Bell's Batch 9000 Ale
Bottle: Unfiltered.
A commemorative brew.
Malt beverage brewed with molasses and brewer’s licorice.
Batch 9,000 Ale offers up aromas ranging from the sweet caramel & molasses of dark rum to fruits such as raisins and plums. Brewed with the idea of pushing boundaries in mind, Batch 9,000 Ale is a unique, one-time-only recipe. Well suited for vintage aging, this limited release will continue to develop in flavor & complexity over the years.
A commemorative brew.
Malt beverage brewed with molasses and brewer’s licorice.
Batch 9,000 Ale offers up aromas ranging from the sweet caramel & molasses of dark rum to fruits such as raisins and plums. Brewed with the idea of pushing boundaries in mind, Batch 9,000 Ale is a unique, one-time-only recipe. Well suited for vintage aging, this limited release will continue to develop in flavor & complexity over the years.
3.8
624 reviews
Comstock, United States
Community reviews
12 oz bottle shared with Jason and Brian. The pour is a nice black oil with a nice off white head and a beautiful lacing. The aroma is great lots of roast and dark fruits. There is a light sweet malt and a good booziness that wraps it all together. The flavor is solid. Lots of malt and a ton of dark fruits. Raisins and dates. The mouth feel is great. Thick and viscous with a great carbonation. It does come off a little syrupy there at the end. The aftertaste is lingeringly sweet and malty. Dark fruits come back and it finishes great. This is damn good
Aroma is amazing; roasted malts, some chocolate, molasses, and sweet fruits. Taste is similar and very nice. Good, but lacks the hop bite... still very nice!
12 ounce bottle
While the label claims this beer might hold up for a long time I can tell that it already shows signs of slipping. I wish I would have tried the regular version side by side with the BA version when the opportunity presented itself. The remaining bottles will soon be drunk along with the rest of the Expedition Stouts as I wind down the cellar.
Aroma / Appearance - An oily black base pours densely with a cocoa head that slips to a thin layer of dirty head. Olives, roasted coffee, malt, and dark chocolate mix the good and bad. The bittersweet texture feels just a bit off the mark.
Flavor / Palate - The chewy mouthfeel coats the mouth with thick textures that define a rich imperial stout. Black licorice, almonds, coffee, and dark baker’s chocolate add depth yet the overall impression feels hollow at times. Despite being the weakest member of the Batch x,000 series from Bells it still merits a tick. Just drink it as soon as possible rather than letting it age another five years.
Almost black color with a beige layer. Dried fruit, molasses and portwine. Full body and a soft carbonation. Slightly sweet. Complex and heavy stuff. Toffee, dried fruits, portwine, raisins and plums. Nice evening sipper. Some alcohol coming up as it get warmer.
[Bottle at bergstaden plaza at Røros in Norway]
Thank you GT2 for the botle - Black with a low brown head - Sweet malt aroma - Dark sweet malt body with dark fruits, raisins and licorice - Dark malt body With fruity tones and some alcohol in the back - This was nice
Bottle. Pours a very dark brown with small tan head that lasts. The aroma is dark fruit and licorice. Similar flavors to nose and very sweet, booze is present but not overpowering, really good.
Bottle thanks to northernbrews for sharing. Murky brown pour with almost no head. Aroma is rich and sweet. Packed with dark fruit, vanilla, butterscotch, brandy, and molasses. Tastes like brandy, dark rum , vanilla, molasses, tobacco, light soy, and light caramel. Light booze in the finish. Medium to full body. Surprisingly smooth too. Seems to have aged very well but I never had it fresh.
Bottle-I tucked this bottle in the back of my fridge for over 5 yrs. I feel it was time to crack it open. Pours dark brown hue with a small fizzy tan head. Not very dark from an impy stout. Nose at this age is full of molassas, sweet roast, lite soy (for 5 yrs old its not bad in the soy dept), still has very strong notes of char, roast and bitter chocolate. I would have expected the sweetness to die down just a tad, but its still there as if it were fresh. It needs more char to make it bold. Still, it has aged pretty nicely. It was borderline undrinkable fresh (which i never rated then) but did have a couple fresh bottles back then. glad tor have a rating for it though.
Thanks to Owen for sharing this rarity
Black pour with hints of ruby, light tan head that falls to a nice ringed collar.
Nose has notes of oxidation. Some wet cardboard, port, sherry, roasted malts, chocolate, licorice, caramel, vanilla, and dark fruits.
Taste up front was sherry and cardboard. Opened up OK and allowed for coffee, licorice, chocolate, roast, tar, dark fruits, caramel and vanilla. Thought more of a strong ale than a IS.
Slightly sweet, hides the ABV very well, undercurrents of fruit and roast forgive the box and sherry taste up front. Probably was wicked a year or two ago.
Deep dark brown with a light brown head. Aroma is liquorice, soy sauce, dates, raisins, soy sauce. Full bodied, slick mouthfeel, roasty on the palate with a slightly boozy finish. Taste is liquorice, molasses, raisin, dates, blackcurrant.
12oz bottle was bottled on January 27, 2010. I found this by accident in my basement tonight, and decided to see how it had aged. Pours a clear dark reddish cherry color nearing black as it filled the glass, and settled nearly headless with a sparse collection of beige bubbles working their way through the viscous liquid. Light passes as a brilliant blood orange red as the beer is backlit. I also noticed very fine particulates suspended throughout the body of the beer. Aroma is massive and complex - dark fruits, port, brandy, cacao and nut character. Flavor is tawny leather suggesting salted meats, oak and vanilla, rum and raisin, figs and tobacco, and a sweet complexity that tied it all together. What an outstanding work of art. This beer has truly aged with the best of them, and I regret not having shared it due to its limited availability at this point. It may have been an imperial stout at one time, but this is closer to a barleywine or strong ale at this point, near undefinable in style. Full bodied, muted carbonation, and sweet dark fruit finish. Delicious and an incredible experience.
Bottle shared at tasting. Pours dark brown with minimal head. Strong bourbon boozy aroma. Taste same but slight sweetness to balance out the alcohol. Smooth finish. Great stuff!
Bottle, thanks for sharing guys! Dirty black pour with no head whatsoever. Sticky sweet stuff, lots of dark dried fruits, brown sugar, some vanilla and light chocolate.
Bottle form a trade with preisMJ - thanks! Pours a very dark brown (almost black) with a tiny brown head. Aroma of dark sweet fruits like figs, prunes, dates and raisins. Also some roasted malts, molasses, caramel and sweet liquorice. Slightly oxidized notes as well. Taste has those sweet dark fruits as well along with some molasses, caramel, little heat and some chocolate. A nice little sipper indeed!
Bottle from trade with Matt. Pours almost black with a nice and smooth, yellow-brown, frothy head. Aroma has lots of dark, dried fruits like dates and figs and prunes. molasses, sweet caramel malts. A certain alcohol precense as well. Taste is very sweet up front, but gets more roasty, chocolaty and with some hints of coffee. Licorice, lots of caramel and a boozy finish. Greasy body with a low carbonation. Hard to place in style, but this is candy!
Bottle. Pours pitch black with a shortlasting light brown head. Aroma is raisins, dates, slight fruity coffee, caramel malts, molasses, some bitter chocolate. Taste is slight spices, caramel sweetness, molasses, some bitter coffee, slight chocolate.
Just opened in 2014. A fun little experiment...poured midnight black with no head. Oily, syrupy and sweet. Lots of deep brown sugar/molasses notes still present. Caramel is here too. Not as much fruit present but some raisin/fig does poke through. Great beer that held up well.
Bottle shared on the hotel patio in SD, 14/11/14, thanks to GT2 for hitting me up with this one in an IP.
Pitch black with a dirty tan covering.
Nose is earthy, dark fruits, bitter roast, dates, spice, leather, tar, burnt sugars, light charr.
Taste comprises bitter roast, toffee, spice, molasses, toasted brown sugar, figs.
Full bodied, fine carbonation, semi drying close full of roasted notes and dark fruits tempered with sweet licks.
Decent enough impy, still holding up pretty well if a little sweet in places.
12oz bottle -
I wasn’t sure exactly how to rate this beauty. According to BP, the style was an Imperial Stout???! Really? I really didn’t get any imperial stout characteristics, but did get a TON of barleywine-ish/dopplebock-like aromas/flavors. This beer was truly outstanding in nearly every phase that a beer can be outstanding.
Aroma brings waves and waves of leather, raisins, madeira/brandy, melted vanilla ice cream with some not so subtle chocolate. The flavor in this beer is so incredibly complex, it was very difficult for me at least to really nail down flavors because it kept changing through the 12oz. Some sips there were caramelized walnuts coated with semi-dark chocolate. Other flavors it was liquid leather and pipe tobacco. Other times it’d take on dark, overripe dried fruits like figs and raisins soaked in brandy or madeira....rich and deep. A sweet beer...one of the sweeter beers I’ve had in awhile. But the complexity...this will go down as one of the better beers I’ve ever had. Thank you to kinger for sending me this world class beer. If it’s not on your "must have" list...better put it on there!
Bottle. Poured almost black brown with ring of head. Aroma boozy licorice dark fruit. Light carb med bod. Tons o dark fruityness light bitterness.
"a little hot...definitely a sipper. kinda like a World Wide Jr. molasses, smoke, licorice, sweet malt, chocolate, alcohol, etc...in the aroma and flavor. a little much at the start, i really liked it by the end as it reached room temp. "
(old rating: 05/2012) Black beer, brown medium head. Heavy roasted aroma, molasses, chocolate/coffee, alcohol, wood. Same in the taste, with a little chicory sourness, and more red fruit (cherry, resins in alchohol). Silky mouthfeel. Nice.
Bottle:
Deep, dark brown with a small, dark tan head.
Aroma is smoky, chocolate and molasses.
Taste is incredibly rich...molasses, chocolate malt, smoke, licorice.
Substantial alcohol warmth and thick, dried, dark fruit tones....raisiny.....
Big and chewy..Excellent.
Bottle. Intense licorice, raisin, molasses, chocolate malt and herbal aroma. Dark black-brown with small head. Sweet raisin, molasses, chocolate malt, and moderately strong bitter herbal licorice flavor. Unique and enjoyable.
Draft at HopCat GR - pours a murky brownish color . Aromas of dark fruit and molasses . Taste has some black licorice and lots of sweet molasses . Surprisingly still pretty boozy . Tasty .
Bottle, thanks to Kevin L. Pours opaque dark brown with tan head. Aroma of chocolate, molasses, and whiskey-soaked raisins. Taste: sweet, but balanced by roasty bitterness. In addition to the flavors in the aroma, there’s also brown sugar, marshmallow, and soy. Palate: full body, slick, oily texture. Lasting sweet, roasty, almost smoky, warming alcohol finish. Overall: surprisingly lively and potent, not without it’s charm. A nice, slow sipping, sweet and rich imperial stout.
Bottle thanks to deyholla! Pours opaque black with a small brown head that fades fairly quickly leaving nice residual and lacing. Lots of molasses in the aroma, date, roasted malts, a bit of coffee, toffee. Flavor is medium sweet, lots and lots of molasses, and here is the black licorice as well, lots of dark dried fruits, chocolate, more licorice. You know, I don’t like licorice, but it actually works well here. Light bitterness lingering to the finish. Full rich creamy mouthfeel, almost tongue coating. Only a mild hint of the whopping huge ABV. This is a pretty nice offering.
Bottle thanks to beechner224. Pours a murky brown color. Huge boozy aroma, lots of toffee, dark fruits, caramel, spices. Big thick chewy mouthfeel. Lots of toffee, caramel, melanoidans, booze, fairly sweet dark fruity finish.
Black pour. Smell is oxidized chocolate and booze. Taste raisin chocolate, smooth oxidized. Decent but past is prime for me. Thanks Ken!
Bottle in trade. Pours a dark brown with really no head. Aroma of dark fruit and raisins. Lots of sweet malts. Taste is mellow compared to the aroma. Its sugary sweet, with no much roast. Imperial stout? I think not, more like a barley wine. Its really sweet, but no alcohol burning, so thats good. Interesting beer.