Bells Batch 8000 Ale

12 oz. bottle shared by illini08, thanks. pours a thick orangey-yellow with a decent headflavor is full of citrus, banana, clove and coriander. flavor profile is very sweet, a bit cloying with a thick and rich mouth-feel. decent, but not something I could drink on a regular basis.

A Mes rate: 355ml bottle at Steve’s Xmas booze up.
Amber gold with a swiftly dissipating head that settles to a bubbly rim. Clear coriander and orange in the aroma with plenty of alcohol plus some wheat and yeast. It’s the type of smell you know so well but it really works here. Dangerously drinkable, the alcohol is hidden expertly well. Flavours of malt,wheat, citrus with a strong spirit type finish. Bags of character and flavour. Good beer.

Draft. Deep yellow-orange color. Hazy and cloudy, like a liquid orange peel. Citrusy, apricot, coriander distinctive and clear in the aroma, esp the apricot scent that lingers in the nostrils. Flavoring mirrors the aroma in balance and strength (always like when that happens) - especially pleasant as it warms. Nice pour.

Pours thick, hazy, suspension-laden orangish pink with a diminutive white head. Very pleasant aroma of orange, citrus, and very faint coriander. Flavor is really really nice. Taste the orange, has morphed into something akin to grapefruit. Faint hint of the seeds of paradise as well. Wonderful. Recommend this one as long as you can get it.

Pours a thick and hazy ruddy orange with a big head that dies slow. Looks delicious. Smells of clove, dark fruit, pineapple, spice and oranges. Wow that’s a good smelling brew. Tastes as it smells with sweet pineapple and a thick body. Wow. Full in the mouth, lively carbonation. Drinks heavier than a typical witbier but is extremely drinkable, especially for its ABV. This is a must try. Far from my favorite style but absolutely delicious and breaks the mold in my mind.

12 oz. bottle. Classic Belgian witbier aroma except stronger. Orange-cream sucking candy, orange peel, curacao, orange creamsicle, and fruit juice scents. Very strong and tangy smell. The liquid is cloudy to the point of opacity with an orange/tan color. Bubbles form at the bottom of the glass, some of which rise to the top. Moderate amount of sediment in the glass. Small to moderate amount of short-lasting beige head. Looks like a carbonated cross between apricot nectar and apple cider. Sharp artificial orange taste combined with an overpowering sugary sweetness, like an orange Jolly Rancher. There’s an off bitterness that doesn’t seem to derive from any hops. Tastes like a bitter version of an orange soda. Lemon and vinegar sourness. Cardboard flavor. Alcohol taste is strong and unpleasant. Borderline gross. Perhaps I’m being generous by giving this a 3 for flavor. Not much aftertaste, which is a good thing given the bad primary taste. Very fizzy, lively, and fluffy in the palate. Some oiliness from the yeast. Soda-like level of carbonation (or so it seems). Surprisingly light body given the high alcohol content. Bell’s Batch 8000 is far over the top. It looks and smells good, but it goes steeply downhill from there. Still, the appearance and, especially, the aroma save this from receiving a terrible overall score. Maybe this would have been better if it were more fresh, but it seems like a fundamentally flawed brew. Bell’s is a hit-or-miss brewery for me, and this one is a big miss. That said, I always applaud breweries for taking risks, even when they don’t turn out well. A double Belgian witbier is a good concept, but this one happened not to work out. Better luck next time, Larry!

Pours a hazy orange gold with amber high lights, a white head, effervescent, aroma is initially sweet with citrus fruit and yeast, coriander, spices, honey and wheat, faint alcohol aroma in the background, I noticed a few of the bottles had some smoke phenol aroma as the beer aged over a few months, flavors of wheat , malt, sweet, citrus fruit and pepper, alcohol warmth in the mouth, some carbonation in the sip and has a medium to full mouth feel, initial sip has a syrupy oily mouth feel that goes dry on the palate as some alcohol shows up at the finish, this reminds me of a Belgian Wit but is not light on the palate but heavy, this does not come off as refreshing as a Wit but interesting to try never the less, if you wondered what a super recipe of a Belgian Wit Beer would turn out like this would be it.

GABF 2007. Thick head and hazy. Melon citrus smell but weak, accented by cottony yeast. Mostly: weird. Spicy, with cardamom and ginger, over a strong malt presence, this is also almost sour. The malts in the finish take on a mealy aspect that does not go well with the spiciness (in addition to sucking on its own). Lactic sweetness and some noble-hops-esque bitterness on the finish. A rare misstep by Bells that is an incomprehensible and unintegrated jumble of incompatible characteristics. Maybe it gets a lot better with age.