Third Coast Old Ale

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

Serve in Snifter

send corrections   |   shelftag   |   edit barcodes   |   update pic

’11 vintage pours a merky red brown no head alot of sed nose is slight boozy still for the 11 dark cherries plum and raisin leather dark fruit skins toasty taste is dates and kinda flat sugary a little like copper still very good

Drank from a snifter. Pours a very dark and almost opaque ruby/amber with a nice ring of head that builds as the beer sits in a glass. Good amount of carbonation and lacing. Nose has a lot of yeast and dark fruit up front. Alcohol and bread, mixed with plum, cherry, and caramel. Mouth is very bitter and malty with a strong presence of alcohol. More dark fruits mixed with a subtle roastiness. Somewhat dry finish.

Bottle. Dark mahogony beer with a dark cream head. Caramel aroma. Caramel and toffee flavor with light dark fruit. Medium-plus bodied. Caramel and toffee lingers with light dark fruit.

Unclear Ruby reddish brown. Medium creamy beige head, lasting soapy topping. Inviting, almost dessert-like, aroma. Sweet, lightly fruity, rich caramel - I want to bite into it. Full body but smooth and soft, some booze, lasting hop finish balanced out by rich maltiness. Most drinkable barley wine Ive had to date.

Initially drying, then mositioning, then warm alcohol-like burning upon first couple of sips. Strong aroma of caramel, wine, malts. Roasty. Becomes much smoother the more I drink.

10/12/12 bottle date, so this one is 6 months old. Pours deep brown with a reddish hue. Tannish yellow one finger head. Aroma of caramel malts, some sweet dark fruit, and a bit of booze. Thick viscous mouthfeel. Almost have to chew this, which I was not expecting. All malt flavor with sweet figs and prunes up front that meld into an interesting ever so slightly bitter finish. A lingering caramel covered fruit left on the palate. Low carbonation. A real winter warmer.

Smells like oxidizing metal. Taste is mouthcoating medicine. Alarming to the back of the throat once the session commences. Funny the descrip on this site says its the brandy of beers, it is not. Its not even the sherry. Way too fresh. I know Bell’s has a big following and, I haven’t recovered from the time I rated expedition as a loser for a lager lover. That time I got lots of not so nice bmail. Regardless, this has me on the same streak. I’m not sure if these american BW are trying to be old world, but their not. How could these american wannah beez ever be in the same category as Lees or Thomas Hardy’s. Better create a new category - American Barley wine, must be a new category. Otherwise, overall just a big medicinal alky mouth coating thing which is way over the tops and makes me dizzy near the end of the session. Although I’m not an expert, I don’t think any amount of aging could make me think this stuff would ever be good enough for anything but a 2. Difficult seething negative nasty nellie, as with most big ass american wannah beez barley wines.

Tried a 2011 and a 2012 side by side. The newer version had much more of a bite, old version had definitely mellowed out and has more of a smoothness. Older version is sweeter and I prefer the more aged version. Noticeable color difference between the two as well. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

Bottle from trade with umich03jm. Interested in this since it’s rated high in the style, this bottle looks to be about a year old. Pours medium brown with a low, weak head. Aroma is malt with big carmel notes, and a hint of alcohol. Flavor is pretty well balanced between malt and hop bitterness, sort of along Bigfoot type barley wine. Significant alcohol burn, but doesn’t detract. Not very complex, but more here than just sweet malt and bitterness. Flavor is fairly intense, almost overdone for my tastes. Looks like this brew would hold to to aging very well. Good sipper, but probably would benefit from my cellar time, and more complexity. Thanks for sending, JM.

Poured a dark muddy color from a bottle dated 10/12/12. There was no head whatsoever and lots of sediments floating around. Aroma was sweet, toffee caramel. It smelled sweeter than it tasted. I was surprised how hoppy and dry this beer finished. It is full bodied and the alcohol really comes through once it warms up some. I’ll put a few bottles aside to age for a while and taste the difference.