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Bells Wheat Love Ale 3.6 270

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?  
 argo0 (7047), Washington DC, USA
3.4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
6/103/57/104/514/20
Jan 6, 2006  
(12oz bottle, thanks Pailhead) Small beige head atop a murky amber body. Aroma is medium sweet, candi sugar, clove, banana. Taste is medium sweet, banana, candi sugar, some clove, light alcohol. Light-medium body.


 MartinT (5080), Montreal, Quebec, Canada
3.4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/103/57/103/514/20
Aug 28, 2008  
My Bottom Line:
Honeyed cereals and fruity hoppiness conjure up an orange coulis in this balanced and personable Wheat Wine.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A veil of foam tops the nearly clear golden amber.
-Alcohol heat is felt at every sip.
-Hoppiness is well integrated, yet does not offer clear-cut flavors. Could be a sign of its age though.
-The finish is mostly sweet, bringing back the salient honey character that had been announced as early as the first whiff.
-The body was slick and not necessarily fun to play around with. I expect more from a Bell’s mouthfeel.

Bottle; thx Jason!


 beerguy101 (3972), Newark, California, USA
3.4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/103/57/103/514/20
Jun 17, 2006  
Batch 7155. This Barley wine/wheat wine pours an orange gold color from a 12 oz bottle. Small sized white foamy head. Aroma is citrus, fruity and grapefruity. A bed bodied wheat wine. Malts are fruity and sweet. Hops are citrusy and grapefruity, Touch of lemon, orange and orange peel. Touch of wheat and grass. Reminds me more of a high ABV wheat beer or a wit than a barley wine, Some banana and clove. Interesting, but kind of weird it is the high end (most ingredients) of the wheat series, but it comes off a weird hybrid of wheat and barley wine/ Mouthfeel is full. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly bitter.


 DrnkMcDermott (1873), Downers Grove, Illinois, USA
3.4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
6/103/57/103/515/20
Feb 5, 2006    Updated: Jun 25, 2006
Bottle, Batch 7155. Well, with no stake in the Super Bowl enough to make me seek out a Washington or west Pennsylvania beer, let’s just tote up this Michigan beer. Pours blond with a thick but transitive head. Yeasty smell as with others in the Wheat Series. Taste is mostly like an abbey tripel. Yeasty still, but with a touch of fruit and Belgian wheat. Otherwise, malts hard to pick out. Well, let’s save some for later and check em out.


 willblake (2194), Belcamp, Maryland, USA
3.4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
6/104/57/103/514/20
Aug 27, 2006  
30.04.06 Someone shared this with me at the HWOH and I have no idea who that was, but I could guess, but I won’t. The stuff really reminded me of a dark wit beer, nothing more. It’s cool to read here that so much effort went into the beer that was in the bottle, but it was little more than a crazy mess to me. Yeasts and wheat were all over the place in this foamy golden wheat beer. Strong aromas of the usual wheat beer yeast variety with clove, lemon, and banana, and there’s an oddly nagging sweetness of dark caramel. I want to love it like I do most Bell’s beers, but I just can’t figure it out. I’m impressed that they pulled this off without getting too sweet.


 thegreenrooster (1853), St.louis, Missouri, USA
3.4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
5/103/57/104/515/20
Jan 27, 2006  
Pour was a hazy orange with no head at all. Aroma is yeasty but that’s about it. Good thing that is the only thing i have a problem with this brew. Flavor is nice! Stong yeast and banana flavor. Lots of cloves and pepper added make this a good wheat brew. Not like a barleywine as you know it. More like an Imperial Hefe if there is such a thing.


 bu11zeye (5731), Frisco, Texas, USA
3.4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/104/57/103/513/20
May 7, 2006  
(Bottle) Pours a cloudy golden body with a moderate off-white head. Aroma of breadiness, orange, and light banana. Flavor of caramel malt, floral hops, and orange peel.


 MullMan (1089), Bloomfield, New Jersey, USA
3.4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/103/56/103/515/20
Nov 13, 2006  
bottle in trade, thanks to MoeJuck. bright golden yellow hazy color, tall pillowy light tan head. aroma is honey-wheat malt, a little lemony. flavor is dry and yeasty with a lot of hop bitterness in the finish and aftertaste. sweet malt and persimmony flavor is barely at the back of the palate because this is overpowered by the yeast and hops. aroma is better than the flavor.



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