Bells Batch 8000 Ale

Formerly brewed at Bells Brewery
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Kalamazoo, Michigan USA

Received in a trade from BA ClockworkOrange, the Batch 8000 was poured in a goblet, and it sat there looking cloudy like orange juice, but topped with a two finger foamy head. The nose was clove, orange peel, coriander, and bubble gum. The taste is where it started to deviate from the standard formula for Witbiers, as the citric tang was mixed with a liberal dose of earthy yeast notes. Hops were not very prominent in this beer, but the alcohol certainly was. The mouthfeel was medium thick, and the body sticky due to the persistent sweetness. Good all around quencher.

Freshly tapped keg at Bone Dry Highland, Indiana. My first spoken words after my initial taste from a 12 ounce bottle earier in the week- "OBERON ON STEROIDS". Hazy orange with a HUGE white head. Coriander, bananas, lemon zest in the nose. Thick, rich body dominated by wheat sweetness and bananas. The big alcohol provides a drier, peppery finish that was superb from the tapped pint and more muted in the bottle. A weonderful beer.

12oz bottle from Capone’s (Norristown, PA). pours hazy orange-golden color with a thick off-white head. Nose of yeast and coriander with notes of citrus and bubblegum. Flavor is complex with wheat, orange, spice, yeast, pepper and alcohol. really nice beer.

Good, irregular off-white head over very hazy orange beer with fine carbonation; end of bottle solid. White candi sugar, and a touch of coriander dominate the nose, as well as alcohol. Suggesting sweet-bitter taste, and probably the most Belgian smelling American beer. There’s just a whiff of hops, fleetingly. Sweet-bitter, softly toasted Belgian waffles with sugarsyrup. Finishes very peppery-spicey with a suggestion of citrus. Retronasal serious hops. Medium bodied, quite slick, nearly viscous. Not very attenuated as a tripel. BENG! Larry, of all people has done it! This brew is more Belgian-smelling and Belgian-tasting as any original Belgian brew I’ve ever had. I’d nearly call it a caricature of itself, if it weren’t so high in quality. Thanks, David, this one was not one to miss for money!

Milky apricot color; orange and spice aroma; thick, spicey-orange taste. I’m not familiar with this style at all but this one seems like a nice one next to a fire during the holidays.

I thought this beer was fantastic. It is very sugary, and has many notes of orange and cherry, some cinnamon in there too but it is well subdued. The aclohol only becomes noticeable when it warms past 55F, so for a 9%+, that’s saying some good things. Definitely pick this one up; it’s worth more than its 3.7 rating.

Not a success. Aroma is coriander, orange and wheat with a foamy white head. Taste follows suit with a little pronouncement of alcohol and creamy banana ester. Not very refreshing in the typical wit kind of way, lacking that crispness of a traditional wit for a more malty, creamy finish. Just could not get into it. Maybe if it had a lot of hops in it, like Schneider & Brooklyner Hopfen-Weisse I would like it more.... hmmm.

12 oz bottle. Pours a hazy dark golden orange with a creamy off-white head that retains well and laces the glass.

The aroma is sweet malts, some fruit (orange, banana), yeast and spices (clove).

The flavor is some candy-like sweetness and fruits over wheaty malts. The finish is dry and lightly bitter with some hefe-like spicing. The alcohol is well hidden, but there is some burn at the end as it warms. The mouthfeel is pretty full and creamy.

Overall, a fun beer. It’s an interesting and original choice for a big beer - like a pumped up wit / hefeweizen cross.