Bells Batch 8000 Ale

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

Bronzed orange. Quickly dying off-white ring of foam. Decent aroma is comprised of peach, melon, coriander, gummy candy, orange peels, and black pepper. Fuzzy carbonation. Bottle conditioned. Gentle, well-rounded bite of acidity is curbed by a stewed-peach sweetness which saturates the core. Succulently fruity with tangy wheat bolstering the body, but intensely spicy with an overbearing mix of coriander and alcohol. Quite muddled and increasingly cloying. Yeast imparts some unpleasant chalkiness and aspirin-like bitterness which is amplified by the relentless spiciness. Melon lends some slickness to the otherwise tacky and sappy body, but fails to overcome the spices. Flabby finish is sweetly malty with an overt honey-drizzled apricot suagariness and a lingering mixture of orange peel sweetness and coriander. This wasn’t very good when fresh, and I can’t say aging it has helped any.

Bottled@Oliver Twist, Stockholm. Amber colour, not much head. Aroma is fruits, alcohol, nectar and some wood. Flavour is hops, fruits and some mild notes of nectar and wood. Also some slight alcoholic sweetness. As it warms up the wheat gets stronger. Rather wellbalanced imperial wit, or wheatwine.

Beautiful in the glass with a faintly orange body and thin, white head. Aroma is intriguing and pulls you in - probably my favorite part of this beer. Definitely inspired by the Belgian White style, but much stronger in alcohol and more forceful in flavor. Enjoyed it greatly and still have one bottle left to relish.

Lovely reddish blonde with bubbly champagne-like effervescence.
Peppery at first which was very saison-esque, but then the more familiar orange peel and that tell-tale wit aroma that you can only qualify as ’yeasty’. I couldn’t really smell the coriander (although the orange peel is pretty similar so it may have been that) but the paradise seed (the aformentioned pepper) was quite present. It also had a bit of a sugary smell that was a totally nice touch.
Very true to the Belgian style in the taste profile, I wouldn’t be surprised if they used actual candi or beet sugar to boost the ABV. For a high octane brew, the actual booze factor was quite subdued, it just had enough to bring the flavors together like the bass in a rock band. Very well balanced, with nothing out of place. Excellent.

Ummm, very confusing. Nice spice, but a bit much. Nice nose, but lacking in just a subtle way. It is a nice break from the "usuall" bells’ product, reminds me of a belgian triple, as I’ve amazingly grown slightly bored with the normal "bells’" standard. Sad isn’t it? With this beer it’s like they wanted to.... but didn’t. For me, it could be best the kept a secret, or a public announcement...........DRINK IT NOW!!!!!! Simply put, it’s a chewbacca. It is a nicely designed wheat......and I’ll leave it at that.

Pours a hazy golden amber with a fluffy white head that stick around for a little while leaving decent lacing. Honestly, this smells a bit like apple juice, definitely fruity. There is plenty of wheat sweetness along with some orange hoppiness and some peppery spices. The taste is has a strong Belgian yeast sweetness up front before giving way to some fruits. The finish is big on the spices and leaves a slightly peppery sting on the palate. The mouthfeel is good for a wheat beer, a little light for a Belgian ale. This is an interesting and tough-to-categorize ale from Bells which I enjoyed.

Bottle: Pours a murky golden with a strong off white film of head. The aroma is rich with notes of vanilla, almonds, wood, herbal honey and lots of various spices. The body is slick and warming. Lots of rich boozy quality in the flavor, yet it never burns. Notes of vanilla, wood, alcohol, earthy/glazed almonds, and lots of toasted spices (toasted coriander, thyme character?) and a warming earthy finish. A fairly big beer that remains balanced and smooth. Pretty nice.

Bottle. Hazy orange-yellow beer with a small head. Was expecting a big citrus and spice aroma but the smell was mostly yeast. Flavor did contain the citrus and coriander I was looking for, but something was off and lacking. Strong, flavorful, but slightly harsh. Alcohol is present.