Bells Batch 8000 Ale

Formerly brewed at Bells Brewery
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Kalamazoo, Michigan USA

Bottle, thanks to piscator34, Thanks Kris! Shared with hobbersr. Pours amber, thin white head, spotty lacing. Nose is orange preserves, slight yeastiness, mild spiciness. Palate is broad and mouthfilling, sticky and juicy, huge honey character, nice bitterness towards the finish. Tasty, but I think I got to this too late.

Bottle from Styles. Thanks for this retiree. Pours a slightly hazy light copper, with a nice off-white head. Strong citrus/yeast/spice aromas. Near full body with creamy carbonation. Flavor is citrus and wheat. More sweet than not. I’ll buy this one as a Belgian Strong Ale. I’d have said Belgian, if I hadn’t read the description above. It’s really very nice. Sad it will soon be gone.

A: Pours a nice golden yellow color. Everything is yellow about this beer even the head. It’s mildly cloudy, but not too bad. There is an ever constant stream of bubbles that feeds the head for quite some time. S: The aroma is very unique, to be honest like nothing I have ever smelled before. When I smelled it inside the bottle it was less than plesant let’s just say. Once poured it is actually very nice in an odd kind of way. There are notes of banana, and a good deal of corriander. What dominates is some odd floral medicinal aroma. T: The taste is quite like the smell different and kind of hard to pin down. The beer has a sweetness about it, I guess it is quite possibly the honey. There is also a nice spiceiness to it. The corriander is noted as is pepper. There is another strange taste that tended to grow on me, I guess that may be the Paradise Seed (whatever in the hell that may be). The alcohol was noted, but unlike other I could still pick out the individual flavors. It is one of those beers that you don’t necessarily like on the first sip, but for some reason it kind of grew on me. M: Medium to light in body, crisp and refreshing.

From some old rating notes I recently found (was probably a couple years ago I tried it): hazy orange-gold pour with a medium off-white head that disappears quickly. orange, citrus and spice in the aroma. sweet fruity taste that covers the alcohol well. lots of spices. medium bodied.

(Bottle at Akkurat on 2009-12-19) Poured amber with floating bits. There wasn’t really any head. Aroma was sweet with clear honey and some coriander notes. Palate was medium bodied and dry with low carbonation. Flavours were sweetness, raisin, fruitiness, hops, coriander and bitterness. Aftertaste was sweet and bitter. I suppose the beer has been quite a lot different as fresh one. Now it resembled a tripel.

Bottle huge thanks to xnoxhatex! sampled summer 09. Okay, I know this is probably past it’s prime... well definitely. Pours a very clear glowing dark orange with a small white bubbly head. Aroma is oxidized cheesy cardboard, bacon, salty, some citrus hops remain, pineapple, smells like triscuts, some honey sweetness. Flavor is cheesy old hops, honey sweetness, a bit spicy, some alcohol on the finish, rich in a weizenbock way. Smooth slightly viscous medium/full body with small but fizzy fine carbonation. Glad I got to try this.

Bottle generously given to me by bbb63, Thanks MIKE! Pours a hazy dark orange with a small white head. Leaves a nice white ring around the glass. Aroma is a really nice toffee, candy, pineapple, orangepeel, pear, spices mixture. Also some floral notes. Flavor is bread, sweet malts, toffee, fruits, a little booze and spices. Initially, I was quite happy with this beer as the aroma really opened up and was quite inviting. The flavor became a little offputing, especially as the beer warmed. Too sweet and the toasted candy bread taste didn’t do it for me. A neat beer though, which I’m happy to have tried. Thanks again, Mike!

12 oz bottle. Pours a slightly hazy dark gold body with a minimal tight bubbled off-white head that retained as a wispy thin film. The nose is a little weird, thick wheat and pale maltiness with some belgian spices of orange peel and coriander, and a quite noticeable alcohol kick. The flavor almost has become like an aged Triple. The spices are not especially in the forefront, it’s mostly thick sweet malt and a touch of wheat with Belgian yeast. A little bit of oxidation and light marshmallow on the late finish. Heavy and thick on the palate with light fizzy carbonation. I know they said that this was best consumed fresh, but it’s just been lingering in the cellar for a long time because I wasn’t thrilled to try it, knowing the style. What an odd choice for a beer in this series.