Bells Batch 6000 Ale

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

Re-rate: 2/17/05. Draught. Alcoholic molasses aroma. Dark red body. Can see through it. Nice, off-white head. Beautiful, reddish, orange yellow color. Gets a perfect appearance score for the color alone. So good. 1/1/04: Bottle. Started my New Year’s Eve Celebration off with this one. Sweet, rich aroma with chocolate notes. Can also smell the substantial alcohol. Wonderfully complex aroma. Lots of particles visible in the deep, ruby red body. Has a small, yellowish-light tan head. Good lace. Large bubble carbonation. Alcohol is immediately evident in the mouthfeel. Very rich. Has a slight Mai Tai aftertaste, which stands to reason that it has dark rum and pineapple notes. Plums and molasses also come through. Smooth for a barley wine. Excellent. Ar 10, Ap 5, Fl 9, Pa 4, Ov 17.

On tap at the Map Room, Chicago, December 2003. Crusty red-brown, little head. Peachy-smoky nose, thick and juicy tongue. Very very sweet, little hoppiness, hints of anise to finish.

Bottle. Dark brown color with a tan head. Caramel and sweet apples and syrup. A full body and plenty of hops to round out this delight.

Wonderful deep, rich aroma of sweet malt, bread pudding, and molasses. Beer pours burnt copper color with off white head that mostly dissipates. There will be some light lacing. Flavor is dead on for the style. Very big flavors that grow and expand. The finish is eternal and almost sticky. I may have a new favorite barley wine.

The biggest flaw I could find was my utter stupidity in not procuring more of this (BIG thanks to HopsRus). Glad I was able to get what I did (and share, begrudgingly as I am such a nasty lout). Showing signs of a beer that could be cellared and improve, I drank this youngster with relish. Okay, I put the dog down, wiped the relish from the corners of my mouth and tasted the deep character and fine hops. While making mention of barleywine style, I think it veers ever so slightly off to ... I dunno. Maybe I'l retract that, and just state that I enjoyed the complexity and wish like hell my brother would get home from vacation so I can harass him into looking to find if there's some more around.

Dark color with a light head that seems to hang around the edge of the drink. Typical hearty barleywine style aroma. Semi-sweet and smooth taste that compliments the malts. Not as strong as many barleywines but very enjoyable. Think I need to cellar the rest of my stash.

Nice looking dark amber to brown color, with nice looking head and good carbonation. Aroma is malty primarily, with some alcohol coming through. Taste is excellent and well-balanced between malt and hops. More to the bitter side for a barleywine, which I enjoyed. Overall, an excellent beer.

Chestnut amber color with clinging lacing and yellow edges, very pleasant looking in my glass. Beautiful aroma propelled into my nose by the alcohol. the flavor is too heavily burnt. Surprisingly quick finish. Sweet, silky, but ruined by a metallic bitterness.