The Oracle - Bell's Brewery, Inc.

dedrinker

Kansas

2.28/5  rDev -46.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 1.5

Medium amber color with off-white head. Bottle gushed, but poured smooth and head almost gone.

Aromas first of alcohol, then sweet malt, then as the fumes dissipated, tropical/ floral hop aromas. Now a mix of tropical fruity hops and alcohol.

Alcohol is first flavor supported by hop bitterness. Surprisingly ungraceful, and unbalanced. Some sweet malt flavor conspires with sweetness of alcohol to achieve a chemical burning sensation.

Medium body with alcohol finish and hop bitterness.

I'm glad I did not pay 20 dollars for this six pack. Bell's is bleeding the pockets of foolish beer geeks on this one. Ironically, thanks to various beer writers, and legions of rookie followers, this is what the much ballyhooed "extreme" segment of craft beer is turning into - overpriced beer with unbalanced harsh flavors. Congrats - we wanted to be fancy and respectable like wine, and now we have an over-rated Napa Cabernet scene of our own.

Really, thanks beer geeks for throwing tons of cash at any fool who crosses the 9%abv mark, or uses a wild yeast or barrel aging. Thanks a lot.

Serving type: bottle

09-05-2010 20:37:37 | More by dedrinker

billshmeinke

California

2.38/5  rDev -44.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2

Poured into a nonic.

Just over a a quarter inch of head. Sits atop a golden amber body that is slightly hazy and has evidence of lively carbonation. Dies down to a solid bubbly cap of foam on top. Retention is pretty awesome, and lacing is great as well.

Smells of some honey malts, fruity esters, citrus, and grapefruit. Also a hint of alcohol.

Lots of honey, a touch of bread, some resin, and citrus. Long lasting resin bitterness. Definitely an east coast interpretation of a dipa.

Mouthfeel has low carbonation, resiny bitterness and a good amount of hop oils. Would definitely like more carbonation in this one.

Alcohol wasn't well hidden, not enough carbonation, and not enough hop flavor. Not too good in my opinion.

Serving type: bottle

10-10-2010 21:39:58 | More by billshmeinke

TheDudeRules

Minnesota

2.4/5  rDev -43.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

Poured into my Founders snifter.

Bottle date is 08/11/2011.

Pours a fairly dark honey color. One full finger of off white head. Damn good retention. Lacing remains.

Smell. Citrus. Semi sweet. Alcohol. Lots of it. A two trick pony to my nose.

And for my least favorite part. The taste. Slight citrus up front. An incredibly strong malt backbone, that gets rather bitter. Chewy caramel gross garbage malt. Strong grain alcohol. Off putting is the understatement of my life. After that lack luster bitter sting on the finish of the sip the aftertaste sets in. Only way I can describe it is crushed aspirin. And it persists for minutes that seems like days.

What a truly awful beer. With some coaching from my wife I managed to finish my glass. These are going straight to extras. Sorry potential traders. How the hell this beer scored an A- is a modern marvel.

Serving type: bottle

08-27-2011 01:46:40 | More by TheDudeRules

BarrytheBear

Wisconsin

2.42/5  rDev -43.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2

Filtered watered down orange juice to me peepers. Oily legs stand atop some bubbly suds that sit along the outer edges. I'm a sucker for a nice orange colored IPA.

Somewhat of an effort to pull much of a smell from what I anticipated to be quite a delicious smelling beer. Soapy orange, touch of pine, and a boozy quality that isn't quite anticipatory. Surprised at the lack of depth and complexity, especially considering this should be fresh.

Wow...is this hot...and not in a good way. This tastes like vodka with a faint twist of citrus. The herbal bitterness that follows overwhelms the back end of leaves nearly no sense of any citric hop presence. I am at a loss here.

Oily and nearly flat due to the low carbonation and heavy body.

Drinkability? Don't talk about drinkability? Drinkability? For the price of this beer and the pedigree of Bell's Two Hearted and HopSlam, both delicious beers, this is a messy, messy, messy beer. Swing and a miss.

Serving type: bottle

09-09-2010 00:29:40 | More by BarrytheBear

AleWatcher

Illinois

2.5/5  rDev -41.3%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 1

Got this from Mpbugeye in the Blind Beers BIF-- the beer was reviewed without any knowledge of brewery or style.

Blind beer says Tulip on the wrapping...

Pours a clear, orange-tinted gold color. Slight amber hue. One finger head-- lasted about 3 sips before a tiny ring of bubbles was all that was left. Minimal lacing.

The nose screams IPA-- very little malt, and surprisingly not as much hops as I would normally hope for (my most recent IPA was a growler of Columbus IPA), and this is certainly no where near as hoppy. There is a distinct alcohol bite in the nose. Really boozy, like grain alcohol.

The taste has very little malt or sweetness. A citrus a spicy hop hits with a sticky, oily dryness that lingers with both bitternes and alcohol.

The nail polish remover/acetone note is too much for this beer to be truly be something I want. I think this might be past the point at which I normally enjoy my IPAs... But I am unsure.

-- reveals bottle to be Bell's Oracle---

Hmmm... I think I really nailed the review on this one. Not an awful beer-- but not up to Bell's high standards. Gimme some HopSlam!

Serving type: bottle

12-23-2010 04:43:56 | More by AleWatcher

Sideswipe

California

2.78/5  rDev -34.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

12oz bottle, dated 8/12/11, courtesy of Memyselfandi. Thanks Mike!

The Oracle pours a dark amber color with a finger of white head. The foam dissipates leaving sticky lacing and a thick coaster. The nose is citrus hops and caramel malt. Taste mirrors the nose with big orange and grapefruit up front. Hoppy bitterness is followed by a wave of sweet caramel malt. The hops never quite make a comeback and as a result the finish is sweet and boozy. Feel is thick and sticky with a low level of carbonation. Overall I found The Oracle to be a bit too malty, boozy and sweet. Almost in barleywine territory in my opinion. Glad I had the opportunity.

Serving type: bottle

10-29-2011 02:56:44 | More by Sideswipe

7ways

Georgia

2.88/5  rDev -32.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2

Pours a clear orange amber with a dish soap head. The color is pretty brilliant. No head retention, which kept it from being a 5.

The aroma is just as good. Big leafy oranges, sweet grass, mint, mellow malt in the background. This is the kind of aroma that brings back childhood memories.

And then the taste slams me back into the present. There's a sense of loss because it doesn't taste nearly as good as it smells. The orange has become bitter orange peels and sap. Fusel alcohol pretty much dominates. I think that with some age this will become a pretty good barleywine.

Oily, heavy, and undercarboated.

Hopslam is a 10% beer I can hang with. This is not.

Serving type: bottle

09-26-2010 04:07:26 | More by 7ways

Cresant

Kentucky

2.95/5  rDev -30.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Poured into a Sam Adams glass. Batch 9901. 12 oz. brown bottle. The body was deep golden body and had a creamy two fingers of yellowy head. Lightly hazy body topped with a film of head that stayed throughout.

The smell was fresh bread and oranges. Piney, even slightly cat piss like. Sweet and spicy. Grapefruit pith and marmalade. Alcohol was evident.

The taste was citrusy and had a long oily bitter finish. Alcohol was a bit too evident. I did not like this one at all the first time time I had it, but enjoyed it more the second time.

The mouthfeel was heavy to full. Slightly under-carbonated.

Serving type: bottle

11-22-2010 02:00:50 | More by Cresant

claminat420

Michigan

3.03/5  rDev -28.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

A- alil cloudy golden color. nice white two finger head with medium lacing.

S- hoppy and sweet

T- god i don't even know. alil malty, alil sweet, alil hoppy

M- sturdy medium body. good carbonation.

D- could drink one or two.

Overall- i'm not trying to be a d#ck here and just slam bell's but lookout!!! they put out a special...everyone jumps on it... nothing to special. to me founder's double trouble buried this in a heartbeat.

Serving type: bottle

09-29-2009 05:41:04 | More by claminat420

zhanson88

Montana

3.03/5  rDev -28.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

Appearance: Pours a very clear copper color with low carbonation. About 1/2" of slightly off-white head forms, which has good lacing and decent retention. 4

Smell: Lots of caramel malts on the nose, sweetness, citrus, and pine resin. A bit different than most DIPAs as far as balance goes, but decent.

Taste: Big caramel malts up front, followed by heavy pine resin. The combo is very sweet, even cloying. Following that is some citrus, with resinous bitterness on the finish. Maltiness is okay but not necessarily my preference in a DIPA, with sweetness that is too cloying.

Mouthfeel/Overall: Mouthfeel is pretty good. Medium bodied, with low carbonation. Smooth drinking all in all. Overall, I thought this was an interesting take on a DIPA and even a nice change of pace. Not my favorite though.

Serving type: bottle

10-09-2011 21:15:34 | More by zhanson88

chaz410

North Carolina

3.15/5  rDev -26.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Got this bottle at Common Market.
Pours a beautiful orange tinted amber body with a half finger width white head.
Smells of grapefruit, pine and grassy hops with a very heavy caramel and toasted malt character.
Taste more like an imperial pale ale than an imperial IPA. It has a very smooth orange and caramel blend character with lots of hints of pine, pineapple, apple, and earthy hops.
Mouthfeel is exceptionally smooth.
It is very easy to drink dispite the ABV and the syle

Serving type: bottle

09-11-2010 03:59:26 | More by chaz410

caskstrength

Minnesota

3.2/5  rDev -24.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Wherefore The Oracle??

First off, I know it's ultimately insignificant, but how stupid is the "DoubleIndiaPaleAle Ale" label.

anyway....

pours nice. enough head. DIPA appearances as expected.

Smell is pineapple. whoa. some orange, but mostly pineapple.

Tates are tropical hops. alcohol. decent balancing malts. A tropical fruit DIPA, but the bar has been set high for Bells here. And this is simply OK. Not much fresh, juicy zest. A bit thick. Flavors not bouncing around at all. Boozier than I wanted, didn't help the profile.

More carbonation and lighter mouthfeel would have helped.

An OK pineapple forward DIPA. But it's not as good as hopslam or 2hearted, and I don't see much reason for its existence. Not sure what Bells is doing here.

Serving type: bottle

09-03-2010 17:12:31 | More by caskstrength

number1bum

Pennsylvania

3.23/5  rDev -24.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

Big thanks go out to mymrnngjckt for this treat. You are very kind, sir.

Pours a slightly hazed burnt orange color with a dense two inches of light beige head.

Smell is full of resiny, oily, sticky pine and grapefruity hops, with juicy citrus as well as a bitter pithy quality. It's very fresh and floral, and I love the juiciness of the hops. There is a honey-like sweetness here too. Some alcohol does start to creep in as it warms.

Taste starts off...boozy as hell. Holy shit. And then comes the hop bitterness, which is substantial. I feel like I blinked and the hop flavor passed me by. Where is all the juicy, floral, resiny goodness from the nose? I do get some resiny pine, earthy and herbal flavor and some very bitter grapefruit pith, but the bitterness is absolutely immense and the hot alcohol just throws it entirely out of balance. The juicy, sweet citrus never has a chance to come through. It's a hop bomb, and worse, it's a boozy hop bomb.

Mouthfeel is quite oily and slick, and if it weren't for the immense bitterness and hot alcohol I think this one would be very nice on the palate.

I'm very disappointed by this brew, and I think it certainly fits the bill as a hype beer that just did not deliver. The best DIPAs in my book stress hop flavor over bitterness and have enough malt backbone to complement, even if they don't truly balance, the hops. I'm not a huge fans of unabated hop bombs, but I can enjoy one of those every once in awhile as well. This, however, is not only a hop bomb but a totally unbalanced, boozy hop bomb. That's a deadly combination and does not result in a pleasant, drinkable brew. Once is enough.

Serving type: bottle

11-04-2009 01:27:06 | More by number1bum

Patrick

Massachusetts

3.25/5  rDev -23.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

A: Pours a nice and clear bright golden color with a very thin doilie-esqe white film on top. Some stringy lacing.

S: The aroma is of overwhelming pineapple. Maybe some light lemon zest as well, but it is hard to smell anything past the pineapple. Good smell, just a bit one dimensional.

T: Nice tart pineapple flavor up front with some odd molassesy/honey-like sweetness following. The middle has more of this sweetness, and the end finishes with some grassy/herbal/lemony hop flavor.

M: Full bodied, well carbonated, sticky.

D: Not a fan of this beer, the mouthfeel is huge for a DIPA and the flavor wasn't hop-centric enough.

Serving type: bottle

10-27-2009 23:44:47 | More by Patrick

Wisconsinality

Wisconsin

3.25/5  rDev -23.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

12oz bottle poured into SA perfect pint.

A big shout out to cmswoboda for hooking me up with this generous extra.

A- Pours a nice copper with just a slight haze to it. About one finger worth of head that recedes slowly and leaves some nice lacing.

S- Some nice tropical hops and citrus. A pretty good amount of malt and a little bit of sweetness. A little bit of grassiness and a touch of orange rind.

T- Big piney hops burst onto your taste buds right away. Lots of hop oil just coat the tongue which dulls down the bitter. The malt is back there but it takes awhile to pick it up. There is a light grassiness like the nose on the tail end of the taste.

M- Medium to full body. It just seems to coat your tongue. Not too bitter but there is a touch of heat on the back of the throat.

D- Decent beer but nothing about it really stands out. It is not as in your face as some DIPA's. I think I prefer some of Bell's other offerings. Pretty average for drinkability, which is the story of this beer.

Serving type: bottle

09-22-2010 03:39:30 | More by Wisconsinality

ArrogantB

Colorado

3.25/5  rDev -23.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

12oz bottle thanks to Rusty Diamond, appreciate it! I split this with two friends and they both liked it and said it was good whereas I was disappointed. Nice orange color, smells liek a lot of hops alcohol and malt but very muddled. I almost wish I knew how old this beer was. The taste was like a very malty DIPA, I guess I was expecting something closer to Hopslam. Overall, I would take Hopslam over this beer every single time. In fact, I'm not sure why they felt the need to brew this since hopslam is so damn good.

Serving type: bottle

10-24-2010 01:43:00 | More by ArrogantB

seedsofchaos

Illinois

3.25/5  rDev -23.7%
look: 5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

2010 bottle courtesy of Hap drank on a bright early Spring day (February 13th, 2011).

Bright honey orange meet golden. A billowing, almost beligian-esque head crowns the Oracle. Head is brilliant white, almost bleach white and made up entirely of tight carbonation bubbles. Lacing plays all the way down. Straight from cellar temperature the aroma is a bit strange. A touch of malt sweetness but mostly piney hops and then a vegetative cooked corn smell. DMS? I don't think lager yeast was used here... Curious to where this smell is coming from. As the beer warms to room temperature, this DIPA gets strangely better. Citrus hops come out and it becomes much more peachy. Malts into the realm of DIPAs on my palette now. Bready. Biscuity. The Oracle fails to impress.

This seasonal from Bell's is, perhaps, like other seasonals: only great for a few weeks, good for several months and then just mediocre afterward. I will have to try to obtain this fresh next year as this bottle was not filled with the flavors I would expect from Bell's.

Serving type: bottle

02-14-2011 12:06:30 | More by seedsofchaos

levifunk

Wisconsin

3.33/5  rDev -21.8%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

shared by klikger. reviewed from notes taken a while back.

a - cloudy red/orange. good size off-white head.

s - faint, almost non-existing nose. barely picking up citrus hops.

t - sweet malts. while there is a bitter finish, there is little actual hops flavor. Quite a bit of booze, but at 10% and fresh, its expected.

overall - somewhat of a disappointment. i won't be seeking this out as there are great DIPA for far less money.

Serving type: bottle

10-28-2010 18:17:10 | More by levifunk

EgadBananas

Louisiana

3.33/5  rDev -21.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Pours hazy orange, with a finger of light white head that laces well. Hop haze and alcohol feet are evident. The aroma is a good one, with predominant citrus and slight bitterness, with a nice malty, caramel aroma. But the taste is lacking...balance. The flavors do not flow well, but are more jagged and spiking. Very bitter, and lingering, but the linger leaves a bad taste. The citrus is nice, but the alcohol chimes in with an unpleasant burst. As it warms it becomes more palatable, but the lingering aftertaste is still not very enjoyable. The feel is nice and smooth, slightly creamy, and on the upper end of light. Carbonation is nice. Drinkability is decent, and while tasty in areas, the balance is just not there for me to drink multiples. If the ABV was a bit less, or wasn't as noticeable, I think that would make a big difference.

Serving type: bottle

11-25-2010 21:42:05 | More by EgadBananas

PDXHops

South Carolina

3.35/5  rDev -21.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Thanks to Ryan011235 for this 12 ounce bottled, poured into a Duvel tulip (note- this was fresh, back in September 2010). Hazy amber body with a frothy off-white head, the retention of which is pretty impressive considering the ABV. A thick ring of lacing up top, with drippy streaks down below.

The nose is richly malty with plenty of citrus and especially pine fighting through the caramel. The flavor is more or less the same story. There's certainly no shortage of bitterness, and the pine simmers steadily, but all the hoppy goodness is somewhat blunted by the malt. Some citrus juiciness approaching the swallow. Medium-thick bodied, with the booze showing up basically in the finish only. Very impressive job of controlling the booziness and sweetness at this ABV. Tantalizingly close to excellence, but simply too malty to merit bumping up to the next tier of DIPAs.

Serving type: bottle

01-28-2011 21:03:30 | More by PDXHops

GOGRANDE

Colorado

3.35/5  rDev -21.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Picked up this brew at a bottle shop in DC. It was in Dupont Circle with my cousin. Good times.

A: Hazy burnt/dark shade of orange. Decent white head with lots of oil stickiness lacing the glass. Looks good.

S: sweet and fruity grapefruit nose with a mild pine grass quality in the background.

T: hot... very powerful IPA. got a lot of booze burn right away. Not smooth. Starts nice with some sweet citrus flavors, then a significant dry grasslike finish with a good dose of burn. There is some sweet malt character in here too, right in the middle. Overall its really not smooth and has a harsh finish. Too sharp. Needs to be more balanced. The finish is all dry hop flavors and alcohol. It sits for a while soaking up your saliva.

M: full oil like with a super dry booze finish. very dry on the end.
feels smooth at first, then finishes very very dry.

O: Just not feeling this one, I guess if your shooting for a more abrasive dry big american IPA style then it would be understandable. But this is just does not have the complexity, balance, and mouth-feel that I think great DIPA's has. Its not really bad, just not enough balance for me. Maybe its just me.

Serving type: bottle

09-29-2011 04:25:41 | More by GOGRANDE

ktrillionaire

Florida

3.38/5  rDev -20.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

I dedicate this review, and all future Bell's reviews, to super-tasters from Kalamazoo and beyond.

A - It pours an ultra-deep hue of amber and has a large frothy caramel colored head.

S - It smells of alcohol, grassiness, vegetal, and perhaps catty and/or onion-y.

T - The bitterness is sufficient to overwhelm a significantly big maltiness. It seems mostly astringent and somewhat piney, as far as flavor goes. Not fantastic due to a lack of dynamic hop impression.

M - Big and sticky.

D - I don't care for this big crass beast of a beer. It is not terrible by any means, but it doesn't do it for me in any way either.

Serving type: bottle

10-15-2010 18:48:35 | More by ktrillionaire

hopsbreath

Oregon

3.4/5  rDev -20.2%
look: 2.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Twelve ounce bottle poured into a snifter at 8 o'clock in the morning after working all night at the hospital. Big thanks goes out to Thorpe429 for including one of Larry Bell's hoppiest as an extra!

After a moderately hard pour, about a finger and a half of ivory head formed atop the orange-gold anti-freeze tinged body. The head recedes quickly and no cap is left. Minimal lacing shows up as well.

Very sweet smell contains lychee candy, passion fruit, and pineapple.

Of course the tendency is to compare this to Hopslam, and through the power of suggestion, it is similar. The obvious difference between the two comes out here at the taste. Oracle isn't near as sweet and malty as Hopslam but is way more bitter and dank.

Mouthfeel is semi-thin for how big of a beer this calculates out to. It is however pretty oily due to then reckless use of hops.

How drinkable can a 10% DIPA palate destroying hop bomb be? It comes right down to "do I want another"? The answer is no. I'm glad I got the chance to try it, but won't be seeking it out again. Give this a try if the chance presents itself but don't go out of your way to track it down. Track down Hopslam instead come early next year.

Serving type: bottle

09-10-2010 16:43:31 | More by hopsbreath

chicano4craft

Colorado

3.4/5  rDev -20.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours a dark copper witha slight amber highlight in my tulip. Thick three finger head that sticks around for a long time. Amazing lacing to the end.

The nose is really balanced. It's a sweet citrus from the hops and malt. Reminds me of lemon bread.

The first sip is quite bitter. The balance in the nose doesn't show up. It's not the "good" bitter flavors you might expect from hops...grapefruit,citrus,resin. I think the alcohal has dulled down the flavor. A little disappointing.

The mouthfeel is decent but the high ABV brings down the drinkability. This was just an okay IIPA. I was hoping for a little more. I have a few more bottles and will revisit this soon. I feel my taste buds have been off a little lately.

Serving type: bottle

10-24-2010 00:21:23 | More by chicano4craft

oline73

Maryland

3.4/5  rDev -20.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

I had this on-tap at the Eccentric Cafe as a part of my sampler.

Appearance: Pours a cloudy amber color with a finger of off white head. This beer has amazing head retention with a solid layer of head remaining throughout the pour.

Smell: Really mild, which I would not expect from a 10 percent double IPA. Some malt and mild citrus hops. I expected more.

Taste: Better than the smell. Bitter citrus peel hops throughout. Some malt, but it is overwhelmed by the bitterness. The finish is really bitter.

Mouthfeel: The body is a bit thick with smooth carbonation and a dry finish.

Overall: Really bitter. I expected more body given the abv. I probably won't have another given all the other DIPA options.

Serving type: on-tap

09-05-2011 04:21:31 | More by oline73