Bells Batch 8000 Ale

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

Pours a nice looking hazy yellowish-orange. The aroma is a very light sweet banana. The taste is a pleasant combination of orange, clove, wheat, and spices. The alcohol is well hidden and overall the balance is pretty nice.

Raced to Capones after work to pick this up....should have taken my time. Thick and orange with small head. Spicy aroma with sweet honey noyes. Tased like Golden Monkey on steriods. A soild beer, but nothing to rave about.

Pours nice amber color in goblet glass with off white head. Some sweetness in the aroma. Taste has definate honey sweetness balanced with the orange peel. This was quite tasty with nice aftertaste with spice. glad to have found this sorry it will only be brewed once.

12 oz bottle

I’ve had the Left Bank and Right Bank which were test batches for this. I figured after two bottles it would be reasonable to rate the final result. For a special Bell’s release I am a little shocked it won’t age well. I am also let down a little. Despite being a good beer this does not stand up as well as the Batch 6000 or Batch 7000. Still, it is an interesting take on a style most American brewers haven’t tackled in this form. Try it as soon as you can since it likely has a shelf life of less than a year.

Aroma / Appearance - The honey colored body poured with a thin white head and moderate carbonation. It was hard to tell what to expect for it looked close to the tone of the Left Bank ale I was using as a reference. Glazed honey competes with a strong orange and coriander profile. Underneath is the smell of wet asphalt and lemon meringue. A vinous consistancy holds it all together.

Flavor / Palate - The mouthfeel is full but not cloying. It reminds me of orange creamsicle blended with melons and alcohol. A slight bitterness provokes the senses and warms the throat. The first impression is the best - as it warms it devolves into something that resemebles cough syrup. I’m not sure what to make of the finish which is flat and a little cloying. On the while the experimental batches were better than the final release. Perhaps I will discover it is better on tap at the cafe in Kalamazoo.

I have been looking forward to this one as witbiers are one of my favorite styles. This tasted more like a tripel to me, but I can see the wit-like characteristics. Aroma of orange, spices and yeast. Pour was a thick cloudy orange with no head. The beer sat like a stagnant pond in the glass.Taste was sweet and fruity...coriander and citrus with a banana aftertaste and yeast going in and out. 9% not noticeable until minutes after the sip when the burn comes out. Very nice and different.

Bottle from ____? It is interesting to try 8000 soon after trying Struise Tsjeeses. Both have same yellow-amber color. The Tsjeeses had a big head, while this one has little (mostly the difference in the pour). I smell the corriander in 8000, but not the orange peel until I taste it. It doesn’t have the body of T, and leans more toward the dry side. The slightest hint of background sourness, which I often confuses me when a beer runs toward the dry side. Pretty nice and drinkable. Probably just needs some aging. It might be spectacular then. Very good with cheese.

Pour: orange yellow hazy. Head: creamy, offwhite. Aroma: hoppy, wheat, alcohol, citrus. Flavor: wheat, alcohol, yeast, a little must. Palate: smooth. Finish: warm and wheaty.

Pours a hazy bright gold. The head is medium thick creamy light yellow. The aroma is sou, shows some banana, honey, definitely wheat, spicy. The flavor is sour, some banana, dry alcohol, wheaty, sweet. Lively on the palate. Definitely not a witbier, but Belgian Strong is too broad.