Bell's 25th Anniversary Ale

Brewery: Bell's Brewing Company
Style: American Strong Ale
ABV: 8.5%
Country: USA, Michigan

Bell's has had several beers appear on this blog so far. The best by a mile, of course, was the incredible Hopslam. I found this at the Reston Wine Cellar. It was the last one left and seeing as it is an anniversary beer and wont be brewed again, I counted it as quite the find. Poured a reddish, caramel, brown color with a thin head that dissipated quickly. Mild sweet aroma with some apple notes. Plenty of sweet malts dominated the taste. Apples were prevalent as well as apricots and caramel. Some darker flavors were present as well with some raisins and some yeast notes. Finish was dry and bitter with some bready malts that show up near the end. The body was creamy with almost no carbonation. Overall this was a yummy beer. It was little bit too sweet for my preference but I enjoyed it nonetheless. It was a good way to celebrate a fine brewery. B+

Bell's Hopslam Ale

Brewery: Bell's Brewery
Style: Imperial IPA
ABV: 10%
Country: USA, Michigan

This might qualify as the first "whale" that has been reviewed on this site. Hopslam is only released once a year and in limited supply. Supposedly, only 600 cases of this made it to Virgina. Of those cases, most had been sold in the course of a week. There are plenty of beer geeks out there with the release date for this beer marked on their calendar. I was treated to some at Ashburn Wine after which I was told that they had some in stock but it was sold by request only and with a two bottle limit. Without hesitation, I bought my two bottles and proceeded to fantasize to when I could sit down and savor this brew some more.

I broke out the tulip for this one. It poured a bright orange color. Big white fluffy head lingers a long time. The clarity of this was perfect as well. An impressive sight to behold for sure.

BIG aroma. Plenty of piney, earthy resin notes up front. Behind that lays a combination of sweet, honey malts and citrus grapefruit. I'd be content with smelling this all night long. My head started to get dizzy from inhaling this after a while.

The taste was absolutely divine! Like the aroma, a pine-tree resin is present up front. The honey shows up second which not only provides a wonderful sweetness, but also provides an incredibly rich mouthfeel. More grapefruit hop flavors show up which give way to a dry bitterness. The only presence that the 10% ABV makes is a pleasant warming sensation at the end. All the flavors of the alcohol are concealed with the hefty malts and hops.

Mouthfeel is rich and thick, bordering on syrupy. Lower levels of carbonation make this a delight to savor a long time. Like the 90 Minute IPA, this ale is beautifully balanced. Plenty of malts serve to check the generous hoping. I'll admit that this replaces the 90 Minute as my favorite beer for now. Its a shame that this only comes out once a year. I have my calendar marked for future releases already. A+

Bell's Winter White Ale

Brewer: Bell's

Style: White Ale

ABV: 4.5%

I recently picked this up from Wegman's along with 5 other "Winter" beers, got to love craft packs. This is actually the first Bell's beer I have ever had and have heard mixed reviews on their different beers.

While it looks like my bottle took a little beating it still had plenty of unfiltered sediment waiting at the bottom. A little bottle rolling to get that mixed in and I began the pour. A beautiful, hazy golden liquid poured from the bottle into my glass. There was very little head to go along with this golden beer, only a slight lace at the top.

The aroma was mild and primarily of cloves and really nothing else that I could pick up, nose is a little stuffed up thanks to the winter chill outside.

The first thing noticed upon drinking was the carbonation, very tingly on the tongue. It hid some of the flavor at first and didn't actually get a good taste until the finish. While clean it has very sweet honey notes.

Over all the beer is light and has a good finish and I could see myself putting a few of these down in the summer as thats when I prefer wheat beers. Over all I would give it a C+

-Roy

More of my photography

Bell's Special Double Cream Stout

I really wanted to do a specific beer for my first review, but unfortunately I could not get the 750ml bottle cold fast enough. My patience wore thin, and I decided to have this fine beer instead.

I picked this up at the Total Wine and More in Fairfax.

This beer hails from Bell's Brewery in Comstock, MI and comes in at 6.1% ABV. It's listed as a sweet stout and seems perfect enough for the winter months. It pours a dark brown sugar color, with not much head. It has a slightly bitter, yet sweet, chocolaty taste in the beginning. Better yet, it actually has a taste that lingers around well after, turning more roasty at the end. It is certainly a heavy beer, but one can expect that from most stouts.

My favorite style of beer is stout. It's great to see so many stouts come alive during the winter season. These beers are the "comfort food" of alcoholic beverages, and the Bell's Special Double Cream Stout is no different.

I will probably tend to stray from numeric ratings, as I have an unsophisticated palate, but I give this beer a thumbs-up. I give this beer an A-

-Bo