Bells Batch 7000 Ale

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

Rating #2000! I was going to hold out until a tasting this week but I had a night to myself and the lure of rating "7000" for "2000" was pretty tempting, so here we are. Many thanks to those who shared beers along the way! <P> Black ruby tinged body with a moderate creamy chocolate coloured head, nice lacing. Sweet, fruity aroma, rum raisins, sour chocolate, muted roast malt. Dry tangy malt flavour up front, sweet malt middle with notes of chocolate, dry finish and lingering warming alcohol in the throat. Lingering aftertaste has a bitterness that I have trouble attributing to roast and hops. Becomes a bit too bitter, and harder to drink as the glass warms up, and more of the flavours I tend not to like come out but nice nonetheless. Medium oily palate. Pretty solid imperial stout, and a fitting milestone beer.

Pours a deep viscous black, opaque with a brown cream-like head, beautiful lacing and a lasting head. Aroma is innitially burnt and choclatey, but as it warms, rum raisin, alcohol and anise come to the forefront. The body is simply viscous. Could be thicker, but I wouldn’t want it thicker. The flavors are a melding of dutch chocolate, caramelized rum raisins, nougget, and alcohol. Finish is slightly bitter but lasting with a sweetness and warming character that I could really get used to over a long winter night. Quite simply a beautiful complex stout from the best stout brewer in the world.

12 oz bottle courtesey of Footbalm. Dark, dark, dark. Smells great, very strong aromas of chocolate/malt. Taste is very potent, strong, but well balanced. A definite good beer. Very strong though.

Pours VERY dark brown, close to black with a beautiful dark orange head. Aromas is roasted dark chocolate malt, cream and vanilla - delicious. Thick and oily mouthfeel - very smooth with gentle carbonation on the finish. Taste has lots of roasted / burnt malts and spicy / woody hops with lots of creaminess and some vanilla and chocolate hinted in the background. Finish as more bitterness from the hops and a little burn from the ABV. Fantastic beer.

Some chocolate and coffee in the aroma and flavor. Also had a slightly hoppy flavor. Some dry dustiness and syrupy thickness reminded me of an old ale mixed with an imperial stout.

Appears a dense black with a 3 finger tan, pillowy head that slowly fades out in a mild egg shell finish cap. Luscious coats of lacing are left around the glass complete with little bubbles that are reminiscent of pancake batter first poured on a hot griddle. Smell is of hot chocolate fudge, ripe dark fruits, fresh espresso, raisiny resin, and roasted peanuts. Taste is of the mentioned aromas with a doughy taste that also contains molasses. The hops are there and I could see how some would be turned away by this hoppy, sweet monster...but I am a huge fan of the fresh hop out of the bag aromas and taste and this is like standing over a hop boil in a stout. I could just dig into this all night long. Chewy, full bodied, sweet up front, sticky along the palate with sweetness, hoppy bitterness, and a dessert richness that is blissfull. This one is a fantastic brew. I was torn at giving it between a 4-4.5 but overall, this is an after dinner brew/night capper that is rich, fulfilling, and packs an alcoholic punch. I really wish that I had picked up more of these on my MI trip. I’ve got one more that I will sit on and open at a later time.

Bell’s Batch 7000 hits "center mass" on the imperial stout target. The aroma, appearance, and flavor match quite well. The sheer alcohol content somewhat detracts from the enormous malt and hop flavors, otherwise perfectly balanced. Unlike Kalamazoo Stout, the roast does not overwhelm the finish, and the hops endure. I wouldn’t mind even more hops, perhaps an "imperial" version of Anchor or Sierra Nevada porter.

12 oz bottle: Pretty dark, almost black but a very dark brown w/ a lasting tan head with some orangey redness. Initial aroma is dark fruit (prunes/dates) w/ a mix of chocolatey, roasty, and toasted malts. Some woody and cherry notes as well as alcohol esters. Lightly nutty & raisiny when warmed, and seems more woody as it warms further. Lots of malty sweetness in the flavor throughout. Finishes semi sweet w/ a bit of roasty coffee flavor. Some dark cherry fruit flavors along w/ some chocolate malt. Light alcohol flavor, but very light. Roasty aftertaste w/ some notes of dates and figs. Caramel and toasty malt flavors come through as it warms as well as a bit of a cherry wood flavor. Full bodied, low carbonation, well hidden alcohol although slightly warming, smooth and rich body. Damn, I wish I has more of this one! Fantastic beer to say the least. Thanks to kramer17801 for this one!