Bells Batch 6000 Ale

Formerly brewed at Bells Brewery
Style: Barley Wine
Kalamazoo, Michigan USA

Bottle from Tom at the CC tasting. Nice! What stood out about this one the most of all of the barley wines that we tasted last night was how smooth and clean it was. Sweet brown sugary malts melds well with tosted chcolate malts in this full flavored brew. One of the best Bell’s I have had to date.

Sampled (on draft, actually) at Larry Bell’s Brickskeller event. Dark, cloudy brown with no head. Wow, the nose has a surprising hoppiness to it along with molasses and some sherry. Flavor has notes of dark caramel, brown sugar, molasses, plenty of hop bitterness, cherry, dark fruits, wood and pipe tobacco. Full bodied, creamy with fine-beaded carbonation. Excellent.

Tap, Larry Bell event at Brickskeller. Pours a dark, cloudy brown color; light tan head with minimal lacing. Chewy, dried fruit and strawberries and piney hops in the aroma. Dense, chewy mouthfeel: incredible amounts of maple syrup, brown sugar, fruit leather; viscous, with a full, piney and citrus bitterness. Medium, chewy malt and dried fruit finish.

Bottle from... Footbalm, I think? Sorry... One of the older barleywines I’ve sampled, and it shows. Aroma has that typical cardboardy/sherry type thing going on, a bit of cheese and the burn of old alcohol. Surprisingly, this pours with a small head -- different for both a 4 year old beer and a barleywine. The flavor is at once quite robust and quite mellow, never overpowering but offering some interesting aged flavors, both tasty and a little off-putting. There is a slight metallic tinge from the oxidation, but really I think age has treated this beer well. Very laid back beer. Interesting, to be sure, though I’m not too sure how crazy I am about old barleywines.

12oz bottle almost 3 1/2 years old now. pours beautiful ruby with tan head. nose is pretty nice with brown sugar, cotton candy, nuts, toast, and caramel. flavor is nicely balanced with rich toasted malts, chocolate, and caramel. mouthfeel is full and low carbination. finish is long with no alcohol traces. very tasty and solid barleywine. i’ll continue to re-rate as i let this age..7/5/8/5/16=4.1.

12/3/07, aged just over 4 years now. the condtions this bottle were kept in before I got them a few years ago are unknown. pours a dark brown with small tan head around the rim. nose has some cotton candy, nutmeg, toffee, tobacco, and nuts. flavor has some soft tobacco, slightly harsh tar, cotton candy, raisins, and caramel. alcohol is well hidden. body is med. age has clearly set in but it might have a few more years to go.3.9

Pours a deep but cloudy brown color with a thin ring of tan foam. Unfortunately, there is an overabundance of nasty looking protein clumps or yeast floaties. They get stirred up and swim around each time I lift the glass. The appearance score is a compromise. I detect a deep malty, fruity, alcohol aroma. Splendid. Intense malt flavors - with sweet plum, raisin, molasses, brown sugar and a mild licorice. All this is balanced somewhat with hop bitterness, but the beer definately leans towards the sweet side. There is spice and alcohol in the finish. Alcohol and licorice linger in the aftertaste, reminding me of ouzo.

Pours out brown with no head. Smell was very fruity and very sweet. Flaovr was very much the same with some maltyness to it. This centainly was a great brew. I love the sweet barley wines.

Sampled at the Falls Tasting: Deep coppery brown, clear, floating large yeast particulates (at a tasting), nice head. Hoppy aroma. Malt hop flavor, hoppy bitterness not too far from an IPA.