Bells Batch 5000 Ale

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

Special thanks to Northernbrews for hooking up the Bell’s 4000-8000 tasting. All great brews. This one still had a good bit of smoke and ash to go with a little oxidation and some malts. Still a nice beer to sip on.

Gift from a friend. Thanks Trevor!Obviously this one has lost the smokieness with its age. A light light oxidation is present as well. It seems to have taken on an almost barleywine look and taste. Caramel and brown sugar dominate leaving a light alcohol burn. Still, this is not bad.

So this fool is now over seven years old? Awesome--thanks Bobby! I’ve had this a few times before at tastings, but never have entered the ratings--I do remember liking it quite a bit, though. Clear brownish copper with a small beige head, low retention. The aroma still has a pretty good amount of smoke--campfire and smoky salty meats--, but now there’s getting to be a fair amount of oxidation as well, that even a year or so ago, I don’t remember. Also, a little alcohol is present. The flavor still has some oxidation, but the sweet caramel malts seem to mask it somewhat. Full body with light soft carbonation. Not quite as good as I remember, but then again, it is over seven years old. My original ratings had this much closer to a 4.0

Aroma seems to have more smoke than the taste. Taste is smooth and sweet with just the right amount of bitternesss with the smoke. Nice smoke beer for me.

I thought I should rate this since I have been drinking this for the last three years and am down to my last bottle that will be in a vertical tasting when the 9000 comes out. poured dark brown no head. aroma still has that wonderful smoke, malts, still get the caramel, and some hops. flavor This has just the right amount of smoke sort of like sitting around a campfire, dark fruits and malts did not get the hops.

Pours dark brown with virtually no head. Aroma is sweet malt, caramel and smokey. Smells like a campfire. Sweet with light smoke and peat. Medium thin body. Still decent after many years.

Bottle. This beer has stood up incredibly well for being almost seven years old. Cloudy orange-brown body with next to no head, but what is there is tan. The aroma is filled with leather, smoke, bacon and tart cherry. Hints of molasses, bread, barnyard and alcohol. The flavor is moderately sweet and lightly bitter. It finishes slightly sour/tart with some alcoholic warming. Thin to medium body, watery texture and little carbonation. Reading posts from 2002, many found this beer to be overly sweet and I did not see any mention funkiness. The overt sweetness is now muted and there is definitely a funky smell and taste that is accentuated by the smoke. Different and enjoyable. Thanks SpudClampDawg.

Bottle. Obviously, I am pretty excited about this. Not every day you get to try a 6 year old bottle of something special. I have been putting this off for a while, kind of like I did not want to ruin the occasion or have a big let down. A slight hiss as the cap is removed lets me know it has not gone completely bad and is a little reassuring. Bottle releases a cloudy brown liquid with very little head and sweet brown sugar and caramel aromas. A little bit of oxidation is noticeable and I hope it will not ruin things. I’m guessing this is a shadow of its former self after 6 years, but it still has a pretty good brown sugar and caramel malt presence with quite a bit of dark fruit to make it interesting. A little bit of tartness and a little bit of a salty smokiness are present, but seem to have faded. This is fairly reminiscent of an English barley wine in terms of flavor and texture, and considering how long this has aged it is a darn fine beer.