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Bells Wheat Love Ale

 (RETIRED)
Percentile
92
overall
Formerly brewed at Bells Brewery
Style: Barley Wine

Kalamazoo, Michigan USA

bottling
unknown

on tap
unknown

distribution
unknown

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RatingsAverageScoreSeasonalABVStyle PctlServe in
2703.62/5.03.6/5.0Special8%63.8Snifter
Commercial Description:
Bell’s Wheat Project (2005) is an experimental foray into the development of complex flavors in beer. The Project comprises five new ales, four in series and one specialty strong product. The first four, Wheat 2, Wheat 4, Wheat 6 and Wheat eight are all made using 55% Wheat (either wholly or mostly malted) and 45% Barley malt. The barley malt makeup is exactly the same in each of the four and consists of three different malts. The total amount of grain in each of the four is also exactly the same, so each of them should have a virtually identical original gravity. The type and amount of hops in each of the four is exactly the same. And the processing through the brewhouse and fermentation is also exactly the same. The changing factors between the ales are the composition of the 55% of wheat used and the type and number of yeast strains used. In Wheat 2 the 55% of wheat is made up of two different kinds of wheat malt, and this ale is made with two different yeasts. Wheat 4 is made with four different wheats and four yeasts. Wheat six and eight made with six and eight wheats and yeasts respectively. The final product, Bell’s Wheat Love Ale, is made with the eight yeasts of Wheat eight and is a strong, but relatively light colored, “wheatwine.” 2. Basic Content List for the Wheat Series Wheat Two Wheats: White, Dark Yeast: Bell’s house ale strain, WLP410 Belgian Wit II Wheat Four Wheats: White, Victory, Toasted sprouts, Torrefied Yeast: WLP550 Belgian, WLP570 Golden, Wheat Two blend Wheat Six Wheats: White, Dark, Toasted sprouts, Torrefied, Red, Caramel Yeast: WLP500 Trappist, WLP530 Abbey, Wheat Four blend Wheat Eight Wheats: White, Dark, Victory, Toasted sprouts, Torrefied, Red, Caramel, Chocolate Yeast: WLP4000 Belgian Wit I, WLP565 Saison, Wheat Six blend
 Most Recent Top Raters Highest Ratings Who's Rated This?  
 MAP (1089), Lakewood, Ohio, USA
3.8 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/103/57/103/517/20
Jan 16, 2006  
Grassy wheat aroma with a nice sweet sugary citrus backing. A slight hint of caramel as well. Flavor is more of the sweeter side, light citrus and coriander notes coming through with a bubbly sugar taste sweetness. Palate is quite smooth, it has some initial grainy feel to it, but smooths out from the sugars mixing with the alcohol.


 jimbowood (950), Athens, Georgia, USA
3.1 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
6/104/56/103/512/20
Jan 15, 2006  
Bottle courtesy of hippie4beer. Pours blonde with a small white head. Aroma is of smoked malt. Flavor is again smokey combined with typical Belgian strong ale notes. Didn’t notice any smokey remarks in previous reviews, but this one is more like a rauchbier than a Belgian strong to me.


 Suttree (2708), Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
3.8 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/103/58/103/516/20
Jan 14, 2006  
Wow, that’s some concentrated wheat flavor. Seriously, this beer is all about the wheat. Cloudy orangeish yellow, with a foamy head. Very light palate. The flavor and aroma are wheat beer. concentrated, like at said at the first. Weren’t you paying attention? Thanks to Jcapriotti for the trade!


 Odeed (1673), Bakersfield, California, USA
4.1 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/105/58/104/517/20
Jan 13, 2006  
(bonus brew by way of 1faststi)the "love" was a super murky yellow with a nice white head.aroma was loads of wheat followed by some belgian yeast,and caramel malts.flavor was much like a belgian strong ale with lots of wheat thrown in.mouthfeel was nice and thick.im usually not into wheat type beers but this was really tasty.


 Illini08 (528), Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
3.7 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/104/58/104/514/20
Jan 11, 2006  
A nice way to cap the wheat series from Bell’s. Poured a very cloudy dark orange color, slight head to it. Typical estery aroma of a wheat beer, but tons of yeast as well. Tasted the same, tons of yeast and wheat flavor, with some slight sweet banana and citrus notes as well. This is like a stronger, thicker version of a hefeweizen. good beer, but this was a much slower drink for me than the other beers from this series. Good work, Bell’s!


 DavidP (1743), Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
3.8 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/103/58/104/515/20
Jan 11, 2006  
Bottle. This stuff kicks up a good head when swirled but doesn’t kick out that powerful of an aroma. I get cake donut, and sweet but lightly toasted wort - very clean and pronounced malts in the aroma. The flavor and mouthfeel do great justice to the beer’s name sweet ’n creamy. Soft carbonation and a medium viscosity contribute to a great mouthfeel. The flavor brings clean toasty grain, green pepper (light) yeast spice, vanilla frosting and stemmy, barky hops. Toasty/sweet finish with stemmy hops. While the hops and yeast take second fiddle to the big malt backbone they’re interesting enough to stand out by themselves. My complaint about this beer is that the sweetness gets dull after a while. It’s very clean and tasty but it’s also one-dimensional.


 hellomynameis (794), Mayer, Minnesota, USA
4.1 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/103/59/104/517/20
Jan 11, 2006  
I’ll preface this rating with my opinion that this beer is the best of the wheat series. Immidiatly I smell fresh cut wheat, reminiscent of my limited experiances at relatives farms. There is aslo a nice spice aroma. This beer is ver complex. Nice sweet malts start this one out with a quick follow of bitterness. This bitterness quickly dissapears into spices, banana and a bit of breadyness. This is a very nice twist on the belgian style. To add to it all, this could easily be a daily drinker/session beer.


 BuckNaked (1204), Tempe, Arizona, USA
3.9 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/105/58/104/515/20
Jan 10, 2006  
Bottle courtesy of Pailhead: Bottle conditioned. Pours to a cloudy, mostly opaque amber-orange-yellow with a thick, frothy white head that lasts and fades to a thin coating and a larger ring around the outside of the glass. The aroma is grass, straw, light floral hops, spice, yeast, very slightly funky like a saison, light herbs, fruit, a hint of wheat, very mild bananas, and a touch of bubblegum. The taste is midly tart wheat up front, followed by a quick burst of saison spice/yeast, a bit of floral/grassy/earthy hops, banana, and then sugary wheat grains, toasted grains, mild lemon/citrus zest, and just a small amount of peppery alcohol in there if you look for it. Finishes with notes of dry wheat, sweet freeze-dried bananan, light esters, and a hint of spicy yeast. Medium-full bodied with medium carbonation, definitely naturally carbonated and the bottle conditioning helps this one, leaving the bubbles tiny, crisp, and restraining them from interfering with the flavors. Man this one totally defies "style". Nice.



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