Bells Christmas Ale

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

Bottle. Pours an amber gold body with an off white head. Sweet malt profile, with hint of caramel, butterscotch, a light woodiness and some light fruity esters. Citrus and some toasted malt and a hint of smoke. Some pine and grain. Eh not bad.

12 oz.bottle pours a clear, coppery amber that sports a medium yellow/tan head. Lightly grainy and malty with some hints of caramel. Body is medium with a nice creaminess, light carbonation, and a pleasant mouthfeel. Malt dominated flavors, although not overly sweet, and a softly dry, but not bitter fiinish.

Hazed orange gold pour with white head and lace. Just light maltiness on the nose with a hint of a sour like aroma. Flavor is a semi sweet almost like corn. A light/medium bitter finish. Creamy like mouthfell a hint of a sour/bitter like after taste. A very drinkable beer.

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.