Bells Batch 5000 Ale

Formerly brewed at Bells Brewery
Style: Smoked
Kalamazoo, Michigan USA

Ruby chestnut liquid with a moderate tan head. Sweet bar-b-que smoke aroma with hint of malt. Light but substantial feel. Light mild fruit start with prunes and mild dark cheeries. Mid swig gives more malt goodness with caramel and a hint of peat. Finishes with a touch of warmth and a light malt sweetness and enough dry smoke to reel it in. I’m hooked.

2yrs old... Very little head with good lacing, was off white. Mahogany, slightly cloudy body. Very smokey, charcoal aroma with a toasted/nutty malt and a resiny hops in there to. Again, smokey in the taste, which makes it difficult (for me) to pick out other things present. There is a definitely resiny hop presence in there, along with some oak, brown sugar, and dark fruit. Has a thick mouthfeel and leaves a metallic finish in the mouth. Overall, a bit like a smoked barleywine and a bit overbearing to drink. The smoke is a bit much, but I applaud the complexity. And you get used to the smoke after a while.

Dark brown color,small head that faded quickly leaving little behind.The aroma was smoke and fruit with a decent roasty side and mild hop presence.The flavor was mildly smokey with a decent malt side and some what sweet at first with the fruit coming fairly well,but not in a large way.I guess i prefer some of the German smoked brews over this one but still it's nicely done and more then worth having a few 6/pks around but alas i have only one other so i'll have to save it for later to try it with a little more age.Thanks go to Joeybgood for sending this fine rendition from KB.This one really makes the trade huge.

Dark violet color, thin head, and an extraordinarily pungent aroma. Profound smokiness abounds here, amazingly complex! Underneath the smoke and alcohol, what have we? Plums, raisins, leather, the earmarks of a strong barleywine, with that smoke flavor sitting firmly on top. A real champion, and another fantastic feat from Bell's. Definitely a sipping beer, for one cannot easily ingest these rough, but rewarding, flavors. Fruity, spicy, warming, smoky, that's the full bill! Alcohol kick comes in stronger at the end, and you have to wonder how they will celebrate batch 10,000. Evaluating this beer is a tough call. A truly unique and well-made beer, but not a easy one to guzzle back, in the least. You can only have one at a time, and slowly, at the end of the night, not far from the bed...unless you're a masochist! Also, the one beer I've managed to store for the longest time, ever. One year. KBC says it improves and becomes more complex over five years. We'll see if I can hold out for four more.

Like drinking soy sauce. Smokey, salty, not at all pleasant to drink. Dry finish. An acquired taste I'm not going to work at acquiring. Maybe this was a bad bottle.

Sampled on Feb 9, 2004 Pours a murky brown with little to no carbonation. Aroma is smoky but really faint Flavor is slightly sweet and bready malts. Dry fruits are strong, dried apricots and dates, Oaky Smoky finish is tell tale of the style. Smooth syrupy mouthfeel makes you slowly savor this one. Drinkability is hampered only by the complexity of flavor and the warming the alcohol provides over time. I could not believe that I walked into an average bar in the interest of eating and watching the Illinois vs. Michigan State game and saw this sitting on the bottom row on the cooler. Oh sweet providence!!! Not even a beer bar and they had Bell's Winter White on Tap!!! Thanks to Mike at the Esquire in Champaign for letting me buy one to take home to my cellar!

Dark purple-brown color, no head. Just a ring of bubbles clinging to the wall. Aroma is of wet smoke, salt, and a dark fruitiness. The smoke is less apparent in the flavor. There's wood, sharp cheddar, alcohol, and sweet cherries. Fishy smoke, too. I'm enjoying the complexity of the flavors, but I just don't enjoy the heavy smoke flavor. To my taste buds, salt and smoke flavors shouldn't be in a beer. They remind me of smoked fish.

I wanted to like this. I really did. And part of me did quite a bit but at the same time I just could not get over that taste. First off, quite dark and warm looking. The nose has rust some aluminum and malts. Acutally smells quite knockout. The body is medium to thin but clean. The taste just is akward. Spicy is a good way to explain it, but the acidic pinch just rubs me the wrong way. Ovearll, not that bad, just not what I expected.