Bells Eccentric Ale

Brewed by Bells Brewery
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Kalamazoo, Michigan USA

Serve in Lager glass, Tumbler

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06 vintage. Medium sized tan head with good retention and a nice coating lace that lasts. Clear, deep brown, ruby hued color, good lookin brew. Nose of spice, molasses a hint of honey and chocolate. Lots going on here. Body is full, creamy on the palate with a soft carbonation. Strange flavor profile has the above aromas coming through in the flavor along with notes of pepsi cola, toffee, raisiny notes, cinnamon? pine needles(and i,ve brewed beer with fresh pine needles, believe me), cocoa notes, sugary malts and the honey notes lying in wait. Finish is lightly sweet with a sort of wierd astringency, not bad just,,, different. The 11% ABV is undetectable. Props to Robert @statelineliquors for the bottle! Eccentric,,, indeed.

Thanks to Blake for this ’04 bottle. Dark brown color with a minimal head. Heavy aromas of maple, oak and honey. Honey flavors dominate with light herbs. Rich and thick.

(Bottle, 2005 vintage) Pours a hazy mahogany body with a spare beige head. Aroma of bread, toffee, ashes, and dark fruits. Flavor of toffee, caramel malt, bread, molasses, and charred.

Thanks to Bu11zeye for this. Bottle said 2005. Poured a ruby/brown color with tan head. Flavor was sweet malt, syrupy, with alcohol kick...Full mouth feel, low carbonation.

This was one wierd beer: Aroma was sugar, alcohol and spices. All the ingriedients listed, end up tasting like medicine to me, not very enjoyable. Hops? Where? Maybe my tastebuds were not ready for this beer. Like I said, a wierd beer. Worth a try I guess, every one else seems to like. It just wasnt for me. Thanks again robert for the beers!

Dark brown, some haze. Complex smokey, plummy, figgy nose with turbinado sugars and sweating mirepoix. Crazy palate - again smokey with dark fruit, a splash of alcohol, and intense dark sugars. Soft body and a warming finish. A unique and incredibly flavourful experience.

Courtesy of Hoppymeal, thanks Derek! Vintage 2005 bottle. Pours an hazy ruby dark brown color with a small offwhite fizzy head that reduces to small ring. Nose is rich of caramel, candy sugar, dark fruits, alcohol, and mixes of spices. Initial taste is whooo....super sweet caramel, toffee and rich candy sugariness. Syrupy texture pours off the mouth. Mid palate is a sweet spice, dark fruits and liquorish. Finishing mildly hopped and dry chalky warming finish. Medium body, average palate duration. Leaves supersticky mouth and lips. Tastes like an aged barley wine. Definitely interesting brew.

Sample at the Bell’s tasting at Brews Cafe on 3/6/08 (2007 version): The beer is a murky dark brown color with a thin and foamy light beige head that diminishes quickly. Thin rings of lacing. Interesting aroma of resiny hops and sweet spices, plus some caramel and malt. Medium-bodied and smooth with flavors of caramel, anise, earthy malt and chocolate. The finish is moderately spiced with a mild alcohol and malt aftertaste. Pretty good overall.

On tap, 2007. Pours a dark brown color with a small tan head. Aroma is crazy. So many different things going on in here. Many of the aromas are familiar though it is hard to pinpoint what they are. Candy, peppermint, chocolate, herbal, those little caramel candies with the white chewy center (this is the one that sticks out the most). The aroma is definitely pleasing, though extremely unique and over the top. Taste is a different experience. Creamy, full-bodied, with an amalgamation of spices and flavors. Chocolate, mint, cotton candy, a bunch of other stuff. While the crazy spicing worked for me in the aroma I found the taste to be a little overspiced and everything became muddled. Drinkability suffers from the intense combination of so many flavors. Certainly an interesting and exciting beer but one I wouldn’t want to drink too much of.

04’ .The color was opaque, murky brown. There was floating sediment. The aroma was very aged, some spice, and alcohol. The flavor was some spice, matured malt, and very aged. The palate was minimally carbonated. The finish was warm.