Bell's Bright White Review

Name: Bell’s Bright White
Style: Wheat Beer
ABV: 5%
IBUs: 21

Most of the winter seasonal beers tend to be heavier in style and alcohol content, but Bell’s decided to pull a fast one on us and give us Bright White, which is a Belgian-inspired wheat beer. Now I did some digging and I found out that this beer used to go by a different name: Winter White, which has been around since 2003. When I did some even further digging as to the reason for the name change, the best I could come up with was because Bell’s felt like it. Also, the Bell’s website goes out of its way to inform you that no spices were used in making this beer. In any case, let’s check this one out.

Appearance – A cloudy yellow color with a high amount of visible carbonation. The head is on the soapier side with some good retention and the lacing left behind is rather abundant.

Aroma – Malted wheat and Belgian yeast notes permeate throughout the nose, with a touch of floral hops backing it up.

Taste – Similar to the nose, those malted wheat and Belgian yeast notes dominate the front of the palate, with some bitter & floral hops in the middle. It finishes off with a nice Belgian yeast, banana & clove-like spiciness. In the aftertaste, there’s a linger bitter hoppiness that sticks around for a few moments.

I have to say, I’m impressed that Bell’s was able to pull off the flavor without the use of spices in this beer and stands as a testament to the talent of the crew working there. As a wheat beer, it’s a solid offering from them, but it’s made even more impressive by the fact that they were able to give us such a flavor without having to resort to the typical ingredients of a witbier. It might not be the newest beer on the block, but this still worth your attention, should you get the chance to come across it.

Bell’s Bright White – 8.5/10

Bell's Jupiter Review

Name: Bell's Jupiter 
Style: Brown Ale
ABV: 8%

Bell's Brewery has been releasing a new beer in its Planet Series, which pays homage to Gustav Holst's classical musical suite "The Planets," which each beer paying homage to a section of the suite with seven in all.

Today's beer is based on the fourth section of The Planets called "Jupiter," which should invokes feelings of happiness, joy and other great feelings. Appropriate timing too because Spring has finally arrived! Though the beer itself is classified as a brown ale, Bell's has gone on the record to say that this is actually an Imperial Brown Ale. They also recommend pouring this into a Nonic glass, which is what we are doing today.

Appearance - A dark brown color that has a crimson tinge along the edges of the glass. The head is on the thinner side and takes on a khaki colored appearance, though the retention is quite good.

Aroma - Strong chocolate malts dominate the front of the nose which is paired with some moderate toffee sweetness. There's some mild floral hoppiness in the back too along with some mild roasted barley notes. You really can't tell this beer is 8% ABV.

Taste - Chocolate malts are once again the centerpiece for this beer but the toffee sweetness and floral hoppiness are more or less equals with the toffee notes getting a slight edge. The aftertaste is mainly chocolate malts and a light booziness. There's a light roastiness that encompasses the flavor, but it feels mild at best.

When it's said and done, Jupiter is a solid beer. At the same time, I think it is the weakest (a term I use very loosely) beer in the series so far as I don't think it doesn't do anything that jumps out at me. Sure it's worth checking out but if you don't get around to having this, then you aren't exactly missing too much.

Bell's Jupiter - 8/10

Bell's Mercury Review

Name: Bell's Mercury
Style: Belgian Pale Ale
ABV: 4.8%

The next release in the Planet Series from Bell's Brewery, which based on the orchestral piece by Gustav Holst, recently hit shelves with Mercury: The Winged Messenger. Since Mercury is the smallest planet in the solar system, it only makes sense that this beer is the smallest in terms of alcohol content at just 4.8%

The beer also pairs wonderfully with the Mercury section of Mr. Holst's classic masterpiece...

Mercury pours a very hazy yellow color with no visible carbonation. Despite there being a very thin head that retains around the edges, the lacing is on the sparse side.

The aroma has some potent clove notes in with some Belgian Yeasts along with some pale maltiness. I'm also getting some some cracked pepper and a some pilsner-grassiness.

Flavor-wise I'm getting some strong clove and cracked pepper notes upfront mixed in with some Belgian yeastiness and pale malts. In the aftertaste I'm getting some surprisingly strong hop bitterness & light spiciness in the aftertaste, which is unusually strong for a session ale; Though I'm not complaining

This has to be one of the best session ale, if not, the best I've had to date. The flavor is complex and robust yet you can still enjoy it throughout the day. I can tell that Bell's put a lot of love into making this a tasty session ale and their efforts are a resounding success. It's a limited release so get it while you can.

Bell's Mercury - 9.25/10

Bell's The Oracle Review

Name: Bell's The Oracle
Style: Imperial IPA
ABV: 10%

For these next two reviews, I'll be taking a look at a couple of Imperial IPA offerings from Bell's Brewery. The first on my list is Bell's The Oracle, which is their interpretation of a West Coast-style Imperial IPA.

As for the name, I tried doing some research in hopes that I would find out the story behind the name, which there sometimes is. This time around my efforts turned up nothing, so my guess is that it's just a name conjured up by the marketing department.

The Oracle pours a fairly hazy dark orange color with a foamy white head with good retention. The lacing is very abundant here and the visible carbonation is mild.

The aroma has a strong resin hop scent with some grapefruit notes and some toffee/caramel maltiness in the background. I'm also picking up on some mild grapefruit notes but it isn't as apparent until the beer warms up just a little.

The flavor packs a very strong piney-resin hoppiness upfront that can only be described as "in-your-face." This hoppiness is followed up by some caramel maltiness & toffee sweetness. As for the aftertaste, it finishes with some piney hop bitterness and grapefruits.

Body is on the lighter side with a slight bit of thickness but nowhere close to being chewy. The carbonation is also light as well.

The Oracle is a pretty good beer. It's not the most complex tasting Imperial IPA out there but the sheer robust quality of the flavor more than makes up for it. I'm not 100% of the availability at this time so be sure to check this out while you still can!

Bell's The Oracle - 9/10

Sierra Nevada Beer Camp 2014 Review - Part 2

Tonight, I'm continuing my journey through Sierra Nevada's Beer Camp for 2014. So far I'm fairly intrigued with some of the entries I've seen this far and it'll be interesting to see where we go from here.

Torpedo Pilsner Hoppy Pilsner (5.2% ABV) - Brewed in collaboration with Firestone Walker Brewing. The flavor is very bitter hop forward with some lemon zest, pilsner-pale & biscuit malts, and some yeastiness. The bitter resin hop taste lingers on the back of the palate. Pretty light bodied and easy to drink. Pilsners have never been known to me as being of the hoppy variety but this one works quite well and it's rather flavorful. I would definitely have this again if given the chance!

Verdict - 8.5/10

Yonder Bock Tropical Maibock (7.7% ABV) - Brewed in collaboration with Cigar City Brewing. The flavor has the typical caramel maltiness and honey sweetness that I'm used to. However what sets this apart is the strong tropical mango and agave fruitness at the front of the palate as well as some floral hoppiness. This is unlike any other Maibock I've had before and I love just how robust and vibrant the flavor is. It's too bad that this is a one time beer because I would definitely be keeping this in my fridge on a regular basis.

Verdict - 9.25/10

Chico King Pale Ale (6.5% ABV) - Brewed in collaboration with 3 Floyds Brewing. Pours a surpringly dark orange color. The flavor opens up with some caramel malt sweetness followed by some floral hops, mild grapefruits and resin hop bitterness. The aftertaste is pretty dry as well but it's very easy to drink. It's a slightly different take on Sierra Nevada's original American Pale Ale and it works out quite well. In fact, I'd even go as far as to say I prefer this over Sierra Nevada's normal Pale Ale.

Verdict - 8.5/10

Maillard's Odyssey Imperial Dark Ale (8.5% ABV) - Brewed in collaboration with Bell's Brewery. A pitch black colored beer with a very foamy khaki colored head. Very roasty flavor with roasted barley at the front of the palate with some chocolate malts, bitter hops and a roasty dark chocolate and slightly earthy aftertaste. Nothing too spectacular, it's just a good tasting Black Ale that anyone whom enjoys the style will certainly find something to like about this.

Verdict 8.25/10

I like the variety that I'm getting from this, more so than when I first started looking at this 12 pack. I still have 4 more beers left to go before concluding this series. If my schedule permits I should have the rest of the series done by Sunday. I hope you are enjoying reading my thoughts and comments on these beers. 

Cheers

- Nick

Bell's Third Coast Beer Review

Name: Bell's Third Coast Beer
Style: Blonde Ale
ABV: 4.8%

I know I've reviewed quite a few offerings already from Bell's Brewery but I've never taken a look at one of there more well known staples (unless you count Two-Hearted of course.) Tonight I bring you Bell's Third Coast Beer, a blonde ale style beer. This is not to be confused with Bell's Old Third Coast, which is a barleywine style ale and the total opposite of what the beer in question is

Third Coast Beer pours a hazy yellow color with a thin filmy head, mild carbonation and some decent lacing.

The aroma of has a moderate pale malt base with some mild floral hops & barley. A noticeable pilsner-like earthiness also permeate the nose.

Likewise, the flavor is pretty much the same as the nose. You've got a mild floral hoppiness mixed in with some pils & pale malts with some barley thrown in. The only noticeable difference is that there is a dry but grassy aftertaste.

The palate has a pretty light body and thankfully the carbonation is very light as well. It doesn't have a crisp feeling but it's very easy to drink.

Bell's Third Coast Beer is a decent Blonde Ale that both craft beer and macro lager drinkers will no doubt find something to like about this beer. With that said, it's not terribly impressive in terms of flavor and I can think of better examples of a Blonde Ale......but as I said before, it's decent and you aren't going wrong by giving this a try.

Bell's Third Coast Beer - 7.5/10

Bell's Black Note Stout Review

Name: Bell's Black Note Stout
Style: Imperial Stout
ABV: 11.5%

So this weekend, I'll be pretty busy. Between the new apartment hunt and The Duluth Experience North Shore Craft Beer Roundtable. Needless to say, I have a few irons in the fire. In anticipation of my busy schedule, I'm going to get a couple reviews out of the way.

To start out, I've got a somewhat hard-to-find beer due to it's limited quantity (or so I'm led to believe) Bell's Black Note Stout; An Imperial Stout aged in Bourbon Barrels. From that I understand, this beert usually gets released in the Springtime.

Black Note Stout pours a pitch black with a thin brown head that fades away after a couple minutes. The lacing left behind is also rather sparse.

The nose starts out with a nice aroma of bourbon, oak, chocolate malts and vanilla before ending with a nice roasted barley scent.

Flavor-wise, it starts out very chocolate malt and oak forward. The tail end of the flavor gives off a nice vanilla-bourbon taste and finishing off with some malty & roasted barley notes.

The overall palate is fairly heavy body and comes with some mild carbonation; Giving it a nice creamy texture which helps add to the overall drinkability.

If you're willing to shell out a couple extra bucks, you'll find this to be an excellent & vibrant tasting Imperial Stout. On top of that, you can tell that the barrel aging has done wonders for the quality of the flavor and that alone is worth checking out.

Bell's Black Note Stout - 9.25/10

Bell's Third Coast Old Ale Review

Name: Bell's Third Coast Old Ale
Style: Barleywine
ABV: 10.2%

Well after months of record breaking cold temperatures, Siberian-calibur blizzards, and a diminished sense of optimism, winter is finally starting to release it's icy grip on the region. We are now experiencing temperatures in the 30's & 40's for what might as well be the first time since the Clinton Administration.

Which brings me to the next and probably last winter seasonal from Bell's Brewery. I give to you their Third Coast Old Ale. I've been sitting on this beer for about 3 months now so I figured it was time to go ahead and give this a proper review. On a side note, I do find the name a bit perplexing mainly because it contains "Old Ale" in it's name yet is a Barleywine-Style Ale.

Third Coast Old Ale pours dark brown color that turns to a dark crimson when held up to a light. The head is khaki-colred in appearance and fairly thin. It doesn't leave behind any lacing so it finishes rather clean.

Sweet caramelized malts and mild citrus notes are prevalent upfront in the nose. This is accompanied by some booziness, dark fruit and licorice notes.

The flavor is a mixture of caramel malts, toffee, mild citra-hops, licorice and a pine-resiny aftertaste. The flavor has a noticeable booziness to it as well. The palate is fairly heavy in terms of weight and thickness, but it's mildly carbonated

For the most, it's a good English-style Barleywine but the boozy aspect of the flavor does hurt it's appeal a bit. Perhaps this could be remedied with a bit more cellaring and be more suitable later on.


Bell's Third Coast Old Ale - 8/10

Bell's Hopslam Review

Name: Bell's Hopslam
Style: Imperial IPA
ABV: 10%

During the bitter cold months of winter when it seems life has all but  vanished from the outdoors, Bell's Brewery delivers to us their highly anticipated Hopslam Imperial IPA. In fact I'm fairly certain that this is one of the most highly anticipated craft beers that is given a widespread release.

Even if you don't know of Hopslam, then you would probably recognize the label: A person laying flat on the ground, seemingly crushed to death by oversized hops dropped on him by the angry beer gods as punishment for drain-pouring a bottle of Pliny the Elder (Alright so I made that last part up.) I remember having this back in college and it was one of the first Imperial IPAs that I ever had. At the time I thought it was quite good, so I figure it's time to revisit this beer.

Hopslam pours a dark orange color with a cloudy appearance. The head is filmy, and the beer leaves behind some good lacing.

The nose is quite fruity to start out with notes of mangoes, strong citrus hops, toffee and caramel. At the back end of the aroma is a subtle piney hoppiness.

The flavor is almost the same as the nose but there piney hop aspect is definitely stronger here. It's goes,along well with the mango, citra-hops and caramel malts that are already in the flavor.

In terms of drinkability, it’s rather heavy in body with some mild carbonation, making this pretty smooth and easy to drink.

Overall, this is an excellent and well balanced Imperial IPA that any hop head should try out. It may be a bit pricer for a 6-pack but the price of admission is worth it.

Bell's Hopslam - 9/10

Bell's Expedition Stout Review

Name: Bell's Expedition Stout
Style: Imperial Stout
ABV: 10.5%

It's time to review yet another winter seasonal from Bell's Brewery and tonight I'll be reviewing their Expedition Stout, which is their Imperial Stout. It's also has the distinction of being one of the first Imperial Stouts that I ever had when I first got into craft beer (The first being Surly Darkness.)

Expedition Stout pours is black in color with a brown head. The head itself has some good volume and it the beer leaves behind some decent lacing.

The aroma starts off which a heavy chocolate malt & cocoa nib scent with notes of vanilla and roasted barley.

Interestingly enough, the flavor has a distinct smokiness and roasted barley taste followed by notes of dark chocolate, licorice and vanilla. The aftertaste consists of chocolate malts and roasted barley. Oddly enough, I don't remember there being any smokiness when I had this before, but that could be because I didn't pick up on it the first time around.

The palate has some heaviness to it along with some rather mild carbonation, which fits seemingly well as it allows the drinker to enjoy the flavors this beer has to offer.

Expedition Stout is a nicely balanced Imperial Stout that has just the right amount of malt and roasty/smokiness that one would expect from an Imperial Stout. Definitely worth checking out if you can get it in your area.

Bell's Expedition Stout - 9/10

Bell's Special Double Cream Stout Review

Name: Bell's Special Double Cream Stout
Style: Stout
ABV: 6.1%

I have yet another winter seasonal courtesy of Bell's Brewing. Since I've been on somewhat of a roll with reviewing stouts, I have taken this opportunity to review Bell's Special Double Cream Stout. I find it a bit odd that they would throw in the name "Double" even though the ABV is only at 6.1% as opposed to something higher. In any case

The beer pours a black color with a red tinge along the edges when held up to a light. The head starts out with a nice foamy look before settling to a more filmy appearance with some pretty good lacing.

The aroma has a nice chocolate and surprisingly strong lactose quality to it. Along with that are notes of roasted barley, and some mild coffee ground notes. It smells almost like someone poured coffee creamer into my beer which is the best way I can describe it.

Flavor-wise, it's pretty heavy on the chocolate and lactose with some notes of whipped cream, sugar and roasted barley and malts. Again, it's like coffee creamer but with some much sweeter notes. As for the aftertaste, it's a mix of sweet cream and roasted barley.

Despite my expectations, the palate is very light in terms of both body and carbonation. With that said, it's also got a very smooth texture which makes this very easy to drink

I have to say that I enjoyed this quite a bit! It may be a little too high in lactose for some, but this is a great beer to try out and an excellent cream stout. I wish Bell's would make this a year-round offering because I would definitely buy this on a regular basis.

Bell's Special Double Cream Stout - 9/10

Bell's Cherry Stout Review

Name: Bell's Cherry Stout
Style: Stout
ABV: 7%

Since we are in the dead of winter, Bell's Brewery has released their winter seasonals and lucky for me I have them in my possession. The first one I'm gonna take a look at is their Cherry Stout. I have had one other cherry stout which was from New Glarus as part of their Thumbprint Series, so let's take a look shall we?

The beer pours a pitch black color with a reddish-brown head and no lacing.

The nose has a nice cherry tartness with some chocolate, licorice, roasted barley & malt notes to round things out. Almost reminds me of a chocolate covered cherry!

The flavor starts out with tart cherries with notes of dark chocolate, roasted barley and floral hops. The aftertaste is quite roasty, perhaps a little too much so.

The palate has a rather thick body and a syrupy texture. The carbonation is mild but it doesn't go particularly well with the overall body.

It's an interesting concept, but the flavor, while not terrible, is too roasty & imbalanced for my liking and the palate doesn't feel right. Needless to say, I wouldn't go out of my way to try it again if there are better options available.

Bell's Cherry Stout - 6.5/10

Bell's Best Brown Review

Yes, my second to last winter seasonal review for the year (you'll see the other one later this week) because despite the winter storm we had last week, Old Man Winter doesn't know when to call it quits. If you're a resident of the Midwest or Rockies, then you understand my pain. If you so happen to be reading this while in a warm climate, consider yourselves lucky that you aren't living in this proverbial Siberia.

Yesterday I did a review of Bell's Two Hearted, and today I've decided to keep it up with Bell's Best Brown Ale. I actually picked this up as part of a Mix-A-Six and was only $1.17; Hey I like my beer but I also like cheap beer! The expiration date on this was the end of next month so I wasn't gonna let it go to waste!

It pours a Dark Red Color with a off-white colored head and some sparse lacing along the side of the glass. The smell has some mild caramel, floral hops, roasted malt and chocolate scents. The flavor is also fairly mild with caramel, rum raisin, chocolate and roasted malt notes. The body is fairly thick and yet lighter at the same time whereas the carbonation is fairly mild and subdued.

The Rum Raisin flavor is the only thing that really jumped out at me with this beer but that really isn't saying too much as the flavor in general is mild and not living up to it's full potential. It's by no means a bad beer, but it's mild flavor leaves something more to be desired

Bell's Best Brown - 7/10

Bell's Two Hearted Ale Review

Name: Bell's Two Hearted Ale
Style: India Pale Ale
ABV: 7%

There are two breweries that are associated with Michigan when it comes to beer: Bell's and Founders. Even though they are not distributed everywhere in the US at this time, they are well known to craft beer lovers around the country as being one of the top producers of craft beer.

Today I will be focusing on Bell's Brewery. They are known to have a wide variety of beers, both year round and season. I will be focusing on what many consider to be the flagship beer of Bell's: The Two Hearted Ale, which is an IPA. From what I have gathered, the beer is named after the Two Hearted River located on the Upper Peninsula in Michigan.

It pours a bright hazy orange color with a decent sized head and a good amount of lacing along the sides of the glass.

The aroma has some yeast, malt, citrus hop and grapefruit notes. Rich but not overpoweringly so.

The flavor on the other hand has rich Citrus/Piney Hop, Yeasty, Caramel, and Malty flavor with a bitter resin aftertaste. The malt backbone in particular helps balance out the flavor quite well. Even though it is 7% ABV, you wouldn't tell by simply drinking this.

The body is light in weight and the carbonation feels mild and just right; Leaving you with a crisp feeling beer that's easy to drink.

It's easy to see why many consider this to be Bell's flagship beer: It's tasty, well rounded and easy to drink. The best part is that this beer can be good for almost any occasion, which gives it a much wider appeal.

Bell's Two Hearted Ale - 9/10