Bell's Special Double Cream Stout

I'm going to end this week with another great beer review, as I have been having so many amazing beers lately. I have been enjoying home brews and craft beers a lot lately. Probably too much, truth be told. I need to watch it or it will likely hurt my training this summer for LiveStrong Challenge in Philadelphia. That, in itself, poses another problem but I'm guessing you don't want to hear me bitch about things right now.

So, back to the point of this post. Without further adieu, I will share another amazing beer, well... a review of a really amazing beer. I also encourage you to check back next week, as I will be posting a review of a great Stone treat that I enjoyed. It's a once or twice in a lifetime beer, a once in a lifetime experience, and it will be a great post. I promise that. I have always loved Stone, and this gave me all the more reason to love them.

I had the opportunity to check out another great Bell's brew. This time it was the Bell's Special Double Cream Stout. I have to admit that I'm not a huge stout guy. I went through a stout faze, but I am and have always been a hoppy beer guy. I love my IPA's and anything big hops. Not necessarily big alcohol, but complex flavor. I popped the Stout and here is what I found:

APPEARANCE: Dark brown, nearly black. Very Clear with a noticeably taupe head.

AROMA: A noticeable malty smell with some heavy coffee tones and an ever so slight alcohol note present.

FLAVOR: Malty, roasted, coffee flavors. Extremely smooth & rich, with just a hint of sweetness. Subtle hints of chocolate. Almost no bitterness of hops.

PALATE: Definitely a medium-bodied, extremely well balanced, very creamy mouth feel. Almost no heat (of alcohol) about it.

NOTES: I could easily make this a session beer. The beer was medium bodied, very enjoyable, and very rich. The problem? At 7.5% ABV it can’t be a session beer unless you wanted it to be a very, very early night.

It wasn't a complex beer, in my opinion, but it was well balanced. To me, it was like having a good cup of coffee after dinner. I could see sitting down to chocolate cake with this beer, and having it compliment the dessert perfectly. This is the fourth or fifth Bell's I have in about a week, and I have to admit, Larry Bell and company are winning a special place in my heart.