Bell's Porter | Bell's Brewery, Inc.
Brewed by:
Bell's Brewery, Inc.
Michigan, United States
bellsbeer.com
Style: American Porter
Alcohol by volume (ABV): 5.60%
Availability: Year-round
Notes / Commercial Description:
One of our many award-winning beers, Porter emphasizes the darker, roasted aspects of malt. Hints of dark chocolate and freshly roasted coffee provide the focus, while hops remain in the background. Not as full-bodied as a stout, Porter bridges the gap between malty brown ales and our more heavily roasted stouts.
Added by Mitchster on 02-06-2002
View: Beers | Place Reviews | Events
Ratings: 2,939 | Reviews: 1,068
4.12/5 rDev +6.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Bell's Porter 12oz poured into nonic pint. Pours very dark with small head. Aroma of smokey chocolate, malt, coffee and hops. Smooth mouthfeel, Balanced flavor of malt, hops, cocoa and coffee with a touch of smoke. Exceptionally easy to drink porter, up there and comparable to GLEFP in flavor and mouthfeel.
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look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Bell's Porter 12oz poured into nonic pint. Pours very dark with small head. Aroma of smokey chocolate, malt, coffee and hops. Smooth mouthfeel, Balanced flavor of malt, hops, cocoa and coffee with a touch of smoke. Exceptionally easy to drink porter, up there and comparable to GLEFP in flavor and mouthfeel.
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2.6/5 rDev -33%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2
Pours a dark brown/black with a thick firm light yellow/tan head.
Nose is assertive milked, semi-sweet coffee, roasted grain and rich sweet dark chocolate - very nice nose.
Mouthfeel is thin and watery and with no body.
Flavors are thin bitter grapefruit and thin bitter espresso but with a citrus character and acidity that detracts. Thin all around.
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look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2
Pours a dark brown/black with a thick firm light yellow/tan head.
Nose is assertive milked, semi-sweet coffee, roasted grain and rich sweet dark chocolate - very nice nose.
Mouthfeel is thin and watery and with no body.
Flavors are thin bitter grapefruit and thin bitter espresso but with a citrus character and acidity that detracts. Thin all around.
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3.99/5 rDev +2.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Packaged 1/29/15.
Pours an almost opaque super dark brown with a foamy dark khaki head that settles to a partial film on top of the beer. Foamy swaths of lace form around the glass on the drink down. Smell is of dark roasted malt, toasted sesame seed, earth, char, and cocoa powder aromas. Taste is much the same with cocoa powder, char, earth, and slight burnt toast flavors on the finish. There is a mild amount of roast bitterness on the palate with each sip. This beer has a lower level of carbonation with a slightly crisp and medium bodied mouthfeel. Overall, this is a good beer that has a nice balance of roast, char, and cocoa characteristics all around.
Serving type: bottle.
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look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Packaged 1/29/15.
Pours an almost opaque super dark brown with a foamy dark khaki head that settles to a partial film on top of the beer. Foamy swaths of lace form around the glass on the drink down. Smell is of dark roasted malt, toasted sesame seed, earth, char, and cocoa powder aromas. Taste is much the same with cocoa powder, char, earth, and slight burnt toast flavors on the finish. There is a mild amount of roast bitterness on the palate with each sip. This beer has a lower level of carbonation with a slightly crisp and medium bodied mouthfeel. Overall, this is a good beer that has a nice balance of roast, char, and cocoa characteristics all around.
Serving type: bottle.
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3.83/5 rDev -1.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
A tasty brew, as much in the brown ale range as a porter for me, lighter in color with some Indian red shades and raisin looking brown at the core, no darker. Head is fizzy and quite dark as well. Chocolate malt is there in the nose, and with what seems like some English malt, maris otter and medium crystal perhaps. Some bready yeast there too, which I always like in these styles for depth, but I was let down a bit to not have it transfer do well from the nose to the flavor, it's not really there. Nice nutty and toasty qualities the in flavor, I dig nutty in porter with the darker grain. Cocoa and almond notes late. Smooth in feel, medium in body, light in residuals, and quite actively car boned, definitely above the style norm, really pops on the palate. Everyone always raves about the whacky stuff bells does, but I for one am a fan of their most basic styles, this one included. It's a little something different as they go, and it's wide availability makes it easy to locate with a little effort. I enjoyed this thoroughly!
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look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
A tasty brew, as much in the brown ale range as a porter for me, lighter in color with some Indian red shades and raisin looking brown at the core, no darker. Head is fizzy and quite dark as well. Chocolate malt is there in the nose, and with what seems like some English malt, maris otter and medium crystal perhaps. Some bready yeast there too, which I always like in these styles for depth, but I was let down a bit to not have it transfer do well from the nose to the flavor, it's not really there. Nice nutty and toasty qualities the in flavor, I dig nutty in porter with the darker grain. Cocoa and almond notes late. Smooth in feel, medium in body, light in residuals, and quite actively car boned, definitely above the style norm, really pops on the palate. Everyone always raves about the whacky stuff bells does, but I for one am a fan of their most basic styles, this one included. It's a little something different as they go, and it's wide availability makes it easy to locate with a little effort. I enjoyed this thoroughly!
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3.91/5 rDev +0.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
This porter pours out with a nice black color, the head was thin and a light shade of brown. The smell of the beer was of roasted malts and some old wood. The taste was interesting, had a flavor in the aftertaste that I can't really describe. Other than that it was chocolatey and earthy. The mouthfeel was smooth and had a lighter body to it. Overall it's a really nice simle porter.
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look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
This porter pours out with a nice black color, the head was thin and a light shade of brown. The smell of the beer was of roasted malts and some old wood. The taste was interesting, had a flavor in the aftertaste that I can't really describe. Other than that it was chocolatey and earthy. The mouthfeel was smooth and had a lighter body to it. Overall it's a really nice simle porter.
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3.97/5 rDev +2.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
4/5 rDev +3.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
A: The beer is close to near black in color. It poured with a half finger high beige head that has good retention properties and never completely faded away.
S: There are aromas of roasted malts in the nose along with some notes of coffee.
T: The taste is very similar to the smell and is quite complex with flavors of roasted malts, notes of chocolate and hints of cocoa and coffee. The finish has some bitterness.
M: It feels medium-bodied and very smooth on the palate with a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: The beer is very easy to drink and goes down smoothly.
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look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
A: The beer is close to near black in color. It poured with a half finger high beige head that has good retention properties and never completely faded away.
S: There are aromas of roasted malts in the nose along with some notes of coffee.
T: The taste is very similar to the smell and is quite complex with flavors of roasted malts, notes of chocolate and hints of cocoa and coffee. The finish has some bitterness.
M: It feels medium-bodied and very smooth on the palate with a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: The beer is very easy to drink and goes down smoothly.
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3.88/5 rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
The 'tap' version of the beer offers a better experience than from the bottle. The beer is typically colored with a deep walnut hue and nearly opaque. Well headed and modestly carbonated gives visual weight and stability to the brew. Faint aromas of coffee, chocolate, toasted malts, and heavy cream. The flavors of malt sweetness pronounce early, but are quickly tempered by bold columbian coffee notes and acidity, fresh bitter hops, walnuts, cocoa, and milk sugars. Creamy textured and silky smooth, not relying on carbonation to lighten the feel. Finishes with a simple coffee and milk aftertaste that lingers into a slight bitterness. As nicely flavored as I had remembered, but better bodied from the tap.
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look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
The 'tap' version of the beer offers a better experience than from the bottle. The beer is typically colored with a deep walnut hue and nearly opaque. Well headed and modestly carbonated gives visual weight and stability to the brew. Faint aromas of coffee, chocolate, toasted malts, and heavy cream. The flavors of malt sweetness pronounce early, but are quickly tempered by bold columbian coffee notes and acidity, fresh bitter hops, walnuts, cocoa, and milk sugars. Creamy textured and silky smooth, not relying on carbonation to lighten the feel. Finishes with a simple coffee and milk aftertaste that lingers into a slight bitterness. As nicely flavored as I had remembered, but better bodied from the tap.
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3.32/5 rDev -14.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
I know I've already reviewed this; I just haven't typed up my notes. Anyway, here's an impression:
Whoppers-redolent malted milk balls give this an almost brown ale-like bend, lifting it out of square porter territory. Unconventional but not experimental or inspired. A bit too sweet, though not severely imbalanced. Taking the focus away from the chocolate/dark malts wasn't a wise choice, but it kind of plays in this enjoyable drinkable but not amazing stab at a porter.
Competent fare from Bell's, but the malted milk ball flavour dominance isn't ideal.
B- / WORTHY
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look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
I know I've already reviewed this; I just haven't typed up my notes. Anyway, here's an impression:
Whoppers-redolent malted milk balls give this an almost brown ale-like bend, lifting it out of square porter territory. Unconventional but not experimental or inspired. A bit too sweet, though not severely imbalanced. Taking the focus away from the chocolate/dark malts wasn't a wise choice, but it kind of plays in this enjoyable drinkable but not amazing stab at a porter.
Competent fare from Bell's, but the malted milk ball flavour dominance isn't ideal.
B- / WORTHY
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3.57/5 rDev -8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
Poured from a bottle into a Chimay goblet.
Appearance: Pours very dark brown with some red coming through when light hits the edges. There is a half finger of tan head that goes away quickly.
Smell: Roasty with hints of coffee and some dark chocolate. There is a very mild malty sweetness in there as well.
Taste: Roast up front, a nice amount of bitterness. Mild malt sweetness with some hops showing up in the finish to mingle with the roast.
Mouthfeel: Medium body with intensely tingly carbonation and a slightly dry finish.
Overall: This is a solid porter. I'm not sure I'll pick this one up again, but I might.
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look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
Poured from a bottle into a Chimay goblet.
Appearance: Pours very dark brown with some red coming through when light hits the edges. There is a half finger of tan head that goes away quickly.
Smell: Roasty with hints of coffee and some dark chocolate. There is a very mild malty sweetness in there as well.
Taste: Roast up front, a nice amount of bitterness. Mild malt sweetness with some hops showing up in the finish to mingle with the roast.
Mouthfeel: Medium body with intensely tingly carbonation and a slightly dry finish.
Overall: This is a solid porter. I'm not sure I'll pick this one up again, but I might.
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4/5 rDev +3.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Appearance: Pours a dark chocolate brown with a beige head that displays good retention and some shards of lace
Smell: Alternating wafts of dark bread, chocolate and roast
Taste: Starts out with a bread and chocolate flavor that grows increasingly chocolatey by mid-palate; after the swallow, the chocolate is joined by hints of coffee bitterness through to the finish; some vanilla sweetness in there, too, but the aftertaste is rather roasty
Mouthfeel: Medium body with moderate carbonation
Drinkability: A nice middle of the road porter, with good chocolate flavor and a commendable balance of sweet and roasty flavors
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look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Appearance: Pours a dark chocolate brown with a beige head that displays good retention and some shards of lace
Smell: Alternating wafts of dark bread, chocolate and roast
Taste: Starts out with a bread and chocolate flavor that grows increasingly chocolatey by mid-palate; after the swallow, the chocolate is joined by hints of coffee bitterness through to the finish; some vanilla sweetness in there, too, but the aftertaste is rather roasty
Mouthfeel: Medium body with moderate carbonation
Drinkability: A nice middle of the road porter, with good chocolate flavor and a commendable balance of sweet and roasty flavors
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4.13/5 rDev +6.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
A timeless classic, and staple of any Midwest beer bar worth their salt.
Sooty black with mahogany edges. Several fingers width of tan foam with a vigorous pour, that slowly recede and coat the glass with intricate lacing. Retention is great, the foam remains unbroken the entire time.
Roasty black patent malt, coffee notes, and a mild bready malt sweetness.
Supple feel, signature roast with coffee and bakers chocolate notes. Little to no bitterness, creamy and smooth body with mellow carbonation. Lingering flavor of dry roast in the aftertaste. Extremely drinkable, flavorful and well-rounded. Many so-called extreme beers pale in comparison to this classic Porter.
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look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
A timeless classic, and staple of any Midwest beer bar worth their salt.
Sooty black with mahogany edges. Several fingers width of tan foam with a vigorous pour, that slowly recede and coat the glass with intricate lacing. Retention is great, the foam remains unbroken the entire time.
Roasty black patent malt, coffee notes, and a mild bready malt sweetness.
Supple feel, signature roast with coffee and bakers chocolate notes. Little to no bitterness, creamy and smooth body with mellow carbonation. Lingering flavor of dry roast in the aftertaste. Extremely drinkable, flavorful and well-rounded. Many so-called extreme beers pale in comparison to this classic Porter.
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3.23/5 rDev -16.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
Bottle courtesy of Hogtownharry: Poured a pitch black porter with a medium foamy head with good retention and lacing. Aroma of roasted malt with some very subtle coffee notes is interesting but a bit weak. Taste is a mix between bitter roasted malt with some subtle sweet chocolate note. Body is a bit thin IMHO. Definitely not the best offer from this otherwise fine brewer.
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look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
Bottle courtesy of Hogtownharry: Poured a pitch black porter with a medium foamy head with good retention and lacing. Aroma of roasted malt with some very subtle coffee notes is interesting but a bit weak. Taste is a mix between bitter roasted malt with some subtle sweet chocolate note. Body is a bit thin IMHO. Definitely not the best offer from this otherwise fine brewer.
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4/5 rDev +3.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
A - Poured out an opaque, dark brown color with a small, foamy, caramel-colored head. It left small thin traces of lace.
S - It smelled of roasted malt, dark chocolate, dried fruit (cherry), and toffee. Also, some light floral notes.
T - This is a nicely balanced porter with a bittersweet blend of hops and caramel roasted maltiness. Some chocolate flavors add to the complexity of this beer.
M - It was soft and smooth. A medium-bodied beer.
D - This is a very nice porter. Yet another fine offering from Bell's.
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look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
A - Poured out an opaque, dark brown color with a small, foamy, caramel-colored head. It left small thin traces of lace.
S - It smelled of roasted malt, dark chocolate, dried fruit (cherry), and toffee. Also, some light floral notes.
T - This is a nicely balanced porter with a bittersweet blend of hops and caramel roasted maltiness. Some chocolate flavors add to the complexity of this beer.
M - It was soft and smooth. A medium-bodied beer.
D - This is a very nice porter. Yet another fine offering from Bell's.
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Bell's Porter from Bell's Brewery, Inc.
3.88
out of 5
based on 2,939 ratings.
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Vanilla and wine Aroma and taste like a bit of wine. Top porter. Tan foam on black. Malty with Coffee bean, buttery chocolate and hickory, and carbonation. Creamy with yeast and caramel, a winning pleasure. Spicy aftertaste. Markled it down a bit on tasting May 2005.
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