Bell's Cherry Stout

So I went to an industry trade show conference today. It was only 15 miles from my house, but between the traffic, rain and school zones, it took forever to get there. Great coffee, though. And some interesting speakers. One thing I did notice was the conference, while it didn't start promptly at 9am, actually started at 9:09 on 09/09/09. Kind've a dumb comment, something I'd expect from a few math geek forums, but what can I say? I spent a day with front-row-sitting, hand-waving, dumb-question-asking, and self-promoting-comment-making brown nosers. I'm sure you've been there. We used to mock them to get them to shut up in college, but now that we're in the business world, it's better to let it go. Was a good day though, as you can usually pick up a tip or two that reminds you to do something, or do it better.

Today I'm drinking Bell's Cherry Stout brewed by Bell's Brewery in Comstock, Michigan. Speaking of dates above, this beer is identified with batch number 8870 meaning it was packaged on 12/10/2008. The idea of this beer sounds delicious. Here I come!

Dark fruit, but hard to pick out cherries in the aroma. You smell more raisins and caramels than anything, and kind of a delicious sweetness. You start with very fruity flavors, very juicy, lots of cherries. The bottle does say brewed with cherry juice, but to me it seems like the cherry juice was mixed in and has not integrated well with the beer, like they are vinegar and oil (of course not those flavors, though). There is a bit of light chocolate and a solid maltiness, too. This beer is not sweet, as the aroma led me on. Rather it is slightly bitter, tangy and a little bit sour. You get a hit of the 7% alcohol as you move toward the finish line, which was fine. Medium body, definitely different, a little weird. Not bad but not a favorite. Share it with a few friends and bounce some thoughts off of each other.

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