Bell's Java Stout

When I was getting a few beers and a bite to eat at The Taphouse in Ghent, I happened to overhear the waitress talking to the guys at the table next to me. "The [Bell's] Java Stout? It's got more coffee in it that what you'd get for $10 at Starbucks!" Now, hyperbole aside, she wasn't as far from the truth as you might think.

Yes, this is definitely a "coffee first, everything else can wait"-type of beer. But still, in a mellow, "peace-love-happiness" balanced sort of way. For example, it would not at all be out of line to jack up this beer's 7.5%ABV, and make it an Imperial Stout with a ton of coffee, and have it go head-to-head against AleSmith's Speedway.

Rather, I respect the fact that the brewer decided to concentrate on keeping this beer in a league of it's own choosing -- rather than chasing the eXtreme brewing rainbow to the pot of gold.

Very likable in all aspects, this one. Lots of coffee (duh), playing nice with the cocoa/mocha aspects. The underlying port wine aspect (not normally a player with stouts in this ABV range) is nice bonus me'thinks.

Of course, there is this angle to consider, for those folks touchy about such things: this much coffee does come with a bunch of caffeine. A sixer of these, and "ta-da!", drunk and wired all night long! Woo-hoo!

//TB