Third Coast Old Ale

Brewed by Bells Brewery
Style: Barley Wine
Kalamazoo, Michigan USA

Serve in Snifter

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Wow. This is one amazing brew. I just bought a 6pack for 6.99 and feel as though I basically stole the beer! The aroma is a nice blend of sweetness and hops. I notice no alcohol despite the 10.2 ABV. A perfect blend of malt/hops with the hops easing in at the finish, which is dry. A very full bodied, near perfect brew.

UPDATED: APR 23, 2006 A great barleywine. Lots of fruityness in the nose, grapes and some banannas. Smooth malty taste, and very drinkable. KBells delivers again. ReRate: Amber. Almost no head. Aroma is apricot, sugar, slight oxidation. Taste is oxidized, some caramel and sweet malts. Some mint. Finish is bitter, very clean and short.

Malty sweet and vanilla nose then balances out almost perfectly. Thick, full, smooth mouthfeel. Warming. Bell’s does not disappoint.

I’m not that big on Barley Wine style ales, but this pretty good.

Wow, what a beer!! Amber color with a hint of red and purple when held to light. I saw a few of the floor tiles from the brewery floating around in the glass. No head to be seen, just a nice ring around the glass as I drank. Nose was of malt and alcohal. Taste was very well balanced, with the warmness filling me immediately. This stuff will knock you back, and you’ll come back for more. Nice work Bell’s.

rating from recent memory, as I lost my rating sheet, but I’m sure the two months it was stored had a bit of an impression on it. The alcohol stood quite proud and strong, with lots of fruitiness . the long lasting very complex finish made it worthwile for sure. the malt did shine through as well as I drank more.

Re-Rate 12/1/02 Probably the last re-rate for awhile. Still amazingly smooth and complex. Love this beer. Can’t wait to pull a year old bottle out of the cellar... Re-Rate 5/2/02 This is simply the best beer in america. Its senior week here at DPU and the house has bought 18 of these for the seniors to throw down. God bless college. WHOA!!! I’ve had some beer in my life but none have knocked me back like this one. Dark ruby body. A small head. Huge malt/toffee aroma. The flavor, oh where to begin. Licorice, toffee, caramel, oak, vanilla, and maybe a touch of whiskey. Just a HUGE beer. If heaven has a bar, this is on tap. Thank God I bought a sixer. One of these is getting laid down for a couple of years.

UPDATED: MAY 2, 2003 Re-rate 4/10/03- Tasted this against Old Horizontal. Thin head, brown body. Darkly sweet aroma. Toffee dominates the malt, notes of light chocolate are present as well. Slight sweetness, very rich malt overall, notes of sugar. Cinnamony, sugray spice in the finish. Smooth finish for the abv, moderate touch of hops and no alcohol burn. No fruity components in the malt which is pretty much the only thing that keeps this beer from being perfect, although this is not to say that the malt is not complex. Balance is near perfection. This one got the nod over Old Horizontal by a half a point on my master scale, and ranks as one of my top three US beers as I near the 600 beer mark.

UPDATED: MAR 22, 2012 Peach caramel tectonic plates split to reveal a fiery subterrean resin which slowly covers the nourishing malt...But this hoppy viscera stands in adulation when it witnesses the sensuous chocolate bread which withstands the bitter onslaught...Never have telluric forces been so gorgeous to me...

This ages oh so wonderfully, the energetic hoppy flavor relinquishing most of its vivacity to the sumptuous fruity caramel malts which now reach port wine territory...Herbal hop bitterness still lathers the tongue, cutting the luxurious malt sweetness...Over 2 years old, and still massive and reverend, but even deep and sagacious...

Dark orange, cloudy. Well masked alcohol, full bodied taste of crisp apples with a nice hoppy finish. Great!