Bell's Porter

Check it--this is my 600th blog post!

Bell's Porter comes from Comstock, Michigan. It comes from the stable of Bell's Brewery Inc. Sold in 355mL bottles and weighing in at 5.6% alcohol. It's a deep, dark, practically opaque brown--midnight brown, I'd call it. It's topped with a quickly thinning tan head.

It's aroma speaks molasses with a slight mocha accent. There is a malt to bitter flavour progression. The initial taste is of not-quite-sweet molasses and on the back end, there is a pretty healthy dose of bitterness.

Bell's is not a standout porter--at least in the sense of it being flashy or flamboyant. Rather, what makes this beer worth drinking and worth writing about is that it quietly does exactly what I want a porter to do:

• it has subtle notes of coffee and chocolate; 
• it isn't too sweet; and 
• it has a hop profile that can stand its own in a fight.

This beer didn't exactly blow me away, but it left me feeling almost completely satisfied.

Rating: 9.0 out of 10.