Bells Batch 7000 Ale

Formerly brewed at Bells Brewery
Style: Imperial Stout
Kalamazoo, Michigan USA

Pours black with lots of thick brown head. Great aroma of chocolate, coffee, and some vanilla sweetness. Very complex tastes. Some chocolate, vanilla, fruits, malts, and hint of alcohol. Wow, this is a great beer.

Name: Bell’s Batch
Date: 12/03/2005
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting, Strong Ale fest, 2005
Vintage: 7000

black with ruby edges, rich sweet fruity malt aroma, rich toffee flavor, light bitterness, hint of alcohol, will be wonderful with age
-------- /> Name: Bell’s Batch
Date: 04/28/2006
Mode: bottle
Source: brewpub
Vintage: 7000
Score: ii+ to iii

fruit is getting riper, alcohol is still present but not overpowering
-------- /> Name: Bell’s Batch
Date: 05/20/2006
Source: tasting
Vintage: 7000

alcohol continues to fade as some bitterness grows,
-------- /> Name: Bell’s Batch
Date: 10/21/2006
Source: tasting
Vintage: 7000

picking up roasted and chocolate in the aroma, lots of roasted flavor coming through, minimal alcohol, only a hint of fruit that hides until warm, much more about the rich roasted malt flavor than the fruit, getting better
-------- /> Name: Bell’s Batch
Date: 06/23/2007
Source: tasting
Vintage: 7000

still roasted over fruit, needs more time

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 8/10; Flavor: 8/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 16/20
Rating: 3.8/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **4

Courtesy SoLan. Thanks for sharing this gem! Deep, dark mahogany body with a black center. Small off-white rim with a thin film at the head. Sudsy lace tries its best to stick to the glass, but it slowly loses its grip and rejoins the body. The aroma is complex and lovely, showing waves of chocolate, anise, oak, faint bourbon, raisons, and roasted caramel. The equally impressive flavor hits you with choco-bourbon, ample amounts of anise, vanilla, and oak. It starts out sweet and malty, moving to a mildly sour yeast note that quickly reverts right back to sweet chocolate and caramel. The medium-full body is very rich and luxurious. Similar in style to the Expedition, though not as refined. Just an awesome beer. I LOVE BELLS!

Been waiting to try this.Thanx to SoLan for sharing this. Black as night the way i like them. Huge coffee and chocolate aroma.Mouthfeel is thick and chewy like oatmeal with a slight hint of the alcohol peeking out.Flavor was rich and intense.Finish was warming.

Rating #1080
Thanks to a couple Northern raters for sending me this beer about a year back.

7000 pours a completely opaque viscous black body, with a tall dark khaki, almost Belgian like lacing/ head atop. The aroma is intense with roasted malts; a developed note of soy sauce is most abundant. DAMN… The body is in fact a 20W-50 weight motor oil… It’s amazingly chewy and dense! Heavily roasted chocolate/black patent malts, very dry and coffee like, yet a lingering note of vanilla and mocha. . The hops are most evident but I think have fallen out with the passage of time.
An intense brew… and very nice way to kick off this Saturday evening!

Rating #800! Gotta thank footbalm for this incredible treasure! This one pours thick and black like motor oil, but with a smaller head than the Expedition. Aroma is big and roasty - picking up some dark chocolate, coffee, and some hints of dark, vinous fruits. Flavor is thick, roasty, and intense - lots of coffee (more coffee than Expo), chocolate, and insanely intense sweet flavors. Mouthfeel is wonderful, about as good as it gets. Better than Expedition? Not quite, but if you like Expedition and can trade for or otherwise procure this bad boy, its a must Have. Bells rules!

Bottle. A very complex beer for sure. Loads of dry molasses, roasted malt, sticky vanilla sweetness, alcohol, charred marshmallow and wet wood on the nose. Pours pitch black with a big reddish, khaki head with massive amounts of sticky lacing. Very viscous with brownish/yellow legs. Roasted malt... and lots of it on the palate. Earthy hops. Alcohol. Espresso. Vanilla. Bourbon sweet/spiciness. Smoked meat. Massive body. Quite rich, oily and viscous. Really over the top in all aspects. Some of the flavors weren’t integrated all that well, but still a wonderful beer.

Bottle, with a huge THANKS to Pantanap for this rare beauty! Pours a thicker dark brown/black with a minimal cinnamon tan head that forms late and quickly disappears to a thin ring, very slight lacing. Full and commanding aroma of chocolate, espresso, oak, vanilla, molasses, and dark fruits. A nice sniffer! Flavor brings the aroma home in good order, but with a more dominant roastiness and a bit of warming. Palate is medium-full and oily with moderate carbonation and a slight astringency in the finish. This is one nice Impy Stout, but does not unseat Expedition in the Bells world IMO. Very glad to have the opportunity to try!