Bells Wild One

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

FOBAB 09. Pours amber with a foamy off-white head. Aroma is of malt, wood, fruit, and some funk. The aroma is rather weak, and doesn’t smell much like a sour. Taste is of wood, fruit, and grass. Has a dusty malt backbone. There is a slight amount of cherry to it. Has a slight underlying funk to it, but it is far from sour. Mouthfeel is a tad thin. I was by far dissapointed with this one. Nothing amazing.

Sampled at FoBAB 2009. Pours a nice murky amber, lighter fiery around edges, a small creamy offwhite head laces well. Aromas are very woody, a bit of wet wood, vanilla, fruity and not as sour as expected. Initial is lightly tart, fizzy, a nice fruitiness, dark fruit, some caramel malt as base, sublte, wet wood, more sessionable sour with a nice blast of vanilla in there. Spritzy, very nice, sublte. A touch toasty

Fobab 2009. pours a hazy brown with a small tan head. notes of chocolate, brown sugar, gread, earth, and leather. pretty good. interesting beer fo sho. supposedly this is named after a billy joel song.

Sampled during the Great Taste of Midwest 09 in Madison, Wisconsin. Pours a hazy dark amber colored brew with a thick off-white head that has some nice retention and lacing. Aroma of tart cherries, yeast, some bret, and a hint of vanilla. Taste is tart, some carbonation with flavors of tart cherries, some caramel malt, sourdough bread, a hint of bret and some spice. Finish is slightly tart with some cherry and yeast aftertaste that slowly disappears. Gotta thank BDR and JK for getting me interested in sours.

Sampled at GABF 2009 - Pours dark golden with a mostly receding off-white head. Notes of brett, cherry, acidic/lactic, barnyard, and berry. Medium to full bodied with lively carbonation. An enjoyable sour.

sample from the pitcher at GABF on 9/26/09... Really nice Sour from Bells! I was really excited to see them pouring this one.... and it was one of the only ones left at their booth... pours a murky golden brown... sour citrus nose... some funk on the nose as well... light to medium body... nice tart finish. very enjoyable.

GABF 2009. Pours a hazy medium amber with a light beige head. Aroma smells like wild berries and mild funk. Lighter side of medium bodied. The flavor really captures the flavor of wild berries, with a light maltiness in the background. The sweetness is just right, so that the controlled tartness can play into the mix. Acetic traits are tame, in a good way. I like this because it’s not thick sour bomb. Excellent, and extra points for getting the "wild" berry flavor into the beer, something I have never experienced before. It reminded me of when my grandfather and I would go berry picking along the country roadsides.