Wheat 4 Ale
Bell's Brewery in Galesburg, Michigan, United States 🇺🇸
Weizen - Dunkelweizen Series Out of Production|
Score
6.11
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Bell’s Wheat Project (2005) is an experimental foray into the development of complex flavors in beer.
The Project comprises five new ales, four in series and one specialty strong product.
The first four, Wheat 2, Wheat 4, Wheat 6 and Wheat eight are all made using 55% Wheat (either wholly or mostly malted) and 45% Barley malt.
The barley malt makeup is exactly the same in each of the four and consists of three different malts.
The total amount of grain in each of the four is also exactly the same, so each of them should have a virtually identical original gravity. The type and amount of hops in each of the four is exactly the same. And the processing through the brewhouse and fermentation is also exactly the same. The changing factors between the ales are the composition of the 55% of wheat used and the type and number of yeast strains used. In Wheat 2 the 55% of wheat is made up of two different kinds of wheat malt, and this ale is made with two different yeasts. Wheat 4 is made with four different wheats and four yeasts. Wheat six and eight made with six and eight wheats and yeasts respectively.
The final product, Bell’s Wheat Love Ale, is made with the eight yeasts of Wheat eight and is a strong, but relatively light colored, “wheatwine.”
2. Basic Content List for the Wheat Series:
Wheat Two
Wheats: White, Dark
Yeast: Bell’s house ale strain, WLP410 Belgian Wit II
Wheat Four
Wheats: White, Victory, Toasted sprouts, Torrefied
Yeast: WLP550 Belgian, WLP570 Golden, Wheat Two blend
Wheat Six
Wheats: White, Dark, Toasted sprouts, Torrefied, Red, Caramel
Yeast: WLP500 Trappist, WLP530 Abbey, Wheat Four blend
Wheat Eight
Wheats: White, Dark, Victory, Toasted sprouts, Torrefied, Red, Caramel, Chocolate
Yeast: WLP4000 Belgian Wit I, WLP565 Saison, Wheat Six blend
The Project comprises five new ales, four in series and one specialty strong product.
The first four, Wheat 2, Wheat 4, Wheat 6 and Wheat eight are all made using 55% Wheat (either wholly or mostly malted) and 45% Barley malt.
The barley malt makeup is exactly the same in each of the four and consists of three different malts.
The total amount of grain in each of the four is also exactly the same, so each of them should have a virtually identical original gravity. The type and amount of hops in each of the four is exactly the same. And the processing through the brewhouse and fermentation is also exactly the same. The changing factors between the ales are the composition of the 55% of wheat used and the type and number of yeast strains used. In Wheat 2 the 55% of wheat is made up of two different kinds of wheat malt, and this ale is made with two different yeasts. Wheat 4 is made with four different wheats and four yeasts. Wheat six and eight made with six and eight wheats and yeasts respectively.
The final product, Bell’s Wheat Love Ale, is made with the eight yeasts of Wheat eight and is a strong, but relatively light colored, “wheatwine.”
2. Basic Content List for the Wheat Series:
Wheat Two
Wheats: White, Dark
Yeast: Bell’s house ale strain, WLP410 Belgian Wit II
Wheat Four
Wheats: White, Victory, Toasted sprouts, Torrefied
Yeast: WLP550 Belgian, WLP570 Golden, Wheat Two blend
Wheat Six
Wheats: White, Dark, Toasted sprouts, Torrefied, Red, Caramel
Yeast: WLP500 Trappist, WLP530 Abbey, Wheat Four blend
Wheat Eight
Wheats: White, Dark, Victory, Toasted sprouts, Torrefied, Red, Caramel, Chocolate
Yeast: WLP4000 Belgian Wit I, WLP565 Saison, Wheat Six blend
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7.1/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Bottle. Wheat malt and light banana aroma. Dark brown amber color with a nice head. Wheat malt flavor with very light fruit tones. Not as much fruitiness as some dunkelweizens but very clean and nice flavor. A very nice beer.
Tried
from Bottle
on 20 Dec 2005
at 19:24
3.8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 1
Flavor 3
Texture 8
Overall 3
This beer has a very odd dark orange, opaque appearance. There is a large cream colored head that lasts a long time. I can’t decide if it looks good or looks disgusting. The aroma is bad, something like rotting vegetables and garbage. Flavor is like a bitter with wheat. I like funky, weird beers, I like sour beers, and this beer is those things, but it doesn’t do any of them well. I don’t have any reason to believe I got a bad bottle, but I will look for another sample.
Tried
from Can
on 03 Dec 2005
at 02:30
5.8/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 5
Texture 6
Overall 6
12 oz. bottle. Batch 7104. Sampled alongside the Wheat Two. In my tall wheat gflass, it poured up a might big head with about 2 inches of beer on the bottom. Head starts out brown, then settles to an eggshell color with the cinsistency of seafoam. Has a pretty consistent clove smell without the banana one usually finds here. Actually smells a bit horsey, giving up the Belgian yeast in its mix. Color is golden brown, a bit cloudy. Couldn’t find the usual Bell’s floaties, perhaps they’re a bit finer. Mouthfeel is kind of watery, like it’s not fully carbonated. I get a gummy yeast afterbite, same as with the Two, Still a little horsblanket in the tatste, but not much, more of a touch of cheese. I’ve really got to say I find some unpleasantness with it, inclusing an impression of diapers. Well, I’ve got a sixpack, so I’ll hold on for a while and try again.
Tried
from Bottle
on 28 Nov 2005
at 20:53
7.4/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Fresh from the bottle at the brewery. This beer looks nothing like a witbier, being murky orange-brown with a medium off-white head. OK. Dunkelweizen? The color’s right, but no Bavarian yeast strains were used, and this isn’t a "banana and clove" beer. Well, three of the four yeast strains are Belgian (in addition to the house strain), so I’m going out on a limb and placing the beer in the Witbier category. We have to designate a style, right? :-(
The aroma is quite sweet and cerealy, and spicy, with a candied character that quickly differentiates this from the Two Ale. Fruitier than Two and a bit "cookieish." Fruity, sweet body, with a hint of banana, candy, and abundant yeast esters lending spicy and bitter notes. The huge jump in esters is the biggest difference I notice in this beer vs. the Two Wheat. Otherwise, it still has the tangy, bready characteristics of Bell’s other wheat beers. So, technically, this could still be an American Wheat (despite the abundance of Belgian yeast esters), with a darker and more complex body than most. I’m a classification junkie by nature but I don’t homebrew, so I’ll let the jury decide where to put this. I will write this, though. The beer’s damned good.
The aroma is quite sweet and cerealy, and spicy, with a candied character that quickly differentiates this from the Two Ale. Fruitier than Two and a bit "cookieish." Fruity, sweet body, with a hint of banana, candy, and abundant yeast esters lending spicy and bitter notes. The huge jump in esters is the biggest difference I notice in this beer vs. the Two Wheat. Otherwise, it still has the tangy, bready characteristics of Bell’s other wheat beers. So, technically, this could still be an American Wheat (despite the abundance of Belgian yeast esters), with a darker and more complex body than most. I’m a classification junkie by nature but I don’t homebrew, so I’ll let the jury decide where to put this. I will write this, though. The beer’s damned good.
Tried
from Bottle
on 21 Oct 2005
at 21:18