Bells Batch 4000 Ale

Formerly brewed at Bells Brewery
Style: American Strong Ale
Kalamazoo, Michigan USA

Bottle purchased and savored at Choice City Butcher and Deli, Ft Collins, CO. Pours hazy amber with a small, fizzy, off-white head, diminishing, spare lacing. Aroma is heavy malt (cookie, caramel, nutty), average hops (flowers, perfume), average yeast (dough) with notes of apple, pear and honey. Full bodied, alcoholic texture, average carbonation and a bitter finish. Average duration, moderate sweetness, acidity and bitterness.

12oz bottle shared at columbus tasting 7, whi the hell brought this one? Orange-yellow pour with no real head to speak of. Aroma of caramel malt, earthy citrus hops, and some sweet smoke. Flavors of earthy hops, booze, caramel, and bready malt. Medium bodied...sweet and a bit syrupy with a bittersweet finish. Glad I got to take this one for a spin.

Poured a cloudy brown color with not much of a head. Aroma was pretty mellowed out but this was still a pretty solid beer that I enjoyed.

C-bus 7. Caramel malt and oxidation. Golden brown body. Medium palate. The taste is just like the aroma with some light bittering hops. Okay, but definitely on the quick decline.

12oz bottle shared at columbus tasting 7 - Pours amber with a short offwhite head. Aromas of caramel, with remnants of what must have at one point been decent hops because I was amazed that they were still there. I got some definite citrus in the aroma. Flavor is caramel, grapefruit and a good amount of spice at the finish. Medium body with slight carbonation. My guess is this one has seen better days but it is still quite drinkable.

An aged double mild? Haha- no wonder this one didnt hold up well at all. Pours a light to medium amber with a fizzy dying head. Aroma is almost pure soy fromt he oxidation (some cream sherry)- with herbal and yeasty hints- grass, lemon, heather, pineapple and green pepper. Lightly sweet flavor formt he soy and aged malts, light caramel, nutty, toasty, and hints of dull bittersweet chocolate, and the obvious soy and wet cardboard wiht some dirty earthy yeasty notes. Possible light autolysis as well- some rubbery and butyrate notes as it warms.

From a 12oz Bottle. Pours a honeyed amber, transparent color with a quickly dissipating head of bubbly white, although the initial appearance looks healthy for the age. Fruity aromas of honeyed apricots glazed with a sherry and honeysuckly sticky reduction. Subtle notes of vanilla and marshmellow seem to be lying beneath the oxidized vinous notes, accompanied by a fruity touch of braeburn apple minus the acidity. Medium bodied, lightly carbonated mouthfeel. Flavors are a bit thin with a smidgen of aged, herbal hops that have lost most of their bitterness. The malts have developed a bit of a muscat grapey quality, again with some sherry notes. The flavors consist mainly of sherried light fruits, which bring to mind similarities to vintage english strong ales, but not as rich. Clearly aged past its prime, but a grateful beer drinker’s experience nonetheless. Thanks for sharing, Chris!

12 oz bottle thanks to drewbeerme. So according to the description, this is 8 years old this month (I’m sure it was bottled quite a bit later) but i’ll just say wow. ... 8 years ago, i was about to graduate highschool, the world seemed completely different and it was completely different and so was I ... so this makes me feel nostalgic, not that I haven’t had older beers, but this makes me feel good. Anyway .. I’ll go out on a limb here and say, probably a little past its prime. Amber in color with a wisp of a head. The aroma is screaming with "past its prime" that old aged, a little vegetable aroma, but as it warms i’m getting some toasted, cookies, and sugar aromas ... not too bad for 8 years. Malty carmel flavors fruity with that lingering vegetable flavor on my tongue. If I didn’t know what I was drinking, I’d ask what the hell is wrong with this, but knowing what it is and the years its been through, and that I’ll probably never have another .... I’m kind of enjoying it.