Bells Amber Ale

Brewed by Bells Brewery
Style: Amber Ale
Kalamazoo, Michigan USA

pours sparkling medium amber color with a frothy off-white head. Aroma is lightly malty of light bread and grain, moderatly hoppy of grapefruit and orange, moderatly yeasty, leather and apples. Flavor is kinda blah. balanced twords the sweet side, lots of crystal finishes the same with a bit of dyacetal. Light to medium bodied, oily texure coats the mouth and softly carbonated

Taste this as Big Porch on Mackinac Island, one of the resturants from the Grand Hotel. Pours a gold amber, pale and dark malt with sweet fragrances, faint bread and fruit aromas, small cookie and flower aroma, malt and sweet flavors, little hop bite, some orange grapefruit citrus taste in the mouth here and there, medium dry on the palate, little watery, an easy drinking ale.

Most amber beers to me are just very drinkable, if uninspiring beers. This one is very drinkable, but also good enough to be at least a bit inspiring. Sweet malt with a hint of fruit and nuts . Very smooth, but with a brightness and a hint of hoppy bitter. Really a lot here.

Very light bodied. Had a good flavor. Amber beers are among my favorites, so I enjoyed trying this one.

Bottled. Definitely one of the better ambers I have tried. A really nice, balanced palate. Big flavour and full mouthfeel takes this amber up a notch.

Clear dark amber with a good off-white head. Aroma has a faint woody character coupled with amber malt (obviously). Flavor includes wood, nuts, and roasted malt. Good medium body; smooth with light carbonation. Overall: poundable and without flaw. Scratch that, a bit of a metallic flavor comes out as it warms, but still a fine brew.

Pours amber with a medium white head. Arome of cirtus, ppine, and sweet malts. Taste was similar, finishing with a decent bitterness. A pleasent, but not extraordinary, beer. Good session beer (or would be if Bells were available in RI)

THOUGHTS: A nice beer, but a really good amber ale. Would have been even more outstanding if I hadn’t just finished a Red Menace just before trying this one. That one was way more flavorful, but this is way more drinkable. TECHNICAL: Bottle. Poured a cloudy, medium amber with tiny to small body particles of an average density and a small to average off-white head that mostly diminished. The aroma was light toasted, nutty and caramel malt, light hops, light to moderate doughy yeast, a little tea and slight fruitiness. The initial flavor was moderately sweet and lightly acidic; while the finish was moderate to heavily sweet and lightly acidic and bitter with an average duration. There was caramel malt, a little yeast and then some tea in there somewhere too.