Bells Batch 7000 Ale

Dusseldorf Gathering, Bottled. Black currant and coffee aroma. Black, brown small head, good lace, pours thick. Sweet, very bitter, aggresive, loads of coffee, loads of hops but still well balanced. Thick and warming.

Bottle at the Blue Nile in Minneapolis, Minnesota, poured into a Westmalle Trappist glass. Caution: I drank this beer immediately after enjoying Surly Darkness, which as of the time of this writing ranks as the 10th best beer in the world on this site. Almost anything is going to pale in comparison to that masterpiece. <P>The port-like aroma contains chocolate notes. The alcohol stings the nostrils. The beer pours a dark brown color, like coffee with a dash of cream. It has a moderate-sized sable head and an amber/red hue. It looks very good, but no better than the standard imperial stout. The sharp flavor contains coffee, hops, dark chocolate, sweet port, and sour orange elements. It settles to a more standard dry stout taste after multiple sips. It is tasty, but there is a bit too much coffee to my liking, and the alcohol flavor is too strong. The alcohol actually burns going down the throat. This is the first time I’ve ever had the whiskey burn sensation from a beer. I like it from the palate perspective but not from the flavor point of view. What is this, an Irish coffee? In addition to the alcohol burn, Batch 7000 is fizzy, buttery, and fluffy on the palate. It is medium to full in body. It produces perhaps the most unique experience in the palate that I’ve had from any beer, and I was ready to give it a 5 in this category, but I found the beer too hard to finish to earn a perfect rating. <P>Overall, this is very good stuff. I just wish I hadn’t had Surly Darkness immediately beforehand, because it does overshadow this beer, and it made this 12% abv product even more of a challenge to consume. Believe it or not, this imperial stout is reminiscent of a Belgian strong blonde ale (think Duvel) in its alcohol sharpness. It’s a bit much, but it is definitely a flavorful and unique treat, even by the high standards of the imperial stout category.

Now this brew is a monster. Pours out like a nice thick glass of used motor oil. Has a thick brown head. Aroma is very chocolatey, malty, and had some hints of coffee. Flavor was as it is with most IS very much the same. This thing has a great finish and left me yearning for more

This is an awsome beer. Pours thick and black with a dark brown head. Smell of choclate caramel malt and of course coffee. This beer was different that the expo that I had tasted earlier, it seemed to be a bit more carbinated. It was still an excellent beer

12 oz bottle thanks to drewbeerme for this generous sample. Pours thick syruppy black with a small mocha head only appears with a vigorous swirl. The aroma about knocks me down, lots of maple syrup, sweet carmel, chocolate, and alcohol. Very sticky and syruppy thick mouthfeel with many layers of flavors behind it. Dark chocolate, carmel, molasses, burnt coffee, bitter like espresso, and almost burbon like. This gem has all of those wonderful dark quality stout flavors but more bitter than most. Finishes assualting the palate with a bitter sweet coffee on my tongue. A great beer.

12oz bottle. aroma is exploding with maple syrup, bittersweet chocolate, toffee, espresso, and alcohol. pours pitch black with thick tan milk shake head. looks amazing. tastes of espresso, extremely bitter dark chocolate, a piney hop presence, and still too hoppy for my tastes. slight presence of alcohol, still too hot but damn tasty.8/4/7/4/16=3.9.

12/04/07, 12oz bottle, cellared for just over 2 years. pours black with wonderful tan head once swirled that lasted. nose of coffee, roast, soy, nutty, alcohol, and toffee. flavor is intense chocolate and coffee, wow a wonderfully rich chocolate coming through met by some piney hops still present but toned down a bit more now. very full mouth feel, extremely thick going in but it goes down pretty easy. a very smooth roast note throughout. I’m not sure what is going on with the aroma as it is actually not that great compared to the flavor. wow this has improved a lot since last year. i’m not sure it is peaking, but it is coming into its own to be a truly great stout. 4.3.

Thanks to brewblackhole! Dark color. Poured out like syrup. Smell of malt, chocolate cake, honey, hops, molasses, vanila, caramel, coffee, prunes, rasins, apples, wood/oak, and roasted peanuts. Tastes the same. Very creamy heavy on the alcohol. What a great beer. Very flavorful.

12 oz bottle courtesy of Pailhead. Black with a dense brown head. Big licorice and coffee nose, some dark molasses. Smooth, rich, creamy body. Coffee, bold malt, dates, plus a fruity quality I can’t quite grasp. Big tarry bitter finish with a roasty dryness. The alcohol is pronounced, but does not detract from the experience. Very good!