Bells Batch 8000 Ale

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

Opaque amber/orange body with a small beige head that fades rather quickly. The nose is fairly sweet and lightly peppery with coriander, citrus and golden fruits. The flavor is moderately sweet and herbal with cookie dough, cotton candy, orange, tangerine and coriander. Medium/full body is soft and chewy with light carbonation. Definitely nothing like an imperial Oberon.

12 ounce bottle purchased at Big C Liquors Orlando, Florida at $3.95 10/20.

Well, I’d hoped that a couple months of age might raise this beer in my estimation. Very much an imperial Oberon, as many have noted, with the same yeasty, wheaty characteristics of the familiar summer quaffer, but with an indiscriminate, almost excessive pumping up of the wit spices. The initial bottles I had were way too hot, and it’s certainly cooled down a bit. But it hasn’t balanced much, and it still tastes like a noble failure to me. Cloying aftertaste, too.

Bottle from Gregis, many thanks. Pours hazy orange with nice fluffy head and lots of sediment that swirled around the glass. Aroma of spices, and citrus. This is pretty smooth with a warming finish. Does have a nice citrus flavor that doesn’t overpower the point of the beer.

Bottle thanks to drewbeerme. Pours a nice hazy orange color with suspended yeast. Nice yeasty wheat aroma with hints of orange and coriander. Nice, smooth wheat flavor with orange and coriander flavors to match the aroma. Very smooth with just the right amount of carbonation. Easy drinking, and hard to believe it is 9%. As a fan of wheat beers, I enjoyed this.

Pours with a lightly hazy, bright amber hue before the sediment ends up in the glass. With the sediment the beer is quite hazy, really opaque even, but somehow has an orangish hue on top of the amber color. It is initially topped by a frothy, two-finger thick, light amber tinged head that only has a medium level of staying power to it. The aroma is definitely driven by spice notes; earthy coriander, hay, orange zest, spicy ginger and perhaps some peppery notes. The orange zest & sweet grain character contributes aromas reminiscent of orange-spice cookies or perhaps even orange-cream candies.

Medium bodied, yet still fairly drinkable, enough residual malt allows the beer to stick to the palate after the beer has left my mouth. The residual coating leaves flavors of orange zest, dusty malt and an astringent, quite earthy, spice character that is presumable from the coriander, but probably also has a lot to do with the yeast. Up front this beer is balanced towards the sweet side of things; this accentuates an orange cream character as well as some honey like malt notes. This sweetness is quickly balanced by a dry, sharp finish that has the before mentioned yeast / coriander note as well as some lingering hop bitterness. The sediment adds a yeast flavor to the beer that adds a raw, dough-like quality and perhaps adds a bit more body as well. The finish almost has a sort of vegetal character to it, though I can’t say that it is necessarily detracting. A touch of white pepper-like spiciness add a welcoming note towards the end of each sip.

As the beer warms up a bit and loses its initial zippy carbonation, it begins to feel a bit more creamy on the tongue. This is definitely a nice beer, really it is a nice change of pace from the other X-thousand batches I have had. I can see how this would not be nearly as popular as some of the others, but I am quite happy to be able to sample one (thanks Craig).

Pours a hazy, dark amber/orange with a pitted, frothy off-white head that diminishes leaving behind wispy lace. The aroma is just what you’d expect and is actually true to the commercial description listed above. Big notes of orange peel and coriander with the nice addition of the grains of paradise adding an extra touch of sweet spice to a hearty wheat backbone. Medium-bodied and a bit grainy with lively carbonation and a quick lightly dry finish. You can actually feel a bit of the ABV on this one. The flavor is fairly sweet, with the GoP and Coriander up front and lesser notes of orange peel (and perhaps a touch of banana) flavoring the solid wheat backing. This is the witbier I’ve always wanted to try: fuller body, bigger flavor and with a lingering, spicy finish. As a fan of witbiers, I find this one quite nice. It’s certainly not a session beer like a true Belgian white, but I really like it.

12 oz bottle. Dark golden color, aroma of spice and belgian yeast. Flavor is spice, spice, spice. Too much spices for me. Decent, but hard to finish.