Bells Batch 8000 Ale

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

(Bottle, Oliver Twist, Stockholm) Pale amber/copper colour with brief, white head. Fruity, spicy nose with orange peel, honey and coriander. Fruity taste with notes of candy sugar, caramel, orange, mandarin and spicy hints of coriander in a sweet and fiery finish. Medium body, slightly too sweet. A decent brew, but far from their best offerings.

Aroma has a big malty start, caramel, hints of a strong ale, and some decent hops follow through, cloudy apricot, small custard head. Taste is a bitter pitfruit, red plums, apricots, caramel and toffee. Full bodied, well balanced, tongue tingling and the alcohol is hidden. Lovely offering! Thank You Radek.

Initially yeasty aroma, and there was a pretty solid dollop of yeast in the bottle though most of it remained there. Light breadiness plus a hint of phenols, and the coriander spiciness hiding in there too. Big sugary flavor, grainy and wheaty with a spicy and yeasty background. Finish is fizzy, sweet, lightly herbal, lightly citric, with a warming alcoholic presence. A bit heavy and cloying. Certainly weird combining these big flavors with witbier elements, and I can’t say I’m overly crazy about it. Hazy copper color with smallish head.

Bottle thanks to BigMilly8. Pours cloudy and deep orange with a tiny off white head. Different grades of orange layer the glass making this somewhat striped and murky! Nose is spicy, yeasty, estery, and sugary! Flavor is a mixture of your typical witbier (coriander, citrus, and wheat) with a big boozy backbone, and a ton of fruits including fresh orange, banana, and a hint of passion fruit. All of this topped off with a candy sugar coating that makes this sweet, spicy, and sticky. What an absolute treat.

(Bottle via trade with <A HREF=http://www.ratebeer.com/ViewUser.asp?UserID=7 target=blank>BBB63, thanks Mike!) Pours an apricot orange, quite cloudy with half a finger of white head that recedes to a thin layer. Aroma of yeast, a light spice which I couldn’t identify and maybe a light hint of orange or other fruit. Mouthfeel medium full, fairly smooth, light carbonation. Flavor of light spice, very slightly peppery, very light citrus and yeast. A bit of a red wine note as well. Finishes with a bit of a sour bready quality esp. as it warms. Light alcohol presence. A little bit like a saison.

Pours a cloudy orange with a thick white head. Aroma of wheat, spices and a hint of alcohol. Tastes is of the same, much just like an amped up wheat beer.

12oz bottle(courtesy of gunhaver)-A cloudy yellow with a small white head that dissipated into a small ring. Aroma of oraqnge peel, coriander, wheat, and slight alcohol. Taste of the same with some belgian yeast thrown in and IMO this holds the alcohol taste very well. A nice tasting brew.

A 9% Belgian Wit! Only Bells would do something like this. I like their description "Imperial/Double Belgian Wit" better as this is not a Belgian Strong Ale in any real sense. It’s appearance, aroma, and overall taste is that of a wheat, that will kick your butt! Nice job as always.