Bells Batch 7000 Ale

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

Blind Tasting Malty chocolate aroma, with some scottish ale malts. Boozy with tons of hazelnut, chocolate, with an anise background. Great stout.....and now that I know what it was, I wonder what it would have been like with a little more time under it’s belt.

This poured black in color with a thin moderate brown head of fine bubbles. The nose showed off dark fruit (plum/fig), chocolate, caramel along with sweet and rich citrus. In the mouth it was concentrated, rich and smooth. Though the flavors were of the sweet and sour variety. The palate was great but the flavors were a bit odd. In general I believe that the Expedition Stout ages better so will be interested to find out what the difference is between this one and Expedition.

Thanks AgentSteve. Pours dark brown/black, creamy, chocolate, bourbon, wood, roasted malts, coffee, slight dry and bitter finish.

Now thats a stout!!!!deep black color, nice Choc brown color head, nose is kinda boozy rum, coffee, molasses, star anise choc... SO GOOD, flavor hits em all very roasty with a good bittering finish, Fantastic beer

Held on to this one long enough. Pours perfect deep brown with a beautiful dark tan, finger thick head that diminishes to a subtle halo. Nose is huge chocolate, coffee, wood some how and bourbon. The flavor is much the same with a smooth and creamy mouthfeel and dry, slight bitter finish. Worth the wait.

Pours dark brown, thick-looking like Expedition, with a nice sized tan head. Aroma is huge dark fruits, milk chocolate, very sweet, almost bourbon-ish... I had to double check I was not drinking the bourbon barrel aged stuff. Flavor is a lot heavier with the chocolate, except it has a bitter dark chocolate flavor instead of the smooth milk chocolate I got from the nose. Big dark chocolate, roasty malts, a little bit of cherry and just a tinge of alcohol. This is pretty old, it certainly does not need more age, but I still think it has the potential to be even better with additional time in the cellar. Absolutely fantastic.

Huge thanks to KP for this bottle. Been waiting to try this for a long time. Pours thick looking, dark black color with very good carbonation. A sea of dark brown head covers the top and has decent retention for awhile before forming a ring. Aroma is noticeable from a yard away. Intense display of brownie, decadent and dessert like. Sweet, chocolatey fudge. Really the only image in my head I get when I smell this is different forms of chocolate dessert. A lot of vanilla too. Creamy, milky smooth in its aroma, no harshness or alcohol, though that is to be expected of something more than 3 years old. The signs of aging have not really caught up to this. I have not had this before so I have no comparison but oxidation is surprisingly low. On to the flavor. Huge chocolate, velvety smooth and super lush. Wow, this is just a gorgeous beer on the palate. Super rich, super creamy, intense. Still has some big bitterness and roastiness, chocolate, dark chocolate. This is mindblowingly good. Super flavorful. This is different enough from expedition, one of my very favorite beers. They have similarities but this is more dark chocolate whereas expedition is milk chocolate. All in all I think this beer will last for a significant amount of time, I can actually see this improving. Phenomenal stuff.

12oz bottle. Dang, I forgot to write down the batch number on the back label (he he). Pours pitch black with a huge tan head. Aroma of bourbon, dark fruit, chocolate and coffee. Flavor is pretty much the same, with the alcohol presence being just a tad too much. Surprising, seeing as this stuff was bottled in ’05. Wonder what another year or so might do. Still an amazing beer. Update - Usually not my style to update ratings, but I had this one again at the Hopsnobbery Collective stout tasting on 1.16.09 and it was the best of the night up against some of the big boys. Did not seem as astringent as the last bottle and that really brought out the other flavors, so I have bump the flavor up to 10. Aroma got bumped to 9, bringing overall to 19.