Bottle. Pours a straw-ish gold color with light haze from wheat. Head is minimal and quickly disappeared. Aroma is strong of grain with some fruit/floral undertones that I’m finding hard to describe. Wheat dominates taste, but there are some citrus flavors and coriander/clove spices that come into play as well. Finish is sweet and spicy. Much more airy and refreshing than many wheat beers, while still having a pretty pronounced flavor to it. I think this has gotten better for 2008.

An orange beer with a huge off-white head. The aroma is sweet and very freshly hoppy with notes of hop oils - very powerful aroma. The flavor is sweet and quite hoppy, that gives flavors of oranges, flowers as well as hints of grapefruit. Very refreshing yet with a powerful body.

Rerate. Dec. 2008. Pour is more transparent than in the past. I wonder if the filtration has been increased. Aromas and flavor seem a little more watery and have a bit more of a spice edge than the lemon that I remember. Cloves and pepper are more present, but the whole thing comes off as a little more thin.
Pours a nice light hazy gold. Some floaties in this one. Floral aroma with definite hops. Flavor: slight lemon up front that gives way to grain and hops, then comes back to mix nicely with hops. Finishes extremely well with strong hops note.

This is a really good bottle of Bell’s Amber compared to most I have had. Aroma is probably the weakest link, floral with slight hops odor. Appearance is just about perfect. Nice coppery color with a great foamy head. Flavor is just right for an amber, a little heavier on hops than most, but without overpowering grain. Sits great...

2000 bottle sampled thanks to Walleye, 3/19/05 at Kuhnhenn. Thick looking, amber colored beer, tons of protein and yeast have fallen out of suspension at this point. Still some head to it, though it is rather fleeting. Smells of sharp, alchol infused honey and citrus, a bit of light biscuits and maple. The strength of the aroma is surprising after this long. Bret Kuhnhenn says it smells like boiled cabbage, and while there may be a touch of veggies, I think it’s probably just old hops and oxidation creating that effect. Strong, syrupy body is only held at bay after 5 years of aging. Alcohol notes, a touch of sherry and just pure barley grain flavor, reminds me a little of the lightly syrupy 2003 Old Horizontal. Finish gets a little bit stale/astringent and dries out quite a bit. More sampling of this one is in order for sure. The body on this must have been spectacularly full when this was fresh.
Rerate Tried a bottle which proved to be cidery, loose and slight veggie-like. Not much good stuff in this one. Hopefully the rest of my bottles are ok. . .
Bottle, again, on 1/12/2025. Wow, this is the best one I've had of any of these bottles. Somehow this escaped oxidation. This pours with carbonation and a head!! Fruity, lightly toasted malt. Checks out. 25 years old, carbonated, clean and not horribly oxidized. Cheers to what was once one of the best breweries out there!
Bottle, again, on 1/12/2025. Wow, this is the best one I've had of any of these bottles. Somehow this escaped oxidation. This pours with carbonation and a head!! Fruity, lightly toasted malt. Checks out. 25 years old, carbonated, clean and not horribly oxidized. Cheers to what was once one of the best breweries out there!

Bottled. Yep, a big coffee smell when the bottle is opened and poured. Also a rocky, espresso-foam brown head. Sure enough, it’s black as a coffee and stout together could be. Taste is a bit off to me, though. Very astringent and grainy. I get some smoky character, chocolate roast, and even a bit of chile pepper. I bought this last October (5 months ago), but maybe this could stand a little cellaring to smooth it out.

Bottled. So I’m sitting here at home after driving around with the wife and kid and her sisters and their kids to the museum, with my car in the shop, and not finding out until late in the evening that they have to keep it another day because the spark plug that they stripped the threads putting in wrong two years ago would have to be worked out carefully, and it was too late to get a loaner so I could go to work tomorrow, and I say to myself, "Self," I say, "You need to settle down with a nice porter. What’s in the fridge?"

Well, this, for one. Pours out a nice deep brown body and a thin brown head. Good smell of chocolate malts. More chicory than coffee. Just a touch of astringency that almost pushes it into stout territory. Roasty and slightly smoky. Nice warming alcohol, despite being a mere 6%. Just the thing to lift my mood, and a great beer to have as part of Bell’s regular lineup, available in finer stores in the Chicago area, too.

Pour is a deep black with a tan head. Aroma is of roasted malts and they are strong! Flavor is dark Belgain chocolate with a strong coffee aftertaste. Good for sipping on a winter night.

Opaque black brew with a medium brown head. Good nose of coffee and chocolate as expected. Sweet and rich flavor, lots of the promised java, and delivered with a good full palate that was creamy and soft. Very satisfying.