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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?  
 dm9831 (1167), Monee, Illinois, USA
2 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
4/102/55/102/57/20
Mar 5, 2008  
pours an apricot color with no head. the nose was mild and grassy. i found the flavor sour and grassy, and could not pick out much complexity. the sourness sticks with you, and not neccessarily in a pleasant way. a banana finish. didn’t seem that much like a barleywine


 valpoaj (362), Valparaiso, Indiana, USA
3.6 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/103/57/103/515/20
Feb 21, 2008  
Bottle courtesy of JB175 - thanks a bunch!! Batch 7155. Pours like apricot nectar...orangey and thick, with a 1/2 finger white head that dissolves quickly. Aroma is strong...lots of dark fruit, brown sugar, banana, alcohol and honey are some of the things I pick out and it is overall very sweet and complex...intriguing to say the least! Flavor is unlike anything else I’ve ever tried. Lots of dark fruit, some orange, spice, bread, and some funky yeast thing comprise the flavor...which is overall pretty hot and malty. Sweet finish with some alcohol. Average palate. This is one odd beer, though, and acts like some hybrid of a barleywine, a belgian strong, and a hefe. All I can definitely say is that this is a true sipper! Glad I have another to let sit for a while and see how this one continues to age.


 Stine (1380), St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
3.4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
6/104/57/103/514/20
Feb 19, 2008  
Pours to a pale, golden orange; very thick and cloudy with a sticky crown of white. Fusel and tinny maple aroma with lots of canned pineapple, golden raisin, maple and honey; very sweet and earthy. Hints of bubblegum, banana, clove, and even a touch of funk with wet carpet, white pepper, lemon juice, and red pepper being fairly quiet underneath; altogether, it tends to gyrate uneasily between the pleasant strangeness and the violent, alcoholic sugars. Orange pulp, mild bubblegum, and lots of mineral bitterness make up a fairly simple flavor; composed tangentially of clove, green spices, banana, vanilla frosting. Plenty of nutty sweetness with almond and pistachio oils, and dry grasses. Palate is spritzy and creamy at the same time; medium bodied and slightly syrupy. Well balanced and polished, as usual, though a furiously intense singe of citrus vodka and sweet rum finishes with a clumsy, heated sweetness. It’s kept it together for the most part; still a bit sharp at times, but still kicking out some creativity and liveliness. Drink it now. Thanks Jason!


 BDR (2154), Roseville, Minnesota, USA
3.6 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/103/57/103/516/20
Nov 22, 2007  
Badgerben’s Cellar Reduction night. Clear orange body with wheat and spices on the nose. Not as sweet or hoppy on the aroma as I expected. Strong ssweet body that is just short of cloying. A lot of wheat for a barleywine.


 Alldaydrinker (558), Norwood, Massachusetts, USA
3.9 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/104/58/104/516/20
Nov 18, 2007  
12 oz Bottle, Batch 7155 Poured a hazy particulated amber orange colour with medium foamy off white head. Nose of grape skins, heavy wheat and toasted malts. Initial taste is a soft carbonation. Moving into a wheaty, banana, orange peel, and toasted malts. Finishing with mild spicy bitter hops while keeping that wheaty backbone. Palate duration is good, slight legs and lacing of the glass and some head retention. Medium bodied and very drinkable. I love how bells thinks outside the box.


 bikesandbeers (468), Los Angeles, California, USA
3.8 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/104/57/104/516/20
Oct 27, 2007  
12oz batch 7155 bottle shared with WeeHeavySD, which he got in trade. Hazy orange with a whit head. The nose was mostly lemon and grapefruit. The flavor is very sweet, reminds me a bit of a hefe on steriods. interesting.


 Skyview (4020), Papoose Jct., Minnesota, USA
3.4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
6/103/56/104/515/20
Oct 25, 2007  
Sampled entire series at Badgerben’s Cellar Reduction Night. Wheat Love pours a clear golden amber brew with a fast dissolving white head that leaves behind a white ring. Aroma of light caramel malt, a touch of raisin, some candi sugar and grassy hops. Taste is sweet, medium to full bodied, light carbonation with flavors of caramel malt, bubble gum, and some citrus. Finish has a slight spicey dry aftertaste that has a dry bitterness that sticks around for a while.


 WeeHeavySD (2962), San Diego (Hillcrest), California, USA
4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
9/104/58/104/515/20
Oct 23, 2007  
12oz batch 7155. Trade with someone. Shared with bikesandbeer. Pours orange with a bright white ring bubbly head. Solid citrus nose, not what I expected but damn its appealing. Sweet, citrusy, bright. Is this a barleywine really? it seems like some weird hybrid, i like it but I don’t know what it is.



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