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
Silphium (4310) reviewed Bright White from Bell's Brewery 22 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
On tap at the Eccentric Cafe. Poured cloudy yellow-orange with a creamy white head. Aroma of orange peel, spice, and banana phenols. Strong cloves, orange peel and banana in the flavor, but the earthy tang of an American wheat cuts the smooth body, creating an interesting dichotomy in the palate. Nicely carbonated. Nicely done.
Silphium (4310) reviewed Harvest Ale from Bell's Brewery 22 years ago
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
2003 version, 7.5% ABV. On tap at the Eccentric Cafe. Poured a clear, dark red-brown color with a creamy, thick off-white head. Earthy hops aroma, with a touch of caramel. The flavor screamed fresh hops- strong earthy flavors and citric hops bitterness (i.e., the "rind" of a citrus fruit rather than the flesh itself) with tart notes as the beer warmed in the glass. Malt character is subdued by the hops, but there were underlying sweet caramels that balanced the hops assault. A real treat.
JK (8140) reviewed Two Hearted IPA from Bell's Brewery 22 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 6
Dark orange color. Very sweet aroma, smells like candy. Flavor starts like a full bodied ipa with hop bitternes then, nothing. The flavor is one dimensional and not especially good at that. Light. Best thing about this is the unusually sweet aroma. A dumbed-down ipa. meh.
Silphium (4310) reviewed Batch 6,000 Ale from Bell's Brewery 22 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5
Wow. Batch 6000 is one impressive beer. Immediately upon pouring, I noted the pungent, well-balanced aromas of grapefruity, bitter hops and the malt caramel, bread, cherries, and soy sauce (which incidentally was only noted initially upon opening the bottle). Deep red-brown body, with a thin, quickly dissipating tan head that clung to the sides of the glass (St. Bernardus) and left nice lacing. Plenty of yeast sediment in the body. Flavor was as described by previous reviewers- clearly controlled by citrusy, grapefruity hops, but nicely balanced by rich malt complexities: caramel, cherries (especially as the beer warmed), bread, toast (especially in the initial sip), and soy sauce. Bitter citrus aftertaste. Some warming alcohol was noted at the end of the glass, but this young beer is already quite smooth for a 10.5% ABV creation. An amazing beer. I can't wait to try this after 6 months of aging. Updated 5 November. Tried another bottle tonight, comparing it to Double Bastard. Bells 6000 appears to be built from their IPA (Two-Hearted Ale), whereas the Double Bastard is malt-dominated. The tanginess and heavy citrus of the Two-Hearted Ale also dominate Batch 6000 in its infancy.
Clarkvv (16327) reviewed Raspberry Ale from Bell's Brewery 22 years ago
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6
2003 Draft at Eccentric Cafe. Light cloudy pink with a nice pinkish white head. Has a very tart raspberry aroma with lots of yeast. Opens up with a medium-dry raspberry flavor (surprise!) and some dry yeast flavors work their way in as well. Has a hint of vanilla on the palate and a slight touch of very dry cream-like malt flavoring, though it is only a glimpse. Wow, if they only would have added more of this malt flavor, this beer would be a champion. Stays very tart and ends dry and mildly sour. I was very pleased to find this beer not sickeningly sweet as I find many other fruit beers to be. Well made beer. Medium-light body is not terribly impressive, but flavor is real enough. Obviously lacking in malt.
Clarkvv (16327) reviewed Harvest Ale from Bell's Brewery 22 years ago
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9
2003 on Tap at Eccentric Cafe. This year’s version is probably an English IPA. Loads of sweet caramel malt backed by a crisp moderately citric hops finish. Very lush, velvety texture, with a little bit of woodiness. Some tart flavors up front provide a nice complexity. Towards the finish there is a moderately sour, fluffy yeasty feel, almost resinous. Alcohol well masked. Some medium dark fruit flavors. Wonderfully complex, I want more. Aroma has lots of malt, piney hops, a bit of fruit and alcohol. Has a rusty brown appearance with a big creamy medium yellow head. Lots of lacing and quite cloudy. Rerate on tap again, eccentric day. Not nearly as good as I remember. Where did the malting go??? It left :( Seems very dry, moderately astringent, good hops, and still decent malt as it warms, but not what it was 2 months ago. Strange.
Clarkvv (16327) reviewed Best Brown from Bell's Brewery 22 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 5.5
2003 On tap at the Eccentric cafe. Rather clear medium-light brown with some golden hues as well. Rapidly dissipating white/cream colored head. Very little aroma on this, maybe a little bit of brown bread, a touch of alcohol. Begins very dry and stays dry. Has a tinge of sweetness in the middle of the body, a little bit of caramel, but the hops add a surprising amount of bitterness. Super dry almond/hazlenut-like finish, with some grainy/yeasty dryness as well. I appreciate the quality of yeast and a nice true dry nutty flavor, but please, give me some malt to balance this. Body is only medium, flavor is a little bit too subtle as well.
Clarkvv (16327) reviewed Batch 6,000 Ale from Bell's Brewery 22 years ago
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 10 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 9.5
Dark, rich murky brown, very clouded. Great beige-off-white head. Tons of lacing. Aroma has a nice woody hops smell with some caramel malt and even some alcohol. Wonderful texture, silky with lots of creamy/soft flavors, tiny bit of carbonation. Begins with a big chewy, juicy malt flavor that is medium sweet, quite caramelly and very tasty. Malt develops into a big grapefruit hops flavor. This is the most grapefruit I’ve ever tasted in a beer. Alcohol wonderfully masked. Ends on a lightly dry note with some lighter citrus and hints of orange. Drinking this beer is like biting into a super ripe ruby red grapefruit with lots of brown sugar on top. I tried this at many temperatures and preferred it at room temp. This is going to be even better as it matures, but I was vastly surprised to find it amazingly drinkable this young. My rating is a mixture of how great I thought this was now, but also how much potential I feel it has. On draught MBGSBF 2004. Well the beer is certainly still developing. It hasnt lost it’s big alcohol bite and hugely bitter hops finish, but it’s improving, the flavor is still intact and deepening. Another handful of years or so. . . .
JK (8140) reviewed Harvest Ale from Bell's Brewery 22 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
Cloudy orange with no head. Light fruit and hops in the aroma. Flavor of a medium bodied ipa, I am surprised to see it classified as an ale. Sour finish. I had this on tap and later found out it is all but impossible to find. I wonder if there was something wrong with mine. I don't understand why everyone else is rating this so highly.
Clarkvv (16327) reviewed Harry Magill's Spiced Stout from Bell's Brewery 22 years ago
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 5
November 2002 bottle. Dark brown color, nice and clouded with some lighter beige tinges, medium sized dark beige head. Aroma is ridiculously spiced. Coriander, anise, ginger, cardamon? who knows, there's a ton of it. After my first sip, my suspicions were true, Bell's creates yet another one-sided beer. In the tradition of Susie's Way-too-sweet Stout and Bell's All-you-can-taste-is-Java Stout comes Harry Magills-rediculously overspiced-and-lacking-of-good-malt-flavor Stout. It does have a nice medium body, little wateriness, and a good coarse yeasty texture. Way too much spices, no sweetness, little hops flavor.
Brewery Stats
| Score | 6.93 |
| Beers | 352 |
| Ticks | 6522 |
Top Reviewers (Not including batches)
|
|
Silphium | 156 |
|
|
deyholla | 127 |
|
Drake | 124 |
|
shrubber | 112 |
|
Dogbrick | 106 |
|
|
patrick767 | 100 |
|
flatmatt | 98 |
|
willisread | 90 |
|
dwest | 83 |
|
blackflag321 | 80 |