Bell's Batch 8000 Ale
Batch 8000 is part of our commemorative series celebrating our progress with special brews. Our Batch 8000 is a special recipe to be brewed only once. It is a wheat ale spiced with Coriander, Orange Peel, and Paradise Seed. Best consumed fresh.
Editor’s Note. 9% is far above the abv range of a Belgian Wit Bier. Because we do not have the style "Imperial/Double Belgian Wit", this more closely fits as a Belgian Strong Ale.
Editor’s Note. 9% is far above the abv range of a Belgian Wit Bier. Because we do not have the style "Imperial/Double Belgian Wit", this more closely fits as a Belgian Strong Ale.
3.6
566 reviews
Comstock, United States
Community reviews
355 ml bottle @ Timo A.
Rated on 20110105.
Pours amber color with medium head. Aroma of caramel malts, ripe fruits and some sugar. Flavor of candy sugar, yeast, caramel malts and ripe fruits.
The beer is hazy orange in color with a small white head. Strong aromas of orange peel and coriander come through. It’s decently bready, but also fairly stale. Really not much left to the aroma. The same can be said of the flavor. Stale sugar and bread with a hint of toast. The orange peel and coriander are really the only saving graces to this beer. Sort of lifeless in terms of the mouthfeel as well.
Bottle @ home, courtesy of Ughsmash. Thanks! Cloudy, brownish-orange appearance with no head and little carbonation. Sweet caramel malty, dull fruity, lightly spicy aroma. Somewhat spicy, caramel, Belgian yeasty, light citrusy, lightly tart, dull spicy flavor with some oxidation. This baby’s peaked but I’m still glad I got to try it...
A fun and very enjoyable but not great, beer. Pours golden yellow with an off-white head. There’s bread, toffee, spices, belgian yeast and malt on the nose. Taste is sweet, but also with a lot of sourness. It actually starts off with sweet caramel, then turns into a balanced bitterness before again turning sweet in the fairly long finish. Body was medium with quite a bit of carbonation.
12 oz. bottle via trade with dbsdelight a while back- thanks, Dan! Pours a cloudy orange-amber color with a small white head. Aroma of paper, wheat, citrus, peppery spices, and sweet malts. Flavor of butterscotch, sweet malts, spices, and citrus peel. Medium-bodied, with moderate carbonation and a spicy, sweet mouthfeel. Some oxidation has set in and I imagine this would be better in its original form, but it’s still all right.
Bottle shared by phaleslu. Thanks Peter! Pours Amber with a thin white head. Aroma is malty with hints of belgium yeast. Flavor is spices, malts and hints of wheat. Overall a decent beer.
Hefiger, etwas süßer Geruch. Vollmunidger Antrunk, alkoholisch, nur leicht hefig. Das Bier ist in Teilen mild, wirkt aber dennoch ausreichend aromatisch, was auch durch den Hopfen erreicht wird. Dieser blüht im Mittelteil auf und ist im Nachgeschmack zusammen mit leichter Herbe führend. Einuntertöniger Gewürzton tut sein Übriges. Minimal brennend. Danke an den Doppelbock für die Besorgung des Bieres. -/11/10/11/-/11
Bottle. darker orange color. The orange come through in both smell and taste. After that there’s not much left in this beer. Old wheat flavor, spices, and slight bitterness from the old hops. Gotta say this has turned into a novelty beer.
Thanks to Ryan for this extra, hoping the high alcohol has helped this stay decent. 12oz bottle poured into my Narke glass....Pours a medium clear copper, deeper brown in the center. The head is a watery whispy ugly off white. No retention, just doesn’t look appealing...The aroma is like a wit barleywine. Strong alcoholic honey, orange peel, coriander, lots of wheat, a hoppy finish. Seems like it would be ok, doesn’t really work for me though. Spices are too strong...The taste is more subdued, most of the harsh spice and alcohol notes are gone. Tastes like a alcoholic witbier that has some sweet honey notes. Not bad, not great, slightly above average...Mouthfeel is glassy and warm...Its easy to drink but I’m not in love with it, so I’m struggling to finish this.
I can’t recommend this now, however its held up better than I would have thought.
Poured into a snifter. Batch 8k pours a burnt orange color with an off-white head almost an orange color. Moderate retention rate; decent lacing. There are some sour tones in the aroma as well as, honey, clove, a slight amount of citrus, yeasty esters, and a hint of banana bread. Tastes is pleasant, spices up front, mostly clove and nutmeg, with some anise. Some citrus flavors also roll around the tongue blended with some honey. Slightly bitter/sour. Mouthfeel is smooth and effervescent. Very nice carbonation level. It is very drinkable brew, almost reminds me of a less carbonated La Fin Du Monde from Unibroue, with a lot more flavor.
Bottle shared by arminjewell. Clear orange pour, no carbonation and an aroma of orange and spices. Althought the aroma was decent, the flavor was stale malt and herbs. Would have liked to try this fresh, as this was past its prime.
Bottle pour to snifter. Amber pour with a off white collar. Aroma is sugary wheat and some faint fruit. Taste is more sugar and wheat with a mutled fruity finish. Palate is medium feel and finishes sticky and chaulky.
Pours hazy orange, white head. Aroma has notes of orange, fruity esters, some earth, spice, grains of paradise and some coriander. Main aroma is grains of paradise. Taste is downhill, notes of some orange, slight earth, and a dry, slightly bitter finish. Some cardboard. Past its prime, but would have been good fresh.
Bottle, courtesy of jason. Citrus oil, sharp, vaguely peppery spice, butterscotch. Sweetness clashing with an astringent spiciness. Very odd at this late date with the intense spice character competing with citrus tones reminiscent of those in old IPA’s (I guess I’ve never really had an old wit/double wit, so perhaps it’s just the combination of the citrus with the sweetness from the old malt). In any case, interesting to see what age did to a beer such as this.
Bottle. Well I guess this beer is far past its prime, but there’s nothing I can do about that anymore...Pours a cloudy brown orange with a small white head. Aroma of old caramel malt, piss, orange juice. Flavor of Belgian yeast, sweet fruits, melon rind, orange peel. The spices have largely left this one and the sweetness is a bit much. I think I agree with the commercial description "best consumed fresh". This is not a beer to save for a rainy day!
6/4/6/3/11 [3.0/5]
bottle thanks to bleeng? Shared at the January Houston RB Tasting at my place. Pours cloudy, light gold with no head. Nose is of spices and grain. Taste is of spices and orange rind. Mouthfeel is medium.
January Houston Tasting. Pours a honey gold. Nose if very wheat. Flavor is very wheat as well, with some soft spices. This borders on barley wine more than anything else to me. Meh.
Poured from a bottle in a strong orange color, this is the first beer I’ve had whose nose is like malted milk. Clearly a very strong beer, the taste is an odd combo of sweet and spice, with caramel, orange and coriander (wondered what that was) notes. Average carbonation. I’d try it again but best perhaps in small amounts. I shared this unusual brew at a tasting, many thanks to MaltOMeal, zinister, bleeng and TexasJeep.
Bottle. Golden pour with white head. Yeast note, some damp wheat almost cardboard like, light citrus. More warmth than i expected. Time hasn’t been kind.
Bottle shared with Spudclampdawg. Pours a deep orange with a creamy off white head. Nose is spices, toasty biscuit malts, dull citrus, and mild fruits. Taste is sticky sweet with spices and bitterness coming through. Mouthfeel is slick and medium full. Strange beer. Probably not meant for aging.
Bottles. I do not like this style. I was very disappointed when Bells decided to pick this beer for their 8000th batch. Notes of syrup. citrus, coriander, booze. Way too sweet. Slightly over-carbonated.
Bottle thanks to a generous trader. Pours a deep cloudy orange with whitish head. Nose of heavy peel, orange, coriander, spice and cider. Taste of orange peel, apple, spice and seeds.
Bottle. Hazy orange pour with a medium off white head. Lots of barley, some sugar, sweet caramel, orange peel and coriander in the aroma. The flavour is sweet caramel, spices, coriander, oranges and alcohol. Unbalanced. Spicy sweet finish.
Bottle from the the richmond beer dig spring 2010. Pours a hazy clear gold with a ring of white head. Syrupy sweet, with spices, and honey, and good mellowing quality.
Bottle from JCapriotti...thanks Jason! - Pours deep hazy amber with a big foamy off-white head. Lots of honey, bready caramel, and a little orange juice concentrate. Taste is syrupy apricot with yeast, intense breadiness, and a bit of muted orange. Syrupy and well-carbonated. Expected this to be a drain pour, but it wasn’t. Obviously past it’s prime, but interesting nonetheless.
Bottle. Pours a golden color with a small off-white head. Has a fruity spicy coriander aroma. Sweetish malty spicy coriander flavor with some yeasty hints. Has a sweetish malty spicy coriander finish.
Bottle. A slightly oily, clear golden beer with a minimal head. White sugars and hints of spices in the aroma. The flavor is sweet and fruity, with white sugar, spices and hoppy hints. Full-bodied, with some bitterness to finish it. A quite nice one, but a bit anonymous. Wouldn’t shy away from having more of it though. 100212
Bottle. golden- orange colour with an off-white head. Aroma is alcohol, sweet, orange, malt. Flavour is alcohol, malt, hop, orange, fruit, caramel. Nice beer.
Bottle shared by Sean! Poured cloudy orange gold with sediment visible. There was minimal head as well. Aroma was full of sweet grains with some caramel and citrus. The citrus (orange) was more present on the tongue combining with the caramel and sweet grains.
Thanks again to Adrian for a bottle of this! I am sure there are fewer and fewer of these around, since it will probably not be brewed again, and the label says to drink it up fresh and not cellar it. A lightly tangy, honey and floral aroma, with a little yeast too. Amber pour without much head. Very robust for a witbier. I tasted honey bread, yeast, a little citrus, ginger, and even something like broth. There was also a yeasty undertone. The spices were not too powerful - maybe they faded a bit. Interesting tingle on the palate and a fresh finish. Very nice.