Bell's Expedition Stout - Bell's Brewery, Inc.

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BA SCORE
94
exceptional
-
3,057 Ratings

rAvg: 4.21
pDev: 12.11%
Reviews: 1757
Hads: 1300

Ratings Help

Brewed by:
Bell's Brewery, Inc.

Michigan, United States

Style | ABV
Russian Imperial Stout | 10.50% ABV

Availability: Winter. bottle (1663), on-tap (75), cask (14), growler (3), nitro-tap (2).

Notes:
Expedition Stout offers immensely complex flavors crafted specifically with vintage aging in mind, as its profile will continue to mature and develop over the years. A huge malt body is matched to a heady blend of chocolate, dark fruits, and other aromas. Intensely bitter in its early months, the flavors will slowly meld and grow in depth as the beer ages.

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Reviews

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Reviews by pheurton:

pheurton

Pennsylvania

4.68/5 rDev +11.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

re-rate 01/16/04. 2003 edition with label on the neck. pours an inky black with a giant cascading milk chocolatey brown head...that's more like it. roasted vinous aromas with hints of dark fruit (plums) with a mellow chocolate undertone. *huge* imperial flavors going on here....deep, 3-dimensional vinous notes, roasted barley, juicy dark fruits. tasting some subtle earthy and salty flavors. carbonation is slightly too prickly, and the body is just a little bit thin. finish is super long, with notes of chocolate, toffe, and earthy hoppiness lending a very pleasant bitterness to balance things out. i'm glad i found one of the 2003 bottles, this is what imperial stouts are all about! i wish they had recalled the flat '02 edition, b/c it is unfairly representing this great brew. as with some other bell's products, great when it's "on". numerical score represents the 2003 edition.

2002 edition. pours thick and black with the most *MINIMAL* head one might imagine. inverting the bottle and letting it splash into the tulip glass violently still produces nothing more than a few bubbles. great burnt chocolate roasty imperial aroma. wonderful roasted, thick, oily dark choclatey, coffe-ish flavors, except, where's the carbonation? slides down the throat too easily. can't escape the feeling like i'm drinking something flat. the flavors are there, just not held together in any coherent way. it's a damn shame. if you can get past the lack of carbonation and put yourself in the frame of mind that this is what the beer is meant to be, it becomes more enjoyable. i must admit though, i'm dissapointed. orignial overall rating of 2.45

Serving type: bottle

11-06-2003 23:10:31 | More by pheurton

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4.75/5 rDev +12.8%

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GoldHorde

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4.36/5 rDev +3.6%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Bell's Imperial Russian Stout: Expedition Stout

Another excellent stout! Mouth feel is correct - just a bit on the thinner side of cream (hinting towards a Porter style) but that just adds to the deep flavor gamut's mystery. A gargle of it just makes you want to get a V8 of huskies together for a 3,000 kilometer mush! The flavor is complex; coffee first, chocolate, smoke & caramel with a very faint echo of bourbon.

A = pours opaque black with a mocha tan head with open lacing
S = feigns at Porter style with a wet smoke (rain on burned wood after a fire)
T = again, feigns at Porter style but delivers the deeper, more complex character of the Stout
M = thinner than cream, but within Russian Stout style.
O = A great beer!

Serving type: bottle

05-17-2013 04:44:10 | More by GoldHorde