Bells Batch 7000 Ale

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

Pours a jet black with a decent brownish head. with great lacing. Thanks a ton to Badgerben for sharing his bottle with us. Nice chocolate, tobacco, pepper, and port. Nice sweet tawny port profile of raisens, chocolate, caramel, and aother malt profiles. A nice hop balance to the sweet that helps the finish cling for forever. Wow this beer was amazing and I can’t wait to try this in time again. This beer is like Hardy’ s with more drinkability. Thanks to faro99 for hooking me up with a bottle I can age.

12oz bottle from Artusory. This dark brown ale poured with a beautiful fluffy tan head, eliciting a fruit and malt aroma. The first sip uncorks a plethora of flavors - bitter chocolate, sweet plums, roasted malt but, surprisingly, not alcohol. The finish is a satisfying bitterness that beckons another sip. A fitting beeer for my 500th review. Thanks Ryan.

Very decent brew, tried at the Dusseldorf gathering. Lots of chocolate, Some bitterness, Roasted malts, Maybe abit too much alcohol, but It should mellow out. Good brew!

I have had this beer a couple times recently and have came to the conclusion that with a little over a year and some months aging this beer is fantastic. Lots of roastiness, some sweets, and maybe even a bit of smoke. The flavors are outstanding with LOTS of bakers chocolate with a dry roast that has some sweetness in it. Some dark fruits are a little present in the flavor but no where near too much. The mouthfeel is really full bodied , nice and thick. The alcohol is really no where near noticeable in this big imperial stout. Towards the end of the bottle I did notice a little bit of "chalkiness" but I think that might have been a mixture of the sediments and the roasted flavors melding together. This small quip did nothing to take away from this fantastic beer. I love this beer, and Bells once again does not disappoint.

Pours perfectly into a nice tan foam head. Smell is WOW. A hint of alcohol, soy sauce and more malts. The smell, lingers into the taste, but the alcohol is up front at this point. The finish is surprisingly smooth for the upfront taste this brew has. Drinkable, yes. Just not more than one at a time IMO.

Bottle from Sprinkle. Pours thick and black, like oil. Thick rich aroma of roasted malts and sweet chocolate. A little alcohol as well. Ultra smooth mouthfeel, like liquid silk. Flavor up front is a little spicy and bitter with some alcohol notes. Finish if roasted and bitter. Very rich and complex. Very enjoyable sipper.

I decided to drink something special for my 250th rating since it was my one year anniversary.....umm with rating beer that is. I drank the hell out of this when it was released and somehow never got around to rating it. it has been about a year now since i have drank one of these. now of course i wish that i would have squirreled more of this away. so uh.....anyway here it goes. This beer looks AMAZING. pitch black motor oil thick syrupy black hole of a beer. light doent even try getting through this thing. the light actually ran off and hid in the corner as i was pouring this beer. i checked on him and he said he was cool so i whipped out the trusty mag light and continued.... the head is amazing creamy dark caramel brown. it lasts for quite a long time and leaves some good lacing. the aroma....i could smell this beer forever....it took me a good twenty minutes to get to tasting it. leather tobacco dark molasses vanilla and oak with a hint of currants mocha and piney citrus hops........and the best i can explain it is something that smelled slightly like dog food. but still an absolutely amazing aroma. beautiful. the flavor is intense. bittersweet coffee molasses chocolate with hints of smoke earthy tobacco spicy black pepper tart black currants with a nice touch of salt. dry acidic finish that has a billion different flavors. smokey campfire everything listed above and more. FULL THICK RICH AMAZING BODY with minimal carbonation....just the way it should be. alcohol? 12%? other than the fact that this beer is huge i didnt even notice it. i cant name another beer that has all five tastes. pungent, salty, sour, bitter, and sweet i guess i could even say umami since my mouth is watering right now just thinking about this beer. a wonderful experience. a true masterpiece.

12 oz bottle, purchased a year ago (1/2/06) and kept refrigerated. Pours and inky black with a thin but fine brown head that quickly recedes to a collar that laces the glass.

The aroma is chocolate covered cherries, and dark fruits. There’s also some grains and a little alcohol.

The flavor is bitter and burnt roast, licorice, chocolate, and a touch of sweet lactose. It has a pretty harsh bitter lingering aftertaste with a touch of sweetness. There is some alcohol in the finish but it is well hidden and not harsh. The mouthfeel is full and creamy with light carbonation.

Overall, it’s a good but unbalanced impy stout. I don’t remember it being this harshly burnt and bitter when I had it fresh - I would’ve thought it would’ve mellowed. It does become a bit more mellow as it warms.