For Whom the Bell's Toll
Written: Jul 08 '02 (Updated Jul 08 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: an outstanding version of an amber beer
Cons: hard for me to get
The Bottom Line: Another great beer from Bell's. Hopefully, they will continue to be available in my area.
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| fuche_bu's Full Review: Amber Ale |
There are certain beers that have been traditionally hard to come by in my area. I will occasionally stumble upon these beers at festivals or when I am traveling. They are not beers that I can stock for home consumption. That leads to limited experience with numerous great breweries. My experiences with Bell's beers from the Kalamazoo Brewing Company have been few and too far between. I do not run across their beers all that often.
This is annoying because when I have tried their beers, I found them to be top flight brews. What makes the matter worse is that I am then subjected to repeated epinions on these brews by beer geeks like B_Carey. It's like a slap in the face because of the difficulty I face in coming by these beers. I often felt like tagging them with an NH simply out of jealousy.
But the possibility looms that the tide may have turned. I was down in Center City Philly and I stopped by The Foodery Deli on 10th and Pine. This wonderful place has a stock of over 500 different beers. They also rotate their beers. I am regularly surprised by their selection but I nearly fainted from excitement. Could it be? I rubbed my eyes: Three different Bell's beers sitting there on the shelf. I selected two bottles of each kind. Pale Ale, Amber and Stout.
And so now I get to join the Bell's party. I will begin with a review of the Bell's Amber Ale. I got out a pint glass and poured the beer. After a huge head settled, I examined the beer. The bright hue was almost orange. It had a subtle floral bouquet to it. That suggested a nice hop presence.
The first sip confirmed a generous amount of hops in the beer. It was not super hopped nor should it be. An amber ale is usually designed more for consuming a couple. It is meant more to be a quenching beer. There was a fruitiness in the flavor. It also had a juicy quality to it. I found it to be a good drinking beer.
Bell's Amber Ale would make for a good session beer. It has just a little bit of sweetness to it but the hops quickly balance things out. I found the beer to have an excellent balance between malt and hop. I tend to like beers to steer clear of cloying sweetness. I like a touch of bitterness in a beer. That makes a beer more appetizing to me. It would be very easy to toss a few of these down in one sitting. It weighs in at 5.5% abv so it's slightly higher than average strength. It has a medium body so it goes down easily.
This is a beer that I would pair with pasta. It would go well with a plate of spaghetti or ziti. It would also serve well at a picnic. This is a beer that would be good for intermediary drinkers. Some people with severely limited palates would scoff but serious beer drinkers will enjoy it. It manages to be both complex and drinkable. It's a true beer geek's delight. It's great to finally be on board the Bell's partywagon.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
fuche_bu
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Member: George Schaefer
Location: West Bristol, PA
Reviews written: 1103
Trusted by: 326 members
About Me:
Busy at work and missing a lot of epinions fun.
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