Third Coast Old Ale

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

12 oz bottle from a long while back, single bottle frm somewhere. Pours a nice copper hue, darker, decent haze, a nice red body underneath almost, with a moderate tannish head, stays at a decent layer with decent lacing. Aromas are a rich caramel and toffee malt base, bringing floral and grapefruit hops underneath, a rich sweetness with a touch of toast, vanilla, and a faint nuttiness. Good fruitiness, almost candied fruit is the theme. Initial is a richer sweet body, still only moderate bodied, with a decent dosing of hoppy bitterness behind. Toffee, caramel, a touch of vanilla, with some candied fruits, or sweeter ones at that, with a decent booziness, dusting of cinnamon. The hoppy elements are pretty good and help balance this malty brew, in fact the hops are really the most prominent part of the finish with some decent trailing malty sweetness. A solid brew.

12oz bottle, batch 8211, poured into a tulip. Pours a murky caramel brown with hints of orange through the edges with a big creamy off-white head that shows fairly good retention and leaves very little lacing. The aroma is dominated by caramel malts, toffee and dark fruits. There are lots of sugar coated raisins in the nose and there is a bit of citrus hops left in the nose up front, but they’re not nearly as noticeable as they likely were fresh. The taste is slightly more bitter with a sharp hop bitterness up front which gives way to the toasted caramel malts, but it’s definitely less sweet than the aroma would suggest. As it warms, the toffee and dark fruits start to show, but the finish is boozy and bitter with less lingering sweetness than I was expecting. The mouthfeel is slick with soft carbonation and a sugary dessert-like body overall. Definitely coats the palate completely. This is a solid brew from Bell’s, a drinkable barleywine that’s not overly complex but is certainly tasty. It’s not one of my favorites from Bell’s, but that’s a pretty high hurdle (see Oracle).

Dark copper pour, Lemon zest and lots of citrus and grapefruit aroma, some caramel sweetness to the malt as well a little toasty. Flavor has a lot more orange or red grapefruit to it then expected, sweet finish.but still dry. Very nice

Dark Copper Pour. Aroma is caramel malt with a touch of light bread. Hops are grapefruit and lemon zest. Flavor is sweet and fruity - blood orange and grapefruit. Some sweet cedar woodiness coaxes the malt along until the finish which is nice and dry. Really Enjoyable

12oz bottle. Copper color. Aroma of sweet bready malt. Nice caramel, some alcohol. Some leather, dark fruit, molasses, hint of citrus hops. Flavor has a lot of alcohol. Sweet wort, biscuits, caramel, earthy, raisins. Nice toasted malt in the finish along with Alcohol. Very, very good. This beer makes up for some of the other Bells I’ve recently had that have been below quality.

thanks to jblauvs for this one. Dark amber pour with a small bubbly head and lots of yeast sediment. Aroma holds citrus at the start with lemon and grapefruit, then moves to bready malt, caramel, and a more pronounced malt character. Hop presence is great on the tongue, with similar traits to the aroma. Palate is really nice; immensely smooth for 10.2 % ABV, great finish. Really tasty American style barleywine.

Thanks jblauvs. Dark copper pour with a smallish white head. Aroma is citrus hop and a delectable caramel sweetness. A biscuity toasty malt rounds out the aroma with a slightly alcoholic nature. Flavor is quite hop oriented with grapefruit, orange and lemon coming through. Caramel and toffee complement and balance out the hoppy nature nicely. Palate is full and bubbly with a lingering dry hoppy finish. Quite nice.

Pours a cloudy dark brown color with slight amber edges when held to a light source and a thin beige head that very quickly fades into a lasting ring. Earthy and leathery aroma with some chocolate malt, subtle hops, sweet alcohol, grape and dark fruit. Hoppy up front with a peppery spiciness followed by a dark roasted malt presence and a lot of sweet alcohol flavor. Hints of dark fruit and licorice with a decent amount of alcohol warmth in the finish.