Bells Christmas Ale

Brewed by Bells Brewery
Style: Scotch Ale
Kalamazoo, Michigan USA

12oz bottle, Pours hazy dark gold. Huge malt flavor and sweetness. Toast flavors and caramel finish.

From a 12oz Bottle. Courtesy of CharlesDarwin. Thanks, Tom! Somewhat hazy, golden caramel colored pour with a thick finger of fine bubbled ivory foam. Aromas of kettle caramelization and some grapey melanoidins. Notes of vanilla. Yeast characters are very restrained, with only a trace of mild fruity esters. Medium bodied, moderately carbonated mouthfeel with a rich, malty texture. Flavors of caramel and teething biscuit up front on the palate. Rich in malt dextrins, but not overly sweet. A pleasing toasted bread crust flavor comes in the finish. What is wrong with all the rates here? Since when does this beer claim to be a wee heavy? It’s 5.8%! A very respectable scottish ale.

pours a pale amber-honey color with a huge foamy light tan head. very miniscule sediment throughout. outstanding lacing and retention. aroma is very mild but has notes of sweet malts, spicyness, and a faint metallic scent. flavor has some cinnamon, spicy hops and some sweet caramel. mouthfeel is a bit thick and oily and finish lingers with spicy hops and cinnamon. not a bad beer but lacks balance and has some off flavors.

Vegetal aroma. Flavor is a little plain, with some light fruitiness, biscuit flavors, and gentle hop presence. Good session like qualities, however, a little boing for a Bells creation. Scotch Ale? More like an amber ale.

In short: A messy amber ale of no specific style. Annoying.
How: Bottle 12oz. Consumed fresh a few months after its release. Sent to me by oakbluff, thanks Scott.
The look: Cloudy dark orange topped by a medium off-white head
In long: Faint nose of hard-candy and light spiciness. Taste is a mess. Extra light fluffy body, candied caramel, light smokiness that doesn’t fit in, metallic notes, orange zest, butterscotch, cinnamon, ginger (!?), more... Basically just a bunch of random flavours that do not work together. Hopping is very reminiscent of the leafy/floral hops of true English ESB. I usually like that hopping profile but here it just doesn’t work with the beer. On the positive, this was batch 8802, and even a wasted batch like this is taking us one step closer to Bells Batch 9000.

Amber colored brew. Balanced but unpleasant nose, with hints of biscuit from the malt as well as some grapefruit and lemon from the hops. Flavor is very light, lacking complexity and depth. Nothing even close to a wee heavy. How is this beer not an amber ale?

Decent attempt at a scotch ale from Bell’s. Has a beautiful pour with large pillowy head. Not much in the way of aroma, just some faint hints of malt. Flavor is malty, slight yeasty flavor, low bitterness. Very drinkable, but nothing that WOW’s you.

Bottle. Very hazy, even a few floaters in an orange/amber liquid. Poured with a really big, soft white head that slims down to thin layer. Not a lot of smell, just a distant maltiness. Nice yeasty, malty flavors. Some caramel. spice, and a hint of whiskey balanced with a touch of bitterness. Not my favorite style, and really didn’t taste that much like a Scotch, which for me is a good thing.