Bell's 25th Anniversary Ale - Bell's Brewery, Inc.

Reaper16

Alabama

4.22/5  rDev +12.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

12oz. bottle served into a tulip glass

Pours a crisp Princeton Orange color with warm amber overtones. It is mostly translucent but has enough darkness that you can't make out all of the carbonation rising to the top. 1.5 fingers of buttermilk colored head - loosely compacted though composed to small bubbles - forms on top but doesn't retain past a minute or two. Adequate lacing.

The hop bouquet comes at you first and foremost. There is something familiar but artificial about the fruit aromas coming from the hops here. Very tropical, lots of citrus juice, but lots of sweetner in there also. Bell's 25th Anniversay smells an awful lot like Five Alive brand fruit juice blend. The tang of pineapple juice and orange juice and just enough mango and some sugar in there too. As the beer warms the malts start to peek through all that hop lupulin. Earthy brown notes come to the nose, something like a spiced rum cake. The hop profile is pretty unique in that it smells more like fake renditions of the fruits than the fruits themselves. That uniqueness takes this beer a long way but I don't think that the hops and malts cohere to make a great aroma profile. There's something off; I think it may be an abundance of sugary scents.

This tastes like Stone Arrogant Bastard Ale went to England and made a new life there. These Michigan-grown malts are very English in flavor. Nutty, rich. A bit of fruitcake flavor. Those fruity hops don't manifest themselves in such a tropical way on the palate. I get more astringency and earthy notes from them. They dry out the malt a bit, making for a leathery sort of taste. But then, with warmth, the earthy nature opens up to full-on English tea. There's something floral informing the tea flavors too; its close to lavender or cardamom but isn't exactly either one. Every now and then I get a brief pang of pineapple juice, but it quickly yields to the tea-like combination of herbal hops and unique malts. This is unique and quite tasty. The only off notes for me are slight abundance of alcohol and a steely, mineral quality that comes up on the finish.

This beer is somewhere on the cusp between being on the thick side of medium-bodied and being outright thick. It just misses a syrupy consistency but there is still a considerable amount of heft to the body. It is quite fun to lap this around in your mouth. The drinkability is also good, for the style. You can taste and feel the 8.5% ABV. This is a sipper for sure.

I see quite a few reviews in the B- range for Bell's 25th Anniversary Ale and I am not sure why that is. Perhaps they just didn't enjoy the herbal flavors or they don't rate to style to the degree that I do. I find this beer to be a joy to drink; a unique beer that simply lets its ingredients shine in natural ways. It'd be interesting to see what age does to this one.

Serving type: bottle

10-04-2010 00:50:38 | More by Reaper16

mikeincharleston

South Carolina

3.5/5  rDev -6.7%

05-23-2013 01:16:32 | More by mikeincharleston

Bill235

Ohio

4/5  rDev +6.7%

05-11-2013 00:24:16 | More by Bill235

Kelp

New Hampshire

3.75/5  rDev 0%

04-23-2013 04:50:19 | More by Kelp

bluestem

Iowa

1.25/5  rDev -66.7%

04-10-2013 01:04:21 | More by bluestem

tectactoe

Michigan

3.61/5  rDev -3.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

Thanks to Mike for letting me have one of his, otherwise I don't think I would've ever gotten my hands on one of these. Pours an elegant blend of amber and copper with a very slight, rustic orange tint to it. Light translucency clings to the edges, but this beer is mostly opaque throughout. A small khaki head forms after a pretty aggressive pour; some carbonation was possibly lost during this beer's three year journey.

The aroma is familiar yet different and kind of hard to pin down. It's pretty sweet with lots of light, brown sugar notes floating about. I'm picking up some candied, dark fruits, like plums, grapes, and dates. It's got that "sticky sweet" kind of aroma to it, although there's something cutting through the sweetness that tames it just a bit - maybe a light, earthy hoppiness. Caramel and molasses in the finish are most likely consequences of the malts used. It almost smells like a barleywine, but it's not quite there. Not as sweet, not as rich. A little enigmatic overall.

Malts pave the way first and foremost upon taking a generous swallow - caramel and toffee with a bit of sweet molasses quickly following them up. The malts also lend some bread and butter type notes that are a bit more subtle. Lots of seemingly residual sugar, although again, the sweetness is actually controlled pretty well. Brown sugar-covered dark fruits; plums and figs pop out the most. There's a light oxidation in the finish that brings out a mild, wet cardboard flavor. The booze is noticeable but not abrasive. You can definitely tell this is 8.5% ABV, but even after some warming, the boozy flavors never become too hot or uncontrollable. Body is on the medium-thick side with low carbonation and a somewhat sticky and oily mouth feel.

For a 25th Anniversary beer, being such a "big" milestone in the lifetime of basically anything, I would have expected just a little more from a brewery so well defined in so many categories. "American Strong Ales" always seem like such a "catch-all" category, so you never really know what you're gonna get. I feel like this one might have been a little better fresh, maybe a stronger hop presence would have made it a bit more lively. Nothing stands out, but it definitely wasn't bad. The problem is that Bell's has already set the bar too high for themselves! Thanks again to Mike for this one.

Serving type: bottle

04-07-2013 21:41:55 | More by tectactoe

ejimhof

Pennsylvania

3/5  rDev -20%

03-09-2013 14:39:30 | More by ejimhof

RelentlessLefty

Iowa

4.25/5  rDev +13.3%

02-16-2013 21:46:27 | More by RelentlessLefty

drewone

California

3.75/5  rDev 0%

01-28-2013 00:35:37 | More by drewone

Brabander

Netherlands

4.25/5  rDev +13.3%

01-25-2013 23:13:51 | More by Brabander

spycow

Illinois

4/5  rDev +6.7%

01-18-2013 04:22:05 | More by spycow

PHBoiler

Illinois

4.25/5  rDev +13.3%

01-17-2013 16:38:07 | More by PHBoiler

bismarksays

Iowa

4/5  rDev +6.7%

01-15-2013 10:49:23 | More by bismarksays

BlissJunkie

Michigan

4/5  rDev +6.7%

01-14-2013 17:49:20 | More by BlissJunkie

walking_kane

Missouri

3/5  rDev -20%

01-11-2013 04:38:27 | More by walking_kane

DrIPA

Michigan

3.5/5  rDev -6.7%

01-06-2013 03:09:48 | More by DrIPA

Brad7132

Michigan

4/5  rDev +6.7%

12-07-2012 21:46:56 | More by Brad7132

jay8s

Missouri

3/5  rDev -20%

11-28-2012 02:51:41 | More by jay8s

TheGordon

Michigan

3.75/5  rDev 0%

11-26-2012 01:38:43 | More by TheGordon

Mojo333

Indiana

3.75/5  rDev 0%

11-07-2012 18:29:08 | More by Mojo333

ssimpson89

Illinois

3.75/5  rDev 0%

10-29-2012 00:35:36 | More by ssimpson89

sendbeer

Georgia

4.25/5  rDev +13.3%

10-22-2012 21:15:15 | More by sendbeer

harpus

Alabama

3.75/5  rDev 0%

10-16-2012 17:22:12 | More by harpus

NilocRellim

Minnesota

3.25/5  rDev -13.3%

10-06-2012 16:25:50 | More by NilocRellim

Johnhaley1989

North Dakota

3.25/5  rDev -13.3%

10-05-2012 19:28:12 | More by Johnhaley1989