Bells Eccentric Ale

Brewed by Bells Brewery
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Kalamazoo, Michigan USA

Bottle, 2008 release batch 8309.. My loving wife bought me a case today. She Wins. Aromas of Nutmeg, spices, bread, roasted malt and prunes. Pours a deep brown with a thinnish tan head. Lovely creamy consistency, sticky on the palate with notes of caramel and syrup. Hints of citrus hops, nuts, raisins,honey and roasted malt, possible coriander. low carbonation with a slight alcohol burn at the finish. A little aging will make this one magnificent.

(Bottle 35,5 cl) Courtesy of pepsican. Hazy reddish brown with a rough, off-white head. Fat, sweetish and spicy aroma. Very full-bodied, sticky, sweet and fat with spicy accents. Rather bitter finish. Excentric indeed, but not really great. 201008

12 fl oz bottle. Pours dark amber with a fully diminished head. Mild yeasty and alcohol aroma. Flavour is spiced and slight herbal with a nice caramelish note. Lingering spiced and somewhat acidic. Light yeasty too. Mild acidic and yeasty finish with a dense caramel malty note.

Bottle. [Tasting @ Papsoe 20-10-2008] Vintage 2006. Small fizzy beige head that mostly diminished. Spare display of lacework. Dark amber color. Aroma of herbal, pepper, ginger, dried fruit, floral. Quite bitter floral / herbal feel over the palate. Medium to full bodied with an average carbonation and thick texture. Moderated sweet and bitter flavor. Lingering biter herbal and floral finish.

2004 bottle courtesy of Mr.Bendo sampled 9/08. Thanks! I’ve been wanting to try this one for a long time.

Pours dark and cloudy, gorgeous barleywine nose, leathery and sweet, aged hops and caramel. Absolutely kick-ass flavor, rich and complex with lots of dark sugars, plenty of hop punch even after four years, smoke and dried plums, vast complexity. Lovely mouthfeel, not hot in the least, but thick and rich and full. Beautiful beer at this age. I can see that it might have needed a good fraction of these four years to come into its own, but right here....wow. A knockout that I’d place alongside the top US barleywines at four years.

Poured a dark murky brown with an off white head. Aroma was of lots of alcohol, some fruits, vegetables and the milk balls. Flavor was realy complex, hard to pick out specifics, finished with a long overbearing taste of burnt malted milkballs. ONly gave it 16/20 due to its complexity and uniqueness

’04 vintage at the GTMW. Murky brown pour with a thin tan head. Mint, caramel aroma. Flavor was mint, anise, caramel, pine cones, cherry, earth. Medium carbonation, really interesting.

Special tapping around 4pm at GTMW ’08. Sampled on draught, pours a clear dark amber brew with a thin off-white head that quickly dissipates to a fine film and off-white ring. Aroma of caramel malt, dark pitted fruits, brown sugar, alcohol, cherry and a touch of mint. Taste is medium bodied, very light carbonation with flavors of dry caramel malt, some wintergreen, citrus, dark pitted, burnt brown sugar, and a touch of cherry. Finish is high alcohol warmth with a mild caramel malt and brown sugar aftertaste that slowly disappears. I didn’t get a high volume of hops profile per older ratings but it was quite enjoyable.