Bells Batch 7000 Ale

Aroma is dominated by alcohol. Pours from the bottle thick black with thin brown head. First few sips are full of alcohol. As it warms up it gains some chocolate aroma and flavor, maybe also because my buzz is coming back. Texture is very thick. I had an Expedition Stout last night and it tasted pretty much identical to this beer. However, I remember that one tasting more alcoholic and less chocolately than the Expedition stout I had a year ago.

Nice lingering deep tan head and lace that sticks like a snail trail. So black you can’t see through. Sweet roasty malts, slight mint, chocolate and slight alcohol on the nose. Rich and thick mouthfeel, bitter chocolate upfront, roasted malts and a little smokeyness. Long lingering finish, lips stick together from its sweetness but is definatly balanced with just the right amount of hops.

Vicious black pour with a thick fizzy deeply tanned head. Nose was super complex and quite intense with rich notes of french roast coffee, mocha, evergreen, crème brule, grapefruit, and currants, with a light smokey undertone. A Batch 7000 Yankee candle should be contemplated. Powerful tastes that practically mirror the aroma with added notes of pan-seared toffee brittle, smoldering wood, black chocolate, berry, and earth. Motor oil thick body and slightly syrupy, medium carbonation, charred bitter finish. Congrats to Bell’s on creating this masterpiece. Thanks for the bottle Hopscotch.

The aroma is a complex assortment of dark fruit, roasted malts, alcohol, and characteristics of brandy. The color is a smooth rich black but with very lttle head. The flavor is rich with roasted malt, hops, and alcohol. The finish on the palate is smooth and goes down like a port wine.

Aroma: alcohol, brown sugar, cherries, plums, hops, little fishy
Appearance: dark brown, tan head, little lacing
Flavor: brown sugar, plums, cherries, hops, alcohol, grapefruit juice
Palate: slightly aged flavors, smooth, with little hoppiness
Overall: reminds me a bit of Rogue Imperial

Fresh bottle, 2005: WIth a gloriously colored and deeply saturated bronze head, the aroma has faint chocolate, more pronounced caramel and bourbon, as well as some sweet maple (barley-wine-ish). Flavorwise it’s more along the traditional imperial stout characteristics - smoky, dry, starchy, sharp and young... the dryness isn’t something I really enjoy, and the dry malted milk balls and wood tend to ruin the more rich chocolate and smoky notes underneath. Too young, too hot.
8/5/7/2/14 = 3.6

December 2007, on tap at Eccentric Cafe: Amazingly rich and decadent, sticky, thick, succulent. The booziness has dropped off, and you’re left with a sticky, gooey, caramely, resinous roast-heavy stout. This jumped from mid-3 range to mid-4 range with two years are. Awesome stout, and pretty sweet how you could forecast this happening based on how hot the young bottles were.
8/5/9/4/17 = 4.3

Black Coloring with Espresso Head. Nice Complex Aroma..Predominatly Sour..Rich Malt and Roasts. You Can Smell the Warming You’re About to Experience. Heavy Hit of Flavor! Heavy Creamy and Dry Mouthfeel. Coffee Roasts, Dark Chocolate/Bakers with Dry Hops Giving it a Freshly Baked Taste. Sweet Chocolate and Malt Still Come up on The Bottom of Your Tongue. The Kind of Flavor you HOPE you Get in an Imperial Stout.

Bottle. Pitch black, really big dark tan head. Surprisingly muted aroma - a bit of alcohol and syrupy baker’s chocolate, but even as it warmed, it remained pretty disappointing. The aroma letdown was short lived however as the taste was fantastic. The mouthfeel was thick and there was an abundance of hops and chocolate. The finish was all dry roast and more hops. Incredible taste, having this and the Kalamazoo in the same night just put Bell’s on my favourite brewers list. Big thanks to Captain Cougar for these fine beers.