Bells Eccentric Ale

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

Appearance: Pours a clear, dark garnet-hued body with a thin, wispy, off-white head. Smell: Sweet-smelling malt aroma with sherry and fruity plum wine. Further notes of brown sugar and ginger. Taste: Deep sweet maltiness with a blending of caramel and sherry. Underlying spiciness, maybe a little bit of ginger, too. Drizzle of plum syrup. Splash of Galliano liqueur. Earthy dark brown sugar. A fairly withdrawn, forgotten hop character only yields a tired touch of resin. Warming, peppery finish. Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Medium carbonation. Decidedly sticky mouthfeel. Drinkability: Scrumptious! Both unique and rather enjoyable (and eccentric).

Bottle in trade from hopdog, I believe. Thanks!
Pours rich brown and opaque. Light small beige head. Smell is like rich, sticky tamarind, fruity, spicy, brown sugar, etc...Taste is sweet and spicy and fruity. Tamarind, cinnamon, sticky caramel on a slightly thick body. Very unique as the name suggests, but it works very well, for a beer brewed with popcorn, and malted milk balls, among many other random things. Good stuff and wouldn’t mind trying again.

Bottle shared by lb4lb at his tasting, thanks man. Poured a deep, hazy brown color with a thin off-white head that faded to a ring. Sweet, spicy earthy aroma with some hard to describe leafy smell, some spice (ginger), and brown sugar. Sweet brown sugar and maple on the entry with some moderate spiciness (ginger) and some light chocolate leads into a toffee and lightly fruity flavor. Smooth, almost syrupy mouthfeel. Different, but nice.

’05 Pours a deep amber brown color with almost no head. Aroma is malty, caramel. ginger, and some peppery spices. Flavor is malty, caramel, raisins, ginger, and a bitter peppery finish.

Thanks to hopdog for sharing this 2004 bottle. Pours a deep hazy brown with a smaller bubbly off white head. Aroma of ginger, maple, woody, earthy, honey, brown sugar, dark fruits, light alcohol and some toffee...very spicy. Flavor was a lot of the same with raisins, ginger, toffee, nuts and lots of spices.

2006. Pours a clouded chocolate. Reddened. Wispy eggshell film. Full sweetness in the aroma of raisins, molasses, fig, cinammon, cookie dough, carrot cake. Lightly salty with pumpkin flesh full of cloves and milk chocolate. Malt vinegar and alcohol. Mild, musty wooded oxidation with a sweetened cardboard stripe. Huge flavor full of raw brown sugar, burnt honey, and cinnamon coated apples. Quite hot, very pasty, very dry. Chocolate and vanilla toned tobacco ash. Needly bitterness. Lingers more as some kind of spice liqueur than any type of strong ale, with this burly syrup and firey brown dryness that singes every corner of the mouth. Mid palate is mostly brown sugar crusted pineapple and honey and a suggestive malted milk ball stickiness. Brandy seems to rub through with the constancy of heat and clinging sugars; really an unexpectedly thick film of vanilla and toasted coconut sweetness leaving a grainy texture in the mouth. Palate is remarkably full, again as a syrupy liqueur, with soft, barely there carbonation, managing to seem somewhat smooth. Dark berries, tangy bourbon, maple syrup, and pastry before an alcoholic, dry finish. Staggeringly complex and mountainous, but never exceedingly difficult, which in this case must be an admirable accomplishment. Thanks Derek!

06 vintage. Medium sized tan head with good retention and a nice coating lace that lasts. Clear, deep brown, ruby hued color, good lookin brew. Nose of spice, molasses a hint of honey and chocolate. Lots going on here. Body is full, creamy on the palate with a soft carbonation. Strange flavor profile has the above aromas coming through in the flavor along with notes of pepsi cola, toffee, raisiny notes, cinnamon? pine needles(and i,ve brewed beer with fresh pine needles, believe me), cocoa notes, sugary malts and the honey notes lying in wait. Finish is lightly sweet with a sort of wierd astringency, not bad just,,, different. The 11% ABV is undetectable. Props to Robert @statelineliquors for the bottle! Eccentric,,, indeed.

Thanks to Blake for this ’04 bottle. Dark brown color with a minimal head. Heavy aromas of maple, oak and honey. Honey flavors dominate with light herbs. Rich and thick.