Bells Amber Ale

Brewed by Bells Brewery
Style: Amber Ale
Kalamazoo, Michigan USA

Serve in English pint, Shaker

12oz single from Total Wine. Picked up a couple for $1.69 each. Should have grabbed the sixer. Mild malt aroma with a faint whiff of hops. Unfiltered amber beer with a small frothy white head. While I agree that a poorly made amber is a pitiful thing, there is none of that here. This amber is excellent. Nice sweet amber malt and a bit of caramel up front, and then the spicy hops arrive and dry it out to a medium bitter finish. 6% abv is a plus. Very tasty and not at all boring. Perhaps the best amber I have had. Certainly in the same league or even better than the excellent Avery Redpoint and Rogue Saint Rogues Red Ale, and Lost Coast Alleycat Amber Ale.

Thanks pepsican. Decent brew from a rather boring category. Pours orange-red with a fizzy white head that dissappears quickly. Aroma is very light, can detect some mild maltiness, but that is about it. Has a fruity caramel taste, with a sweet sticky finish. Decent beer, would sample again.

Bottle. I enjoyed this quite a bit. Bright amber pour with small white head. Manages to balance hops and malt into a very smooth amber. None of the bite that some have, but plenty of hops and caramel. May be my favorite of Bell’s lighter session offerings.

Across the board, this beer is just right, from the initially stridently peppery hop character to the soothing, mouthwatering finish, it is a classic. Economy of means makes it so--it’s like a beer version of a Graham Greene novel. It’s not the most aromatic beer, nor is the color irresistable, but the sum of the parts yields an utterly satisfying beer. It is a unique Amber Ale, which I agree with a previous reviewer, is a pretty boring category.

Amber/copper, woth an off white head. Aroma is muted malt and hops. Flavor is hops, fruit, and some caramel.

Bottle, Average off white head with good lacing. Cloudy medium amber body with a little hoppiness. Medium bodied with average carbonation. Not the best beer from Bell’s but drinkable.

I went to Kalamazoo College years ago and have fond memories of this beer, which unfortunately is unavailable in New York City. I get it every time I visit Michigan, and I still think it’s one of the best amber ales made anywhere. Just super-tasty.

12oz from cpferris - thanks, Chad! For a style that generally strikes me as ho-hum, Bells’ version of the amber is at least distinctive. What makes this interesting and nice are the very lustrous mouthfeel and the slightly peppery bite of the hops, which together make it more than the usual malt soup.