Bell's Batch 10000 Ale

The last in our Batch series is being packaged today and tomorrow. While we are excited to free up some brewing space for other creative projects, the end of the Batch series marks a major milestone for us, and is a little bittersweet being the end of an era. Batch 10,000 reflects our homebrewing roots and was inspired by the the last homebrew of the season. Our owner Larry Bell remembers going through his brewing supplies and making the last homebrew out of whatever malts and hops were left from his brewing months. With this being the motivation behind our last commemorative batch series beer, we combed through the catalogs of many malt and hop suppliers to source 100 different malts, grains, and other fermentables. This is balanced by the addition of 60 different hop varietals between the kettle and dry hopping. The resulting beer presents a deep, chocolate brown hue and offers roasted and caramel notes from the malts mixed with an assertive hop character. Feel free to drink it fresh, or vintage age it as you please.

We lift our glass in appreciation to Bell’s drinkers who have helped us reach this moment in our brewery’s history. Cheers to you!

3.7

444 reviews

Comstock, United States

Community reviews

3.8 "Pretty big, dark brew with a little age on it. Sweet and bitter and alcoholic. Not as awesome as I expected, but still pretty dang good. Herbal, roasty, chocolatey and boozy sweetness all at the same time. Not sure when this came out. Ours was maybe two years old, maybe less. Would have loved to try fresh as this sample was quite nice."

3.8 12oz bottle shared by JohnGonk. Poured dark brown in color with a thin creamy tan head. Aroma of roasted malt, caramel, bourbon, and oak. Taste of burnt malts, caramel, earth, bourbon, and oak. Slightly oxidized, but still solid.

4.1 12 ounce bottle into snifter, bottled on 11/17/2010. Pours very hazy/cloudy nearly opaque dark brown color with a 1-2 finger dense khaki head with good retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Nice soapy lacing clings on the glass, with some moderate streaming carbonation. Aromas of big raisin, prune, fig, citrus zest, caramel, molasses, toast, brown sugar, chocolate, light roast, brown bread, herbal, floral, grass, and toasted earthiness. Very nice aromas with good complexity and balance of dark/roasted malt, citrus/earthy hops, and fruity yeast ester notes; with good strength. Taste of big raisin, prune, fig, citrus zest, caramel, toast, toffee, brown sugar, chocolate, cocoa, roasted malt, brown bread, herbal, floral, grass, pine, and toast/grassy earthiness. Fair amount pine/herbal/roasted bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of raisin, prune, fig, citrus zest, caramel, toast, toffee, chocolate, cocoa, roasted malt, brown bread, brown sugar, herbal, floral, grass, pine, and toast/grassy earthiness on the finish for a while. Very nice complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roasted malt, citrus/earthy hops, and fruity yeast ester flavors; with a great malt/bitterness balance and zero cloying flavors after the finish. Medium carbonation and body; with a moderately creamy, smooth, and fairly bready/sticky mouthfeel that is nice. Alcohol is well hidden with only a slight warming present after the finish. Overall this is an excellent strong ale. All around great complexity and balance of dark/roasted malt, citrus/earthy hops, and yeast ester fruitiness; and very smooth to sip on for the ABV. A very enjoyable offering.

3.8 Poured from a 12 ounce bottle. The aroma is malty, raisin, sweet fruity alcohol. The flavor is again malty rich, warming alcohol. Very tasty, rich and warming.

3.2 Ar: Aged, hay-like hops, cherry, a bit of cotton candy. Ap: Brown, almost opaque - medium-small light tan head with moderate retention, leaves a sudsy ring and some webbing. T: Dark toffee, and medium-high bitterness - alcohol, slightly biting - well-roasted caramels, some nougat - orange, nutty - finish is slightly astringent bitterness, with a hint of coffee. P: Medium-full body with high carbonation - finish is medium-dry. O: This beer has some really nice, deep caramel notes - the alcohol is a bit too prominent - seems a bit muddled, as other reviewers have said - not bad, overall.

3.6 Rated on 2-03-2011 (Bottle) This beer pours a medium sized tan head that does not last long, semi-transparent/semi-hazy reddish brown body, fizzy carbonation, and spotty lacing. The aroma consist of roasted malt, hint of dark fruits and citrus, pine hops. The taste is moderately bitter, dark fruits, roasted malt, pine hops, and a bit boozy. The mouth feel is smooth and thick. This beer is medium bodied. Overall, the hops are upfront in the aroma and the hop bitterness is upfront in the flavor. This is a good beer, but I was hoping it would have been better tasting than it is according to the beer’s description.

3.6 bottle. deep brown with minimal head. big beer. sweet malty base with chocolate and dark fruit. mild hops. complex and tasty. a little bit boozy.

3.9 I drank this and decided what I thought of it before I read the commercial description and details about it. Like a few other beers I’ve had that had massive numbers of hops and malts go into it, I continue to believe that this is a really unnecessary brewing: there is no way that each addition contributes to the beer...declining marginal returns. Not that this isn’t a good beer, because it is. It’s a mash-up--I concluded before I read the details--having characteristics along both the malts and hops dimensions...rich chocolate like a stout, big hops like a DIPA. The alcohol is controlled and it is very drinkable. But it is still a mashup, the epitome of beer characteristics but not any definable style, except the rather generic "strong ale". A good drink. Bottle.

3.7 12 oz bottle thanks to drfabulous. Pours clear dark brown with khaki head. Aroma: old barley wine. Raisin, plum, chocolate, stale hops, smoke, caramel. Something a little synthetic I can’t quite place. Taste: moderately sweet, lasting finish. Full body, slick and coating texture.

3.7 bottle at Al’s of Hamden, Enola, PA. agressive beer. chocolate, malted milk balls, roasted malts are very assertive. agressive bitterness. Seemed bigger than 9.2%. Big agressive strong ale

3.9 ah yes, the "kitchen sink" brew. i had this a while ago soon after it was released but apparently never rated it until now - it’s a dark amber-brown brew with light carbonation and a huge complicated aroma. sticky hops, sticky molassees and a bit of alcohol heat. individual flavors are hard to discern thanks to the sheer multitude of ingredients, but it’s enjoyable and a special treat, even a few years after its release.

3.7 Had at the BGoA Winter tasting. Pours an opaque brown. Malty and dark fruits. Medium bodied. Very nice slightly roasty.

3.8 Bottle to snifter (thanks jmborggren). Looks good; a slightly translucent dark mahogany with beige head that steadily dissipates into lacing. Smells smwwet and malty with heavy notes of caramel and toffee. Tastes like it smells with a nice, smooth mouthfeel. Good beer.

3.0 Vertical tasting provided by alexsdad06, 8000, 9000, 10000, and goes to 11. Bottle pour deep ruby. Nose dank hop some pine, sweet malt. Taste some sharp bitter up front. Vague sweet mid and late. not much else. probably better fresh.

3.5 12oz to snifter courtesy of cpetrone. Sweet sugary malt aroma. Dark Brown. Minimal head. Lots of everything and not much of anything. Hops and malt. The kitchen sink. Fun. Good.

3.8 Bottle, thnx to a great trader who’s name I lost together with my notes.. Pours a dark brown beer with a small, off white head on top, that settles quickly into a small ring. Aroma is complex, touches of caramel, licorice, vanilla, rye and has an earthy dry hoppiness to it. Loads of other aspects as well, but all on the sweeter side of the aroma-palate. Flavor is also quite sweet with big malty touches. Caramel and licorice-like influences shine trough the most, alongside some dried nuttyness and a touch of chocolate. Slight bitter aftertaste, short lasting. Guess this bottle is from 2010, so it’s over 3 years old when drank. Aged well, but has become a bit thin I guess. Alcohol has mellowed out completely, no burn whatsoever. Some alcohol is noticeable in the flavor, but certainly not disturbing. Very nice beer.

3.6 Bottle kindly shared by gunnar. Misty deep mahogany orange body with a light brown smal head. Sweet toasted vanilla nose. Barrel, sweet toasted tobacco, and a fruity bitterness to balance. Full bodied., Smooth.

3.7 Shared bottle at local tasting, from my secret santa 2012. Pours almost black with a big creamy tanned head. Aroma of roasted malts, light peat and perfume. Taste is moderate sweet, dark bitter liquorice, tobacco and leather, dry bitter finish, nice.

3.2 Dark brown. Little head. Sweet vineous, port-like aroma. Similar taste. Some tobacco and leather.

3.5 Shared 355 ml bottle at local tasting. ABV is 9.2%. Dark brown colour, moderate beige head. Aroma of molasses and oak. The flavour is better than batch 6000, less sweet (but still sweet enough) with a more distinct hop profile, notes of oak and tobacco.

3.6 Kveldens siste på RB-treffet i det private boksølmuseet på Vistenes: slankere og mindre søt enn Batch 6000, noe som gjør den mer konsumeringsvennlig. Umulig å merke at de iflg vaskeseddelen har brukt hele 60 ulike humler. Men en velkomponert lapskaus er alltid godt. Prøver gjerne flere fra dette bryggeriet.

3.5 Bottle shared in the hotel room. Pours an inky black with a beige head of foam. Aroma has notes of nuts, toffee, caramel, leather, and spice. Taste is mostly sweet with a hint of spice coming through. Thought this was an Imperial Stout when I was drinking it. Didn’t know the story behind it. Interesting that such a shotgun approach would yield something like this.

2.5 Huh, thought I’d already judged this one. To the docket! Dark brown with a solid sheet of tan toppage. Smells of dark crystal malts, some tea, some vitamins, some nougat and sweet toasted sugar. Tastes like vinyl, bitterness, some molasses, some toasted malts, mostly difficult for me to get past the vinyl character. Medium bodied with tight carb and a semi dry finish. This beer is not even close to what I remember. Serving type: bottle 11-14-2012

2.4 Batch 10000 hey? Blatz’ batch makes this batch look like a blown batch. Or not. Overall a not too shabby endeavour from Bells. But when you have collected a large Batch that is ten thousand-fold larger than average, hit those old barhags up with Blatz....they’ll appreciate it and you won’t look like a jerk....even as your "Batch" is running down there disheveled face.....

3.6 12oz bottle, thanks to FlandersNed. So from the description, there is no recipe, just every type of malt and hop possible? Ok, got it, here we go... Pours a very dark brown near opaque color. Good thin light brown head, leaves nice lace. Thankfully, this beer is not ultra-cloying sweet like 9,000 was, that was pretty much my main concern. Moderate nice hoppy bitterness still prevalent, and a moderate sweet, light alcohol. Kind of a spicy taste, reminds me of Bell’s Eccentric ... Did they throw in all of their left over additives as well? I’m alright with this, really. Good chocolate, roast and spice malt, lots of earthy hop, and interesting spice flavor. Some dark fruit. Bigger body, more dry texture. Smooth, lighter, kind of crisp carbonation. Good strong ale. Flavors all sort of meld together, but you can tell there’s a lot there. Alcohol not bothersome at all. Not sure how old this is, but it’s drinking well now.

3.5 12oz bottle sampled from a tasting pours dark brown almost black with a small tan head. wouldve like to have tasted this fresh. big sweet malts oak taste.

3.8 Nearly black pour w/ a thick frothy tan head with thick lacing. Aroma is a little hot notes of alcohol and some alpha acids. Some chocolates and a hint of syrups. Some complex spices. Taste is sweet with a good amount of hops without any real bitterness. A hint of pine in the aftertaste, sweet caramels and chocolates. A nice beer that I look forward to trying again in a year.

3.8 Tap: Deep, ruby-red color, completely opaque in the center with mahogany on the edges. Tan colored head, thick and puffy with lovely lacing all along the glass. Aroma is... different, yet interesting & intriguing. Smoked wood & logs, campfire smoke, dark fruits, bitter raisins & plums, perfume-like floral notes and a mish-mash of hops going left and right. Sixty hop varieties... what?! Taste is heavy smoke, tastes like smoked malt was used. Smoked graininess, wood chips, oak... like booze soaked tree bark. Lots of cocoa in the finish with some bitter, sugarless cocoa beans, a touch of prune fruits, and a quite large hop presence - floral, bitter ash, dry, and leafy. Booze is noticeable, but not quite 9.2% ABV. Tastes like a super hopped up smoked beer... Maybe that’s what it is. I like smoke in this capacity. Very nice beer, never too sweet.

3.6 Draft at Bell’s 28th birthday party at Reno’s East. Very dark amber brown. Sweet smooth hop and candy flavor with a hint of smokiness.

3.9 Draft at Bell's 28th birthday party at Reno's East. Dark copper with a dense head. Sweet candi and hops. Incredibly smooth and malty. Slightly smokey.