Bells The Oracle DIPA Ale

Brewed by Bells Brewery
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Kalamazoo, Michigan USA

Serve in Snifter, Tulip

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BPW #84 Bottle I picked up at Bell’s General Store. Appearance is golden brown. Aromas are excellent with sweet pine and pineapple. Flavors attack the palate with a mouth drying bitterness. They develop into an intense pine needle with lots of sweet fruit esters including a pleasing mango. Excellent DIPA. 8/4/8/3/17

Bottle shared by StFun – thanks Josh! Pours clear amber with an off-white head that left spotty lacing. The nose was sweet malt and citrus hops. The taste is caramel malt, toffee and tart grapefruit. Medium semi-creamy mouthfeel. Good DIPA – thanks again for Josh!

12oz bottle thanks to 3 way delivery between Devon, gerritt, and Andrew for getting me some of this... Pours a slightly hazy apricot brown with a medium soapy white head... Huge sweet tropical fruit aroma with grapefruit and mango. Really nice assertive and fruit forward aroma... Intense tropical fruit flavors that start off much akin to hopslam but ends up on a predominantly bitter note. Not quite sure what I had in mind for this but it totally delivered on all accounts.

Thanks to sneagrams for sharing. Pours orangish-yelow with a light cream head. Aroma is citrusy, with slight notes of pineapple and pine and floral. Tastes like a light Hopslam. Tastes dry, citrusy, crisp. Nice mouth feel.

Bottle shared by Josh with a group of other beer lovers. Thanks Josh! Pours orange with off white head. Aroma is citrus grapefruit simcoe hops. I said I thought the aroma reminded me of hopslam without the honey. Opulent mouthfeel. Flavor follows the nose and has a great citrus hop blast from grapefruit or orange and finishes semi dry with slight alcohol. Someone else suggested it was like their big head. Either way a great IIPA and was a pleasure to try. Thanks!

Bottle: The aroma is a nice combination of oranges, mango, pine, grapefruit, herbal hops, and faint alcohol. It pours a hazy amber with some very fine sediment floating around and a creamy moderate off-white head that has good retention and leaves some nice sheets of lacing behind. The flavor starts with mango and tropical fruits. It gets more citrusy in the finish with orange, grapefruit, light pine, and a hint of alcohhol. Grapefruit lingers for awhile in the aftertaste. Full bodied with a creamy mouthfeel. It makes me think of a slightly bigger version of Hopslam. I’ll be curious to eventually see what the alcohol percentage gets listed as.

UPDATED: SEP 22, 2009 Pours a slightly hazy orange with thick off-white head, lots of lacing and good head retention. Aroma very obvious of citrus hops, quite noticeable orange, decent herbal and floral hop presence, resin, and lots of pine. Flavor matches well with an additional taste of honey, slight fruity character, and a noticeable alcohol presence. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, but finishes heavy and a bit sticky. Overall very solid, look forward to trying some more in about a month.

Bottle from trade with coyotehunter. Pours a nice hazy golden color with a thick creamy white head. Nice aroma of pine and tropical fruit along with a pepperiness and slight alcohol note. Taste is a piquant pineapple-like flavor with a mild alcohol presence that becomes a tad bit overbearing as I drink on. The finish is nice because there is little to no astringency that gets in way. Very nice.

Bottle. Batch# 9306. Slightly cloudy, amber colored pour with a small, dense, white head. Luscious resiny pine and citrus aroma with notes of mango, orange, red apples, honey and caramel. Intensely bitter with loads of pine resin, balanced by dry earthy malt, pepper, mango, ruby red grapefruit, clover honey, honeysuckle, orange zest and a very floral finish. The body is full and creamy with soft carbonation and a sticky, resiny finish.

12oz bottle, batch 9306. a big thanks to xnoxhatex for picking this up and having his minions lug it near my door step. this bad boy pours out a not so translucent light orange with a frothy white head that last as long as the drink. i swear this is a wet hopped beer. the aroma is wet hop, tons of fresh, earthy, wet hop goodness. i could be wrong (probably am for a few reasons), crazy, or both but that’s what i get from it. perhaps simcoe or something that is coming off more wet hopped to me. any way it is a great nose. other notes found in the aroma are piney and tropical fruit hop notes. the flavors initially come across as bitter with a lot of alcohol warmth, while the big mango, apricot, grapefruit, and resiny earthy hop flavors converge on a simple sweet toffee malt base. the alcohol is present through the whole flavor and finish but it doesn’t burn, it warms, and i actually never found it obtrusive. along with the alcohol in the finish is a rather salty hop bitterness that lasts and lasts and lasts on the palate. the mouth feel is full and syrupy at times. although some of the early reviewers keep mentioning this should sit a week or two i have to politely disagree. nothing is astringent, the alcohol is sure there but i dont think it gets to the point of being "hot" (but close), and the hop aroma, flavor, and bitterness really can’t afford to be weakened at all as they really aren’t over the top in any way. drink this baby up, get used to the alcohol, and enjoy this tasty hop treat while it is still that.