Bells Batch 7000 Ale

Rating #800! Gotta thank footbalm for this incredible treasure! This one pours thick and black like motor oil, but with a smaller head than the Expedition. Aroma is big and roasty - picking up some dark chocolate, coffee, and some hints of dark, vinous fruits. Flavor is thick, roasty, and intense - lots of coffee (more coffee than Expo), chocolate, and insanely intense sweet flavors. Mouthfeel is wonderful, about as good as it gets. Better than Expedition? Not quite, but if you like Expedition and can trade for or otherwise procure this bad boy, its a must Have. Bells rules!

Bottle. A very complex beer for sure. Loads of dry molasses, roasted malt, sticky vanilla sweetness, alcohol, charred marshmallow and wet wood on the nose. Pours pitch black with a big reddish, khaki head with massive amounts of sticky lacing. Very viscous with brownish/yellow legs. Roasted malt... and lots of it on the palate. Earthy hops. Alcohol. Espresso. Vanilla. Bourbon sweet/spiciness. Smoked meat. Massive body. Quite rich, oily and viscous. Really over the top in all aspects. Some of the flavors weren’t integrated all that well, but still a wonderful beer.

Bottle, with a huge THANKS to Pantanap for this rare beauty! Pours a thicker dark brown/black with a minimal cinnamon tan head that forms late and quickly disappears to a thin ring, very slight lacing. Full and commanding aroma of chocolate, espresso, oak, vanilla, molasses, and dark fruits. A nice sniffer! Flavor brings the aroma home in good order, but with a more dominant roastiness and a bit of warming. Palate is medium-full and oily with moderate carbonation and a slight astringency in the finish. This is one nice Impy Stout, but does not unseat Expedition in the Bells world IMO. Very glad to have the opportunity to try!

Bottle sampled 8/7/07

Get outta here! This is unbelievable. Pours dark, dark sticky black with a modest crema head. Huge aroma - plums and chocolate, some coffee, molasses, just glorious. Flavor is intense, lots of dried plums, tons of chocolate, almost overripe black cherries, again that dark molasses, a seriously assertive bitter finish that comes on so late that it never detracts in the least from the sweater, rcher, more chocolate tones through the front, middle, and much of the back of each sip. Very thick mouthfeel, heavy, oily, rich.

This is a very good beer, no two ways around it. It’s intense in flavor, way over the top but it a good way, alcohol burn very slight if noticeable at all, driven by amazing roasty and just a touch sweet malts. The mouthfeel is more like a milkshake than like a beer; dang this thing is thiick and glorious. Superb, but due to the intensity it’s not the least thirst-quenching and maybe not one that I’d drink all that often even if it were regularly available, which of course it ain’t.

Revisit 9/5/09. Wow. Two years in the cellar have only improved. Aroma is a 10 with the rich baker’s chocolate, and the flavor is pushing close to a 10 as well. Aged barleywine-like sweetness has come on over the past two years, and it integrates beautifully. Black cherries, plum, a tiny hint of smoke atop the expected chocolate and dark molassas and espresso...This one is a masterpiece.

Yes, I finally got a chance to try this beer!! Pours black with a small little swirly light brown head. Smells of nice roast and chocolate mixed together, coupled in with some dark malts, and mild coffee aroma. Smells quite inviting. The taste is just as rich as it smells. Big chocolate waves hit the tongue all at once, as its followed up by a roasty malt flavor and a toasty bitterness in the finish. Truly a treat to have this beer. Big, thick, and rich, just like I love my imperial stouts.

bottle.....unlike the vast majority of the reviews on this one, i was underwhelmed overall......aroma: malt, chocolate, and an array of dark fruit.....appearance: medium thick, deep black pour with a thin cocoa colored head. i like my imperials thick and this seemed lacking in a sense.....taste: a variety of flavors come through here. chocolate, some roasted malt, dark fruit. mouthfeel wasn’t as full as i would have liked it to have been. all in all, a high quality IS but i would gladly pick expedition over this.

courtesy my Secret Santa- A delicious imperial stout...a little too thin, though. Aroma of coffee and alcohol. Pour was a nice dark black with just a little thin tan ring for a head. Taste was very winelike. Dark fruit, coffee and chocolate abound. The dark fruit was a nice suprise. Got some definate nuttiness to it as well as a bitter finish. Thanks Santa

This thing stomps a shithole in Expedition and I love me some Expedition. The pour on this was the thickest I’ve ever seen next to Dark Lord. Pitch black with a small tan head. Huge aroma of cherries, dark chocolate, raisins, and roasted malt. Velvety smooth mouth feel that dissipated after it left my mouth for my anxious belly. The surprising part of this was this massive bourbon flavor that imparted its will on the beer yet didn’t overpower any of the other flavors. Some black cherries and dark chocolate melded well within the brew as well. This is going to get my first ever perfect rating. Hands down, the best I’ve ever tasted.