nit-picking because this is an expensive, limited beer.

Why you’d buy it: You want to experience a bourbon-barrel aged beer that is complex and unique, and hard to get.

Why you wouldn’t: There are much more available bourbon-barrel aged stouts which have similar quality.

Score: 9.25/10

Review 110: Bell's This One Goes to 11

Review 110

12/4/12

Bell’s This One Goes to 11 Ale: 11% abv

Okay. Bell’s put this one out for their 11,000th batch, and they got a little out of hand with the number 11. I’m not sure what the significance of the word 11 is, or if there is just a lot of things you can do with it, but they sure did a lot to emphasize it. You’ll notice that its name is so cleverly crafted, AND it is at 11%. Oh Bell’s, you never cease to impress. Okay, onto the beer. This is an imperial red ale, which we haven’t seen a whole bunch of, but it sounds good enough. So what’s it like? 

Well, the nose is pretty impressive. Right of the bat, you can find grapefruit and fruity citrus notes come out in the form of lemon and grape acidity. There is also the addition of red apple, pear, pear skins, barley grain, pine resin, pineapple, and agave. So with this slew of notes you should think we’re crazy. The point is it has a fruity, but slightly bitter nose with some sweetness and maltiness to it. It is complex and enjoyable. Now I’ve told you the good news? Do you want to hear the bad news? Too bad. The arrival starts off well, with a sweet, mellow overtone of malt, with caramel, creaminess, molasses, agave, and some pine tastes to it. That pine obviously introduces the bitter into the beer. The body is malty, with caramel, lemon rind, slight bitterness, slight apple, and some hops. So not very complex, with primarily grain and bitterness to offer. The finish is identical with the addition of grapefruit. Translation: more bitterness. 

Don’t get me wrong, this beer isn’t excessively bitter in comparison to some of those beers out there, but it just doesn’t have other flavors to justify it. Now, there is a footnote to this as well. Generally speaking, this would garner a harsh score, but we have had some inventory issues, so this beer has been sitting around for about two months. We’ve been told that this beer is at its prime fresh off the shelf. We can’t score this as a winner, but there is a potential that what we’ve reported could be less than what this beer’s maximum potential is. 

Score: 7.25/10