Third Coast Old Ale

Brewed by Bells Brewery
Style: Barley Wine
Kalamazoo, Michigan USA

Pours murky red brown with a thin off-white head. Nose is dried fruit, butterscotch, and caramel malt. Flavor is very malty with some caramel and hops in there. Also a bit of fruit and alcohol. Feels a little bit unbalanced to me. I think this will be better in a year.

12 oz bottle. Pours dark brown red with some sediment and a medium tan head. Aroma is sweet caramel, toffee, maybe a little hops and alcohol. Flavor is caramel, toffee, honey, with malt and hops in a very good balance. Hop bitterness and some warm alcohol in the finish. A very nice barleywine.

In short: A Barley Wine with a Scotch Ale twist. Good beer.
How: Bottle 12oz, about 1 year old
The look: Cloudy redish brown body with a lot of yeast chunks and paticles. Small beige head
In long: Toffee and caramel. Some dried fruits, some raisins, some cranberries, some cherries dipped in chocolate. Some whiskey hints. Finish has some dryness but overall the fruity Hops is not assertive enough. Although commercial description says this is one to age I suspect this beer is at best when fresh, with some hops presence. Might be a bit overrated but it is still quite a beer. Big distribution, very cheap, good quality, very reliable… are you sure this is not made in Japan?

bottle: batch 8135 - deep copper pour with decent size head that had a lot of stick. mild aroma of hops and toffee. taste is butterscotch, almond, molasses. chocolate and pine hops. well balanced with a great texture. barley wines aren’t necessarily my thing, but this is obviously well done. K-6.5

Thanks to Secret Santa & Photekut, I have two bottles to enjoy! Pours a murky deep reddish brown with a moderate tan head that quickly disappeared and left very little lace. Very pleasant aroma of sweet malt, brown sugar and dates. The flavor is very similar, but not as sweet as the aroma, with some alcohol and hops bitterness at the finish. The bitterness lingers at the roof of my mouth well after the swallow. This one is a sipper that I will enjoy on this last cool evening before the heat wave hits tomorrow!

Pours a beautiful cherry amber with a small off-white head that leaves a ring around the glass. Wonderful malty caramel, wood, cherry aroma, very pleasant. Flavor is very sweet caramel at first with a little fruit and an alcoholic, old hoppy finish. A lot of depth to the flavor palate of this beer. Very little sign of the 10% ABV.

Dark mahogany color. Very rich, sweet, strong flavor. The aroma resembles butterscotch or syrup. Very strong and flavorful.

12 oz bottle thanks from ucusty, thanks Dave. Pours a hazy funky brown that seems to have the slightest hint of pinkish red highlights and an average to slightly small creamy beige head. Aroma has lots of malts, caramel, toffee, alcohol, maple syrup blending nicely. The body on this one doesn’t hide the 10.2% to well but it still goes down rather easy. Flavor of grain, caramel, some rotting fruit, and finishes up with some shery type flavors. Although this is listed as a BW and a very nice beer it is slightly dry to style but still a great drink.