Bells Batch 6000 Ale

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

Lucky number 500! Sampled this beer at the Great Taste of the Midwest in Madison WI. The notes I had written down on this beer are quite simple - hell yea!

Certainly a big complex brew. Eraser, resinous, tangy, a whole lotta hops, belches nicely, lots of sugars and so it’s taken the edge off of more subtle roast flavors and bittters, some creamy body, tastes young, some faint coffeee flavors. Just doesn’t come together. more cellar time?

Thanks to CaptainCougar for this one! First glass poured a deep mahogany with ruby highlights, the next glass was muddy brown with yeast chunks floating in the gloom. The aroma was malty with dried fruit. The flavor was of a young Barleywine, sweetness that was tempered by a sharp hop bitterness. No hop aroma. This should improve with age as the hop bitterness gives way to the malt.

Another big thanks to BrooklynBoy (Edward) for this one. I collect bottles, and this baby will be right in the front of my display. Pours turbid dark amber...slightly darker than the Bells 5K. Aroma of malt, nuts, toffee, scotch, cognac, caramel, fruit, and some hops. Tastes malty, with big dark fruit, caramel, and cognac. The palate is dense, slightly drier than the 5K in the finish. I pegged this as 2 parts barleywine and 1 part dubbel before reading the description, so again I must pat myself on the back. Look out Michael Jackson, I’m coming to take your job, pal! (and of course I mean the old beer guy, not the plastic-faced child molester). Cheers.

(12 oz bottle: ScottVacula’s Barleywine Party ’04) Very strong flavored barleywine is very malty and sweet, fruity, with a strong bitterness that is a bit harsh in the finish; Sweet, thick, syrupy palate; The nose is malty, sweet and evident alcohol; Deep ruddy brown color; Tan head is small on the pour; Could use some aging to mellow out the harshness

updated 6/20/2007
two and a half years after the original. murky mahogany color with an offwhite thin head. aroma is woody and malty and tannic, with a surprisingly still-strong hops bitterness. also apparent is a peat or smoky element but it could be a larger-than-typical amount of roasted barley (for a barley wine anyway). oak aroma - and although alcohol is present, it’s not bourbon . again, like the aroma, the hops bitterness seemingly should have diminished but is still strong, as it tastes like an abundance of relatively-low alpha-acid hops was added (fuggles, cascade?) but regardless, it’s smooth and deceptive with its 10.5% abv. slight astringency and chalkiness in the finish but that eventually fades to fully malt. an excellent beer, hopefully it will be reincarnated in some form...

original rating 7/24/2004 heavy aroma of malt, dark fruits--cherry. smells like a kriek. thick body, very syrupy and intensely alcoholic. good bitterness in the finish, definitely an enjoyable barleywine.

Dark brown with a tan head, malty with dark fruit aroma. Full bodied with a syrupy mouthfeel, raisin-plum-cherry and malt flavors with a decent hop bite on the back end. A rich and rewarding experience.

Deep cloudy amber brown. Piney hops, quite floral with malt hiddenin background. Rich mouthfeel with pine, fruit, roasted malt notes. Finish lingers leaving a nice freshness. Very nice though I think i’ll prefer it more once the hops settle down in few years..