Porter
Bell's Brewery - Eccentric Café & General Store

 

 

About as good as a straight ahead American porter is going to get. It’s toasty and malty, there’s good coffee flavor, and a surprising punch of bitter and spicy hops for the style. Good lacing and pillowy mouth feel.

 

If you like the style you should be happy with this selection. Checks all the right boxes, from the attractive appearance, the roasty malt aroma, the complexity of the flavor and the full-to-medium bodied mouthfeel. One or two will definitely help you escape the chill of a frosty evening.

 

Appearance: This one pours a very dark black with about two fingers worth of dark beige head.

Aroma: Dark chocolate, vanilla, dark roasted malts and wonderfully roasted hops. Hints of bourbon in the tail end.

Taste: The mouth feel is smoother than silk. Bourbon, vanilla, dark roasted malts and roasted hops.

Overall: This is an amazing beer. Such a incredible example of what a porter should be. Very well done Bells brewery. Prost.

 

 

 

 

Pours a dark brown with some tan head. Smells like nutty chocolate with a slight whiff of hop. The taste is smooth, a little cola like, earthy, nutty, chocolate and perhaps a faint hint of coffee. It is a little on the thin side which lends to drinkability as this goes down fast. A solid representation of the style and a good beer pairing with whatever is on your plate, cheers!

 

Pours dark opaque brown, but is actually a clear dark, dark, ruby in front of a bright light. Smells of roasted malts with a hint of nuts. Tastes smooth and slightly bitter, almost hidden by the roasted-malty-coffee-nut flavors. Nice on a warm day at the BBQ.

 

 

Poured from a 12oz bottle dated 12/21/21 to a Nonic at fridge temp.
Muted aroma of earthy chocolate.
The pour is brown but in the glass you's swear the body is black. An amazing "rootbeer float" head tops the pour. I fades slowly and laces well. Impressive.
The taste is chocolate, not quite unsweetened, but close. There are very subtle notes of charcoal, ash and Mylard-effect sugar.
Mouthfeel is light. I would have liked a little more creaminess.
Overall, pretty good but I don't think it stands up against Founder's Porter.

 

12oz bottle, wine glass, bottled 10/6/21.

It’s very dark brown, like a thick cup of crappy diner coffee. There’s a small creamy head too that provides some decent lacing.

Stale coffee, medium roast malt, Ovaltine, and just a little hop spice.

It really has this sweet diner coffee thing and that may sound negative, but it’s not. There’s roast in the light and medium parts of the spectrum. The sweetness is lactose-like and the finish has some herbal hop flavor.

It’s more on the light bodied side with creamy light carbonation.

Bell’s porter has an interesting light roast character that sets it apart and gives it a bit of a brown ale feel.

Look: cola at the top, almost black otherwise when held up to the light. Large islands of bubbles/head on top, sticking around.

Smell: super roasty! smells great. Actually smells like coffee and char.

Taste: roasted grain/malt. A little savory/salty/umami, but only slightly. A bit of weird sweetness. Like cola, but dry, if that makes any sense. Herbal

Feel: light, fluffy carbonation. Looks heavier than it is.

Overall: not as good as Founder's Robust Porter, but still a good representation of the style.

Pours a thick dark brown, big frothy khaki head leaves a nicely laced glass.
Snot locker get some coffee, roasted malts a bit of toffee, taste buds get that also.
Looks a bit thin for the style, nicely carbonated. Pretty solid brew.

 

A slightly sour molasses scent came out after the cap came off. As it was poured, the deep mahogany liquid was nearly opaque and generated an off-cream head that rose to two fingers then quickly evaporated to a thin layer. Hops became dominant in the scent though there was something in there that reminded me a bit of sun-dried tomatoes and vanilla. Smooth on first sip, the feel grew a bit silkier, then ended with a little bitterness on the swallow... though still pretty smooth. The taste is slight hops and with a hint of something a little sweet and round... I'd almost say grape Kool-Aid, odd as that sounds (not that sun-dried tomatoes isn't odd). This isn't bad, but I think I prefer a more dominant vanilla.

After letting it get to near room temperature, I found the taste improved substantially with some toasted malt making a noticeable appearance. It was a bit flat by this time but also a bit rounder in the mouth.

Beer pours a very dark brown , almost black, with ruby edges. Tall two and a half fingers of a tan head breaking up and sinking into the beer in chunks. Nice soft lacing leaving trickling legs of tan down the glass.

Smell is faint. Yet getting the roasted malts and some coffee notes. Picking up a bit of faint bitter chocolate. Maybe a hint of stone fruits. All smells being very mild on the nose.

Taste is roasted malts being a bit bitter. Lots of coffee on the taste. Almost like a campfire smoke on the taste.

Mouth is robust like the name. Medium feel with a lingering smokiness to it.

Overall a very nice rich roasty and rich malted porter. There really is no sweetness to this beer. This is more of a solid porter than one of those milky or vanilla powered dark beers. No this one has legs and stands on its own. Very nice dark and roasty rich tasting porter. Cheers to Bells and Cheers to all you beer lovers!

 

 

 

 

Bottled in July 2021. Poured into a Belgian snifter style glass. Just a bit under room temp, I was impatient for it to chill.

L: 4.25 A very nice looking porter. Black body, No light comes through when held to the light. Thin to medium light tan head.
S: 4. Great scent. Licorice. Light notes of coffee. Roasted malts.
T: 4.25. This is what a porter should strive to taste like. Roasty notes. Coffee. Caramel. Sweet and bitter, my weakness. Finishes with a bitter aftertaste of dark chocolate.
F: 4. Thin to medium mouthfeel. Very drinkable with a low-ish ABV.
O: 4.25. Best porter I've had in awhile. It has few peers.

The description is quite accurate. It is like a brown ale but there is the added roasted malt flavor. Not creamy as a stout though, more carbonated. It's quite good but i prefer the Samuel Smith nut brown ale.

L: dark, off white head with a rim left over, no lacing.
A: coffee with hints of chocolate
T: coffee, chocolate. Slight hoppy after taste.
F: lighter body, mild carbonation.
O: Runs true to style but the hops are a unique touch. Nothing crazy going on here but it’s solid.

 

 

12 oz bottle, poured into a snifter at 40 degrees F, and allowed to warm to near ambient during consumption.

L: Pours a nigh-opaque, but not quite once the levels get low, ruddy chocolate brown. Forms a finger or so of tan head that dwindles to a cap and ring in short order. Not much lacing to speak of.

S: The nose is bread, toffee, coffee, and old fence post wood. As it warms, some chocolatey notes appear.

T: When cold, this is a blast of bitter roast coffee over black bread and pine tar. As it warms, the pine tar fades back and allows some chocolate tones to manifest, while the coffee smooths out. Bits of burnt nutshell pop in here and there.

F: Full and creamy.

O: This is an enjoyable porter.

 

 

Im more of a stout person so far and this does remind me of that as the description of the style would infer. It's still a porter but I love the stout qualities. I definitely enjoyed this and it seems to be another staple by Bells. Glad to cross it off the list

12 ounce bottle poured into a Duvel tulip glass.

L---Darkest brown color. Densely bubbly tan head is reminiscent of a properly poured Guinness. Very good retention and beautiful lacing.

S---Roasted malts. Some dark chocolate and a light touch of coffee.

T---Roasted malts follow through from the nose. So do the chocolate & coffee, along with some caramel.

F---Creamy, medium body with good carbonation.

O---A really nice Porter from an excellent brewery. It's really hard to believe I've never had this one before.

A cold one yields a light brown, almost white one inch head, which sustains nicely, and yields ample beautiful lacing. The beer is a good looking dark brown, with surprisingly little aroma.. the faintest roasted malt scent is barely detectable. The taste, however is very good.. coffee notes dominant over a malted smokiness, with faint cocoa lending a touch of sweetness to the brew. The mouthfeel is also good, slightly thick and lingering nicely over the tongue. This is fairly mild for a robust porter, but quite true to the classic porter style. A good beer, worthy of entering my beer rotation periodically.