Larry's Last
Bell's Brewery - Eccentric Café & General Store

 

 

A - Pours pitch black with a thin tan head. Light amount of slick lacing.

S - Aroma is sweet oats, coffee, dark chocolate and roasted malts.

T - The taste is black coffee, chocolate, roasted malts, molasses and a spicy rye finish.

M - Medium body with medium carbonation. Creamy mouthfeel with a soft dry finish.

O - Very well done Oatmeal Stout.

Larry’s Last Imperial Oatmeal Stout from Bells. 12 oz bottle. Stored at 34 degrees at home. Received from @Whyteboar in NBW BIF #16. Reviewed 12/01/23 (Review 3011). Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Stamped on back label “PKG 01/24/2022”. Served at 57.7 degrees in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. The final temperature was 61.3 degrees.
Appearance – 3.5.
First pour – Deep Brown (SRM 24), clear.
Body – Ruby Brown (SRM 30), oily and opaque. Under direct light, same. When rear lite, ruby at the edges.
Head – Small (Maximum 0.5 cm, aggressive center pour), khaki, high density and fizzy, poor retention, quickly dropping to a 0.1 cm bubble ring fed by carbonation and a thin, partial surface scum.
Lacing – None.
Aroma – 4 – Sweet, chocolate malt. No hops, no yeast.
Flavor – 4 – Flavor follows the nose – lightly sweet, chocolate malt, no hops, no yeast. No ethanol (10 % ABV as marked on label) aroma or taste. Slight gastric warming occurs. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl. Light bitterness on the aftertaste.
Palate – 3.5 – Medium, watery, soft carbonation.
Final impression and summation: 3.75 Decent impy oatmeal stout but not exceptional.

Pours a clear pitch black with a mocha-colored head that dissipates rather rapidly, no lacing but nice leggings when swirled. Aroma is roasted malt, coffee, chocolate and a hint of smoke. Flavor follows the nose, a bit sweet in front. Feel is thick and lacking carbonation. Overall, a nice sipper.

Signing off as the head of Bell's Brewery, Larry places a final note on the brewery with his last beer- an Imperial Oatmeal Stout with the nuanced brilliance of rye and done in simple, responsible and elegant British tradition.

Larry's Last pours with a luscious black appearance looking the part of both espresso and malted milkshake. Viscous and rounded with a lathery creamy tan froth, the stout soon grabs the senses with a robust aroma of chocolate, coffee, cream and the subtlety of dark fruit and warming spice. Sweeter once on the tongue, the flavors open with a similar blend of chocolate, vanilla, cream and nougat.

With the flavors of dark roast coffee, roasted walnut and a light smoky char, a more earthy set of complexities rise to meet the intensity of malt sweetness. Rounded, smooth and remaining nougat-like, the ale invites the nuances of grilled plum, blueberry, blackberry and cherry to permeate the chocolate and coffee on route to a smooth and spice late taste of broadly bitter woods, a light husken grit and a hint of coffee liqueur.

Full bodied, smooth and silky, the dark ale finishes plush with malt and still with a relaxed sense of drinkability for a bittersweet chocolate finish with balancing coffee-like bitterness and a near kahlua-like warmth.

Pours the darkest brown with a finger of relatively dense coffee ice cream colored head that receded to a thing cap & ring. Decent lacing and legs. Oats are clearly present on the nose and somewhat mask any roasted notes. Rye notes that I didn't necessarily get on the nose show up in the flavor, creating a little bit of spicy heat. Still not much in the way of roasted malts. Chewy, tasty and enjoyable.

 

 

 

 

 

Appearance: Pours out thick and dark producing a one finger khaki head on top of the liquid; plenty of dots and squiggles

Smell: Rich roasted malt with, chocolate, licorice and molasses aromatics

Taste: Chocolate, caramel and licorice forward with the molasses flavor building; spicy rye adds an another element, in the middle; the finish is big, and malty with a hint of dried dark fruit; boozy finish

Mouthfeel: Full bodied with moderate carbonation; creamy with warmth in the gullet

Overall: A lot of interesting wrinkles here; though I don't love how the rye impacts the flavor profile, I appreciate the creativity Larry Bell brought to his final brew

 

12oz bottle. Poured out an opaque, jet-black color with good-sized, khaki-colored head of foam. It left sudsy trails of lace on the glass. It smelled of oatmeal, roasted malt, coffee and chocolate. Big roasted flavor with coffee, molasses, caramel and milk chocolate taste.

I read a comparison between this and expedition that called this a smoother, more approachable version and I can see why.

In the glass it pours black as midnight with thin lacing. The aroma is fantastic, cocoa and roast and some … oatmeal? There’s a sweet cocoa nib and French press roast on the sip. Delightful and enjoyable to the end.

12oz bottle. Label has bottling date as '01/29/2022'.
Black colored body, with a back lit mahogany edge. One finger of tight tan head. Leaves strings and partial rings of lacing.
Aroma has heavy roasted oak malts, with a little chocolate and dark fruits.
Taste is rye spicy, with dark roasted malts that express chocolate and dark fruits. Oak malts in the aftertaste.
Awesome creamy and heavier mouth feel. Some rye spice on the tongue, along with the higher alcohol effect. Good carbonation.
Best part is the mouthfeel but the other aspects are solid. Good last brew.

So happy I was able to pick up some of this. Big fan of Larry for oh so many years and appreciative of his contribution to the craft beer industry and being in the center of making very good, flavorful styles out to the public. Congrats to him on a job well done. Seems he did well financially as well.
This is a good beer for his swansong. He did seem to have a fondness for big rich dark malty stouts, so why not finish that way.
Pours as brownish as black and a smallish dark tan head that shows heavy lacing. Clear in body. Big malt aroma with some fruit with roast and coffee. Nice little spiciness from the rye that adds a lot.
Nice shot of sweetness in the rich roast flavors. Feels heavier on intake than finish but a smooth softness throughout. This is enhanced by a bigger than typical for style, carbonation. Where normally this would be a drag on the pleasure, here it is not. Dryness lays on the tongue through a long pleasing finish.

Picked up a single from the Blue Door Bottleshop 3-31-2022 for $4.00. Bottled 1-29-22; consumed 6-10-22.

Beer poured black with a near perfect head that still is hanging tough 10 minutes after the pour.

Nose is primarily a heavy roasted malt with a touch of chocolate.

Taste is heavy roasted malts with a touch of anise and chocolate. Finished with solid hopping, well balanced.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied and delightfully smooth.

Overall a nice oatmeal stout, so glad i saw this and was able to enjoy the Last One!

Pours a black some brown edges when held to the light nice smaller khaki head that falls to a ring with some lace.

Aroma is smooth roasted malts, smooth sweet oats, soft chocolate, caramel, anise, smooth vanilla. Like the good ole days just the grains baby sweet goodness without all the dessert stout adjuncts.

Taste is smooth big roasted malts, full smooth body from the oats loads of flavors light roast, caramel, molasses, chocolate, anise, light vanilla, some spice form the rye and dark fruit notes. A big smooth ole fashioned stout that is due for a comeback.

Mouthfeel is a full smooth and satisfying , a lightly mellow carbonation, goes down easy and smooth.

Overall a great beer the way they use to do stouts.