Bells Batch 6000 Ale

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

Serve in Snifter

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(12oz bottle via trade with BA gratefulbeerhead) murky orange-brown pour with cream colored head. Nose of light apple, caramel and cream. Taste of toasty caramel, toasted raisins, semi-sweet chocolate, and fudge. Sweet, smoky and oily finish. This has held up well.

bottle, thanks to thirdeye11, muddy amber with no head, aroma of molasses, raisin and fortified wine, flavors of raisin coffee cake, caramel fudge, good lasting finish

Aroma - I have to believe that this bottle may have been stored in less than ideal conditions, as the oxidation seemed to take it’s toll. Oozing wet cardboard, light fig notes, caramel and a herbal quality all kind of trumped by the over-done oxidation.

Appearance - solid caramel brown body, cloudy with a smaller 1/8" scant off-white head.

Taste - cardboard, caramel malts, light alcohol, spice, kinda medicinal actually. Sweetness is kept well in check but the oxidation, again, seems to leave it’s unwelcome mark.

Palate - medium bodied, slight thickness to it, rather creamy with a medium sweet finish

Overall - I think that this one was kept in an environment not suitable for aging. I highly doubt I’ll ever cross paths with this beer again, but if I do then a re-rate will be forthcoming. It wasn’t horrible, but it was far from stellar.

Rating number 400 for this beer. Bottle thanks to thirdeye11. Pours with a small off-white head over a hazy mahogany body. Aroma is fusel (still after all these years) at first, but it blows off, leaving raisins sherry and toffee. Taste is bitter, alcohol, toffee and dark fruits. Light bubbles. Nice!

Sampled from the bottle at the 2010 March Metro Detroit Tasting. A big thanks to Kevin on this one for remembering an earlier tasting when I had said I would love to try this and bring it for me to try! Poured a slightly cloudy dark brown with light yellowish brown head. Aroma had notes of sweet grains with caramel and nuts being present, well balanced. Flavor was similarly balanced but sweet with a nice caramel flavor to start and more of a grain and alcohol finish.

Bottle w/ Simon. Thanks Dave! Been quite awhile since I’ve had a beer that floored me like this. Flavor is simply to die for ... so well blended, mellow and soft while being powerful and long. Unreal...a boom of brown sugar w/ fig that changes into a deep smoke w/ juicy and light bitterness. Can’t believe how well this has held up...wish I had it circa 2006, but I can’t complain. Palate is soft and massaging on the gums. Couldn’t put it down. This is just about perfect for my taste buds. WOW, what a B-wine!

Thanks to Alex (Masterski) for breaking out this old-timer. Poured from 12oz bottle into ’08 FoBAB glass. A - Pours a chocolate brown with a tan head. A thin hint of a cap remains but otherwise, it’s all beer and nothing much. S - Chocolate-covered cherries, dark fruit, cinnamon. T - Milk chocolate, sweet cherries, subtle alcohol. This has cellared exceptionally well...it’s awesome and extremely complex. A creamy finish with a slight bitter finish. M - Medium bodied, light carbonation, smooth, and rich. D - I’m impressed by this one after not exactly knowing what to expect. I would really like to score some of this stuff but I don’t think it’s gonna happen considering that this one came out back in 2003. A winner, no doubt about it.

@Moosetoberfest Gathering Thanks –12oz bottle-pours no head and dark hazy amber color. Aroma is sweet medium malt, fruit-pineapple. Taste is sweet medium malt, fruit-pineapple, secondary earthy, acidic.

TAP @ The Happy Gnome, 11.14.09 (retained from a recent Bell’s food-beer pairing). Mahogany/copper pour, khaki head. Monster aroma - caramel, fig, hops. Taste is caramel, brown sugar, fig, toffee, molasses, and coffee. I feel fortunate to try this very rare (at this point) beer, and I can tell it’s a great barleywine, but it’s just not my style.

Never had this fresh but it seemed to have aged beautifully. Sweet aroma, caramel, fruit and a faint hop bitterness. A bit of molasses and alcohol too. Flavor is sweet and smooth, dark fruit, brown sugar, honey, molasses, a little woodyness and bourbony syrup. Delicious.