Bells Eccentric Ale

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

12oz bottle, 2006 vintage. Huge thanks to mdm46410 for the bottle. Wanted to try this one for a while. All over the map, unfocused beer but somehow quite tasty. Aroma of spruce, raisins and figs, chocolate, black cherry, buttered veggies, nutmeg and ginger. Curiously still loohking mahogany brown pour with no head. Quite a bit drier n the tongue than I expected. Starts sweet, turns slightly buttery midpalate and finishes rather bitter and dry.flavor is all over the place, very unique. Sweet, tart, dry. Fruits, candy, earthy notes. Medium to full bodied. Syrupy sweet and also plenty of hoppy dryness. Most unique for sure!

(Bottle (2002) via trade with <A HREF=http://www.ratebeer.com/ViewUser.asp?UserID=7 target=blank>BBB63, thanks Mike!) Wow 6 years old!...Pours murky slightly orangish brown - I mean very murky. Lots of little stuff floating around. No head (or only a very slight trace). Kind of looks like old unfermented wort or unfiltered fall cider from the bottom of the vat. Hmmm. Smells of heavy candyish malt, sort of like a barleywine, but I’m not getting any hops or spices. Palate is kind of heavy, virtually zero carbonation, so no zing, bubbliness or "lift". Flavor I would describe as sweet, spicey and bitter, all at the same time. Getting quite a gingery taste but there are probably other spices as well. Alcohol seems well-hidden in all the murk. Lingering bitter aftertaste. Pretty weird and quirky - seems almost like a homebrew experiment. Another hard one to rate because I’m not sure what it’s supposed to "be" like and given the age of this bottle if it has started to turn into something different than when first bottled. Falls well out of the boundaries of a "normal" bottled beer.

Poured from a 12oz bottle (2006 vintage) and served in a snifter. This beer poured an extremely dark mahogany color with a thin, slightly lasting head of tan foam. A fair amount of spotty lacing coated the inside of the glass. The aroma of the beer was made up of strong caramel, chocolate, pie spices, honey, pumpkin, and a bit of alcohol. The flavor was all over the place. I picked up sugary caramel, buttered popcorn, licorice, prunes, maple syrup, bittersweet chocolate and cocoa, cinnamon, mild alcohol, and a strange vegetal note. Eccentric to say the least. The mouthfeel was full-bodied and coated the tongue. The level of carbonation was minimal. Not something I would want on a regular basis, but very fun to try every once in a while.

2006 bottle. Dark brown, with a tan head. Aroma is malt, spices, honey, chocolate, and vegtables. Flavor is roasted malt, spices, honey, vegtables, chocolate, and some raisins. Wow, this is a weird and different brew, but I like it!

(bottle from hoppymeal.2006 vintage))did the label say something about popcorn???ok anyway,appearance was dark brown with some crimson highlights.not much head at all.the aroma is a mix of cinnamon,cantaloupe,black liquorice,and buttered popcorn.the flavor is a strange mix of...well lets just say if you took everything on the label,stuck it in a blender,and added some alcohol.BAM!you got bells eccentric ale.

[981-20071215] 12floz (Vintage 2006; Holiday Tasting 2007 @ Cole’s, Buffalo, NY). Black cherry and dark vanilla malt aroma has a hint of meat. Dark brown red body with quick off-white bubbles. Nice dark rich malt flavour has sweet meady light chocolate notes and a bit of flowery toasted popcorn in the background. Medium-full body is thick and dry. Rather unique, interesting to try.

Bottle @ Cole’s Christmas Tasting 2007. 2006 Vintage. Courtesy of Bill Metzger. Very very dark brown, mostly headless body. Vegetal aroma like dry vegetable soup mix, some pine needles and spruce. (7+) Sweet flavour at first but with an omnipresent bitterness that smacks you to attention, More bizarre vegetal fruit melange, sugars, tangy fruit, tiny brief honey and licorice, blink and you’ll miss it hint of marmite, very slight hint at possible oxidation? Coats the tongue and lingers a long time. Smooth full palate is heavenly at times, very lightly carbonated. It is both fabulous and awful, it has some great cameos but ultimately it is just right friggin weird! Makes you want to try it again, but mostly so you can figure it all out rather than the flavour itself. Many thanks to Bill for sharing!

bottle @ Coles Christmas tasting 2007. Coutesy of Bill Metzger. Strange but interesting beer. Said made with vegetables, malted milk balls, honey, raisins and other rthings. Really stange taste. Poured drk brown maroon. Some winey type character, maltiness, slightly sweet, dried fruit. Little of everything going on here,. Glad to try it but almost impossible to comprehend