First off, let me just say that I love Bell’s beer. It is one amazing brewery. Their ability to put out so many different beers of such high quality is something to be respected. Ratebeer has 12 of their beers (not marked as retired) above the 90th percentile. Now that I’ve said what I love, let me say what I don’t love: the beer distribution system of this country, but that’s another post.
My buddy, Hophound, brought this (and several other Bell’s beers) back from a trip to the Midwest. God bless him for that. I’ll be posting about the other beers as they are consumed.
Appearance: Pours a hazy pale golden. This beer is noticibly unfiltered, so there’s lots of little floaties (which, in my opinion, is a good thing here). Decent carbonation. The head dissipated quickly, leaving a little ring around the glass.
Smell: Pale malt, hops, clean, spicy, classic midwest beer smell (don’t know how else to say it).
Taste: Pronounced hop bitterness and spice against malt sweetness. A bit of nuttiness and melon in the background. Lingering bitterness after the spice and malt die off.
Mouthfeel: Not too crisp, good solid carbonation. Good medium bodied beer.
Drinkability: Very easy to drink. Very tasty. The balanced bitterness and malt sweetness make this such an enjoyable beer to drink. I like it a lot. I wish that we could get Bell’s here.
Ratebeer: 3.35/5 [74 percentile]
Beeradvocate: 3.59/5 [82 percentile]
Yep, brewed in my hometown – Kalamazoo, Michigan! Last time I was home, I discovered the Amber Ale and my friends thought I was goofy because I was so thrilled the ‘Zoo actually had microbrews – hey, it takes a while for things to catch on there. You should have seen how crazy nuts I was when I found a COFFEE SHOP (which was not easy to find and they still used styrofoam cups)!
Thanks for letting everyone know that Bell’s is brewed in Kalamazoo. I used to make it a point, when doing tastings, to say where the beer is brewed, but let that fall off the radar. I’ll make sure to include such information in the future tastings. Definitely want to boost the home town, you know? Also, in my opinion, Bell’s is a jewel, so any amount of goofy upon discovery is a flat out requirement!
I LOVE BELLs, I wish it was easier to find and with all the liquid restrictions today traveling with beer is quite a pain. Big props to Hophead for bringing some back. He’s a rockstar! Thanks Brewerman!