Bells Amber Ale

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

Pours amber (duh) with a beige head. The aroma is very typical amber ale style maltiness with light nuttiness and a touch of hops ~ quite clean. Medium body that is smooth and lightly sticky with some light soft carbonation. The flavor starts with toasted malt, some spicy hops and a small nectar fruit aspect. The finish is lingering and lightly biting. This is good for an amber, but it is still on the boring side. But I guess that is pretty much par for the style.

malt, hop and light sweet fruit aroma ... smooth and lightly sweet start ... milky feel ... light bitter in the finish .... overall solid beer

Poured a light amber with a thin white head with virtually no retention. The smell was very faint, hints of breads and malts. Great taste; earthy, bready, and lightly hoppy. Watery in the mouth, not very full, but a great carbonation level and a pleasant after taste. Very drinkable, wish I had bought a few more. Serving type: bottle

Aroma is not terribly strong, it has a little bit of biscuty malt aroma, with a little bit of hops and some yeast. Color is a light red amber color, with a fluffy white head that is very nice. The flavor is very nicley balanced with a candy like fruitiness with a biting hop bitterness as well. Palate is sharp but smooth.

12 oz. bottle, Batch number (8305, packaged on January 23, 2008) on the back label, sampled in a pint glass. L: Cloudy, with fine specks of sediment, appearance, slightly tarnished copper in color, like a barely circulated penny, with a pillowy off-white/pale beige head, good head retention with a fair amount of curtain-like lace hugging the glass. I think this is a great looking amber ale, just about everything I could ask for. S: Touches of toasted caramel and grain with a kiss of orange blossoms. Further whiffs bring out a subtle butter toffee and an oily leafiness. F&T: Firm feeling moderate body with a nice crispness in the finish. The ample carbonation keeps this from being overly creamy and the firmness holds up for entire duration. The malts and the hops mesh well together, a nice mix of sweet maltiness and sour citric hops. Toasted caramel, buttery toffee and a trace of graininess at end, blend with the orange and lemony hops, leading to a softly bitter, briskly crisp finale. Hints of caramelized sugar and spicy hops in the aftertaste gives this a desirable quenching dryness, I could easily spend an entire night consuming this amber ale, highly drinkable. One of my favorite annuals from Bell’s, a must try for anyone who can appreciate a good American Amber Ale.

Batch 8274, poured a very cloudy amber/copper with a thick, foamy head. It had a pretty strong malty and slightly floral smell. The taste is more of the same--a pretty strong malty flavor with a slightly bitter finish. Overall this one is a pretty drinkable beer. Not too bad at all.

12oz bottle. finally rating the beer that got me into craft beer. thanks Larry Bell! pours hazy chestnut with white creamy head. a mostly toffee malt aroma with a leathery hop cap. flavors have a bit spicy and leathery hop chewyness met by a strong caramel malt backbone. tasty amber for sure so i can see why this got me into better beer.3.5.

7/13/08, 12oz bottle, labeled "Big Porch Ale". I thought this would get a separate listing so I’ll post this rate in case it does some day. pours hazy and a bit glowing with off white head. toasted nutty aroma with minimal hop profile. flavor is toasted, caramel, and nutty. med body and a bit over carbonated. actually this reminds me of Fat Tire a bit. and after I compare this to my previous rating, I believe the beer is very similar but not Bells Amber. I want a separate listing! tasty beer. 3.5.

Pours a somewhat cloudy dark amber body with a full almond coloured head. Somewhat bready at first, midpalate the fruit comes out, ripe full cherries, along with a little nutty character. Finishes long and smooth, refreshing crisp taste.