Bells Batch 8000 Ale

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

Cloudy, rusty orange, thinnish head. Cakey-spicy nose. Creamy and full mouthfeel with tingly carbonation. Wholesome bread dough, honey and caramel flavors. Bitter orange was kept nicely in the background. Other complementing aromas like white pepper, coriander, light fruit and fresh-cut flowers. Adequate bitterness in the finish along with a pinch of sourness. Pleasant beer.

Bottle. [Tasting @ Papsoe 20-10-2008] Average off-white creamy head that mostly diminished. Fair display of lacework. Cloudy golden amber color. Lovely spicy and malty smooth notes. Also fruit, coriander, orange peel. Over the palate came sweet fruit and mild spice. Medium bodied with an average carbonation and mild dry light alcoholic texture. Moderated sweet flavor with a hint of bitterness. Sweet spicy and fruity finish.

12 oz bottle at Akkurat, Stockholm. Sweetish, fruity and spicy aroma with honey, banana, lemon, mango-apricot nectar, ginger and bouillon. Sweet, honeyish and spicy flavor with some tartness, pepper, orange, lemon and tropical fruits. A bit chewy moutfeel. The spiciness is substantial giving a weird bouillon association.

Pours a muddy light gold with a white head. Huge spicy aroma with some citrus. Kind of medicinal. Flavor is all over the place. Heavy wheat base, which is inherently a contradiction. Some residual fruit sweetness especially orange, peach, and banana. Really large burst of spices, light and lively. Kind of chalky and medicinal. In a couple words, this beer is not all there. Too unbalanced to really enjoy. Has some really interesting elements, though.

Bottle. Golden/Amber color with off white head. Wheat flavor with orange and coriander undertones. Finish is smooth with a bit of alcoholic bitterness.

Big thanks to wetherel for a great trade bonus. Nice honey golden color, very opaque and a sliver of off white head lingers forever. Lots of yeasty sediment floaties. Imperial witbier perhaps...alcohol notes, exotic citrus like papaya, mango and pineapple. Smooth wheat Belgian flavors. Paradise seed finishes with a slight but enjoyable alcohol bite.

Bronzed orange. Quickly dying off-white ring of foam. Decent aroma is comprised of peach, melon, coriander, gummy candy, orange peels, and black pepper. Fuzzy carbonation. Bottle conditioned. Gentle, well-rounded bite of acidity is curbed by a stewed-peach sweetness which saturates the core. Succulently fruity with tangy wheat bolstering the body, but intensely spicy with an overbearing mix of coriander and alcohol. Quite muddled and increasingly cloying. Yeast imparts some unpleasant chalkiness and aspirin-like bitterness which is amplified by the relentless spiciness. Melon lends some slickness to the otherwise tacky and sappy body, but fails to overcome the spices. Flabby finish is sweetly malty with an overt honey-drizzled apricot suagariness and a lingering mixture of orange peel sweetness and coriander. This wasn’t very good when fresh, and I can’t say aging it has helped any.

Bottled@Oliver Twist, Stockholm. Amber colour, not much head. Aroma is fruits, alcohol, nectar and some wood. Flavour is hops, fruits and some mild notes of nectar and wood. Also some slight alcoholic sweetness. As it warms up the wheat gets stronger. Rather wellbalanced imperial wit, or wheatwine.