Bell's Brewery
Microbrewery
in Galesburg,
Michigan,
United States 🇺🇸
Owned by
Lion Breweries - NZ
Associated Venue: Bell’s Brewery, Inc./Bell’s Eccentric Cafe
Established in 1985
Sold to Lion Co. - Kirin Holdings in 2021
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5
Can thanks to Ted! Pours a near black with an earthy brown head that dissipates to the edges. Aroma has earthy roast and dark grains with a growing pine presence. Flavor is quite similar with earthy roast, slightly bitter dark grains and a bitter pine in the finish.
shrubber (15736) reviewed Oberon Eclipse Raspberry from Bell's Brewery 1 month ago
Appearance - 5 | Aroma - 4.5 | Flavor - 4.5 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 4.5
Hazy golden yellow with minimal head. Raspberry, wheat malt, and grass/straw aroma. Mildly sweet raspberry, wheat malt, and mildly bitter grass flavor. Okay body.
cheap (9479) reviewed Oberon Eclipse Raspberry from Bell's Brewery 1 month ago
Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 6.5 | Flavor - 2 | Texture - 2 | Overall - 2.5
OK, so bell has turned bastard and has really commercialized the oberon name. How many obies are there now, like 20? WTF. Anywho, this bottle poured into a glass is clear pale but there may be an ever so slight orange tint about it. Woe, nose is very raspberry and sweet, even a little artificial. I think I detect some tartness on the olfactory as well. Now, the first taste, mind you, is nothing like the aroma, its seemly and rudely wheat ale bitter and has some dull raspberry flavor in there. It comes across on the palate like so many other poorly made fruit beers of the domestic variety. Dull and uninteresting. I could only wish some of the pleasantries from the aroma carried over to the taste. Really disappointed in this. The odd thing about this stuff is after each big swig, you get this weird fruity perfume effect tickling the inside of your nose, so weird and undesirable. Whoever approved this recipe for release must have had covid er sumthin, and didn't have and any abilities to taste nor smell. What a mess. Lingering wheat ale bitter finish.
Frothingslosh (18912) reviewed Tropical Hopslam from Bell's Brewery 1 month ago
Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5.5
Golden with a medium sized creamy white head. Lightly bitter and boozy with tropical fruit and citrus. Medium finish and body.
Gripweed57 (8703) reviewed Tropical Hopslam from Bell's Brewery 1 month ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7.5 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
16 ounce can from Trenton Road Takeout. Clear, medium gold pour. Large, firm white head. Excellent lacing. Mild tropical fruit aroma. First sip brings bittersweet hop flavor. Notes of grapefruit, pineapple, lime and pine. Big bitterness throughout.
ironprog (310) reviewed Octoberfest Beer from Bell's Brewery 1 month ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 7.5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5
12 oz. can
5.5% ABV
Best by: 11JAN26
$13.19 6-pk @ Publix
AROMA: Sweet with ample amounts of caramel, bread and malt. I find it to be a nice, inviting aroma. Which is pretty typical for a Märzen.
APPEARANCE: Pours a cloudy medium-amber with a 3-finger, tight-froth, off-white, head that dissipates moderately-slowly with excellent lacing. It looks very inviting in my clear, wheat-beer glass!
TASTE: Sweet with the predominant flavors being caramel and malt, but I also get faint hints of bread and orange during the finish. It's a nice, solid flavor that doesn't overpower. Additionally, as the beer warms, the flavor stays on a pretty even keel without much fluctuation.
MOUTHFEEL: Medium-bodied with a slightly smooth texture. Carbonation seems a little higher than average. While the start gives a bit of a "juicy" feel, the finish ends on the dry side. Fortunately, it's not overly dry, which makes for a nice, overall, transition. I gotta say, as I get towards the bottom of this beer, I am finding that I like the texture better than when I started. Which is most likely due to the majority of the carbonation having already left the beer. So if I had my druthers, I would tone the carbonation down a little. But that's just me.
OVERALL: I will confess that I actually had one of these beers the other day, but I wasn't in the mood to take the time to review it. As I was drinking it, I thought to myself, that it was just an okay Märzen ... nothing bad, but nothing special, either. But, today, as I am in "review" mode, I am finding that I actually quite like this beer. It's got a very nice flavor and aroma that don't overpower the senses ... it goes down smooth and easy ... it looks great in the glass ... and it has a relatively low ABV, which makes it easier to celebrate Oktoberfest without getting blotto-ed. What's not to like??
Granted, I won't be putting this on my "must buy" list for next year, but I also won't be putting it on my "nice, but don't bother buying again" list. Instead, it will be on my "definitely buy if there's nothing new that looks interesting" list. Which, if history is any kind of indicator, means I will most likely be buying it next year.
gave a cheers!
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8.5 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 9 | Overall - 9
12 oz bottle. Pours black with a thin brown head. Strong, chewy bourbon cocoa aroma, coffee, cream, sweet molasses. Flavor has sharp bourbon alcohol, syrupy molasses, cocoa, raisin, and soy, but still with the creamy roast. Strong and tasty.
Adelholzener (1722) ticked Oberon Ale from Bell's Brewery 1 month ago
Gripweed57 (8703) reviewed Cold Hearted IPA from Bell's Brewery 1 month ago
Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 6.5 | Flavor - 6.5 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7
My 50th Bell’s Brewery rating! 12 ounce can. Pale gold color. Puffy white head. Fragrant citrus hop aroma. Flavor is mildly dank citrus and resiny pine. Medium bodied. Crisp, dry mouthfeel. Some herbal hops on backend.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 10 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 9 | Overall - 9
Like an aging band with a new banger record, Bell's nailed this delicious beer. Everything is top-notch, but the aroma is the real standout here, dense and rich with layers and layers of cocoa, coffee, roast, prune, raisin, soy, bourbon, oak, and alcohol. The flavor is nearly as impressive, with tobacco joining the fray. Rich and heavy body, well-carbonated despite the significant barrel time. This drinks like no expense or care was spared, and is a beautiful throwback to the headiest days of craft beer.
Brewery Stats
| Score | 6.93 |
| Beers | 352 |
| Ticks | 6522 |
Top Reviewers (Not including batches)
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Silphium | 156 |
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deyholla | 127 |
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Drake | 124 |
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shrubber | 112 |
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Dogbrick | 106 |
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patrick767 | 100 |
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flatmatt | 98 |
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willisread | 90 |
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dwest | 83 |
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blackflag321 | 80 |