Bells Batch 8000 Ale

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

This beer seemed like it was trying to hard to me...I had a really good witbier at a restaurant over the weekend ("Trucadero White"), which seemed to be what this beer intended to be. Intensely spiced with a good amount of maltiness. This beer is even more malty, but this body, when combined with the spice makes this seem almost like a pumpkin beer or maybe a spiced holiday beer. This is beer is a mouthful, and while not bad (I’m liking it more even as I write this), I feel like you should know what you’re getting into! Appearance is a dark cloudy amber. Aroma is strongly spiced, but with a hint of maltiness. Flavor is as I’ve described above. Mouthfeel is very sticky.

the first bottle of the case - a bright orange with a bit of haze, lightly carbonated and thus thinly topped with a ring of white foam, and some flocculated yeast clumps and streaks form at the bottom of the glass. intense, almost overwhelmingly spiced aroma - yeast, banana, cloves typical of a hefeweizen, and coriander and citrus from a wit, and yet other aromas abound. briny green olive lurks, wintry pine and juniper, and other sweet and chewy elements as well. soft-skinned and pale-fleshed fruits. flavor is initially starch-sweet and wheaty, and the spices are much more moderately balanced in the mouth than in the nose. a bit of heat in the back of my throat, perhaps due to alcohol? the alcohol isn’t apparent in the aroma or flavor, but it has a slightly boozy effect on the breath. finish is surprisingly bitter and spicy despite a full body - definitely an intriguing beer.

initially i was disappointed that batch 8000 was a wheat beer, hoping for a closer brother of 6000 or 7000 but this is enjoyable in its own right and despite the brewer’s advice to the contrary, i believe it will age gracefully for a year or two before turning downhill.

12 oz bottle pours a sparkling light orange. Aroma is yeasty and sweet. Flavor is bananas, sweet malts, oranges and spices. Like a Sparkling ale on steroids.

12oz bottle. Pours orangish color with off white head. Aroma of yeast and strong spice. Taste is spicy and dry thru-out and on the finish.

on tap. a little bit spicy, had a noticeable alchol taste to the finish. wasn’t too pleased with it.

8/27/07: Bottle.
Spicy aroma: coriander & clove with other accents of wheat. Light copper body. No head, no lace. Flavors include honey & spice (especially cinnamon). Finish is long.

Pours a hazy, deep gold color with thin white head. Aroma is of coriander, light pepper, alcohol, and orange peel. Taste is citrus and coriander upfront with the peppery notes coming thru the finish along with some alcohol and light toasted malt. This beer reminded me of La Fin Du Monde quite a bit. Good? Definitely. However these beer seems unoriginal.

Poured from a 12oz bottle into a shaker. This beer poured a bright orange color with a light haze and a very thin white head that quickly faded away. No lace. The aroma was made up of strong notes of both orange and coriander. The flavor was also dominated by the orange peel and croiander. The coriander and other spice esthers continued to dominate the drink from start to finish. The high alcohol was very well hidden. The mouthfeel was medium-bodied with very light carbonation. A decent witbier, but I’m not sure if this one is worthy of being one of Bell’s commemorative brews.