Bell's Planet Series: Venus - The Bringer Of Peace
Each offering is a different interpretation of the composer’s movements, like the above Venus, The Bringer of Peace. This edition is first and foremost a blonde ale, brewed with apricot juice, honey, cardamom, and vanilla beans.
3.1
224 reviews
Comstock, United States
Community reviews
This one is a little bit of a mess. It’s not bad, it just doesn’t taste like one beer. It’s more like drinking several beers at once.
4/24/15. 12oz bottle, beer tasting at Stogie’s downtown. Golden pour with a small off-white head. Weird aroma, herbal, reminds me of basil, some fruitiness, lots of sweetness, maybe powdered sugar? Herbal flavor, feels oily in my mouth, that basil aspect again, fruity, sweet. No thanks.
Look - BRIGHT orange. Medium white head. Decent lacing. Cloudy.
Smell - Fruit apricot and vanilla.Very sweet.
Taste - Closer to a cider than a beer. Very sweet. Tangy apricot up front fades to the feel on your tongue after eating sweet tarts. Alcohol not really there until the end.
Feel - Medium bodied. Nice that it isn’t overly carbonated.
Overall - Like a Frootie. Glad I got yo try it before it is gone, but not that great.
12 oz. bottle from Jeff’s Marathon. Pours a clear gold with a small white head that settles into a ring and leaves a single streak of wispy film. Notes of white wine grapes, juniper, cardamom, pale and sweet malts, straw, vanilla, rosemary, lemon and lime zest, and apricot. Not much sign of honey. Light-bodied, with moderate carbonation and a fruity, tannic mouthfeel. Very odd.
Bell’s Venus has a thin, quickly-dissipating, off-white head, a hazy, orange appearance, with lots of tan sediment and bubbles galore. No lacing. Aroma is of an odd, spiced ale, and the flavor is of the same thing- blonde ale, honey, spices, white pepper, strong orange peel, and candle wax. Bitterness is low, but tartness is high. Mouthfeel is medium-to-heavy and a bit chewy. Bell’s Venus finishes semi dry and somewhat drinkable. This is reminiscent of Shipyard Pumpkinhead, but inferior to it, I find. RJT
Sampled from a 12 oz brown bottle this beer poured a hazy golden color with a large fluffy orange-white head that lingered and left a bit of lacing. The aroma was sweet bread, orange and coriander. The flavor was bitter, tart and tangy with vanilla, tart orange and coriander. Very long tart and tangy orange finish. Medium body. Interesting.
12 ounce bottle. Pours a clear yellow color with a small white head. A big sweet vanilla, spices. Citrus, vanilla, spices. Very sweet and nice. Complex and super smooth. Great beer.
12oz bottle. Poured an amber color with an off white head. Apricots, fruity, honey, spices, and maybe a trace of vanilla.
[ bottle ][ 1oz ][ @DC tasting ][ ? ][ mini tumbler ][ 02.15.15 ]
transparent gold, fizzy large bubbled white head dies quick, collar. Cardamom and vanilla dominate nose. Lightly green and sour front palate, heavy vanilla alongside lemon cream, sugary dessert finish. Sticky finish, thin and sweet.
12 oz. bottle shared by Eric S. Bottled in October of 2014, oh boy... Hazy bright or age color with thin head retention. Aroma starts promising, vanilla, spice ant apricot. Awwww the the apricot has turn sour fermented juice. It tastes like a very old sour juice that was sitting in the back of the refrigerator for 4 months.... The drain drinks this one.
Carefully poured to prevent floaties, despite prickly carbonation the head is quite minimal. Lots of cardamon and good amount of apricot twang. Not much malt nor vanilla tones. I actually liked this more (once I got past the initial shock) than expected.
An interesting beer. Aroma is apricot/peach notes with some cardamom spice and a ton of vanilla. The flavor was more apricot heavy. It tasted like straight apricot juice with a hint of vanilla and grass. It’s not horrible at all just quite a mishmash of flavors.
Bottled October 2014, drunk 3/22/15
Looks good in the glass: tons of tiny bubbles coursing upwards through a bright copper-amber liquid creating a small, white head that shows moderate to poor retention (honey and spice no doubt detracting from it). Clarity is high.
Initially the apricot juice provides a tart and fruity note, but is quickly overtaken by the cardamon, which seems like it is the most dominant aroma here by a longshot. Maybe some softer vanilla notes on the finish, though maybe I’m just imagining that. Pretty sparse in the malt department. Some honey dough and light crackers. No flaws though (thought I smelled a touch of metal, but it’s mostly passing). Enticing enough, though this much cardamon on the nose certainly does not make me encouraged for the flavor balance.
Yikes. What in the hell did I just drink?? It’s like a honey-vanilla-cardamon muffin. Sweet, doughy malts and not fully attenuated honey up front are checked by bitter cardamon notes that eventually over-dry the beer. Apricot juice tartness clashes with the sweet, doughy maltiness and overly sweet honey notes. Peppery carbonation is interesting and helps, at least, spread the flavors about and add to the drinkability. At 5 months old, you can’t exactly pass it off to being too young. Certainly an interesting beer and I hate to give it low marks just because it’s strange. In the end though, I don’t see myself ever wanting to drink this again (though it may be interesting to try in 2-3 years just to see the evolution) and that’s somewhat telling.
Bottle. Clear dark yellow. Honey, cardamom, light vanilla finish. Pretty bad, not the worst though.
Bottle. Hazy gold with little head. Aroma is cardamom and toast. Taste is surprisingly tart with a vanilla finish. Medium mouthfeel. Kinda gross.
Foamy white head, 1 finger in depth that dissapates quickly. Dark golden color with a hazy appearance. The aroma is very forward on the cardamom and the honey with slight apricot hints coming through. The cardamom has a much stronger presence in the taste then suggested by the aroma, overpowering actually. Get a honey sweetness midway through but not much else. Maybe some apricot juice in the tail end if you really search for it. No vanilla as the bottle suggested. The cardamom really dominates this beer; not in a good way.
The beer pours a slightly hazy Amber color due to the loads of dark sediment floating throughout, and the medium white head fades rapidly. The aroma blends wheat, clove, nutmeg, cardamom, and apricot for a strong smell that overwhelms the nose too much with spices. The taste is quite sour and a touch sweet (which is too much for the mouth to handle so suddenly), and the aftertaste is astringent due to the high level of spice that lingers. The palate fuses a slick texture, medium-light body, and a soft carbonation. Overall, this beer is a bit hard to drink.
12 oz. bottle, pours a hazy pale golden with a small white head. Aroma is huge on the cardamom upfront, with not much of the other adjuncts. Flavour brings out a better mix of the additives, including honey and cardamom upfront, followed by vanilla beans and a jammy quality. What a strange beer. Weird ingredients makes for a strange palate that is rather viscous due to the honey. Not overly enjoyable, but not disastrous. Okay.
This is a beer you need a full glass of to truly understand the complexities of. Bottle to small glass. Clear golden orange pour with small white head. Fruity herbal aroma: basil, honey, candied stone fruit. This beer tastes hot and fiery. The vanilla and cardamon adds a bit of smoothing peace while the apricot sweetens this beer. The finish of this cools all of the hot fiery notes that are present in the aroma and taste. Initially I thought this beer was all over this place but it really has a nice parabolic shape to it.
Clear orange pour with thin white head. Aroma is musty sweet fruit. Taste is sweet and fruity. Apricot and apple. Taste is not offensive. It seems well made. Just not something I would look for.
Bottle @ home, thanks to markwise for sending. Glowing yellow orange appearance with a tiny tan head. The aroma is heavy spices, orange juice, vanilla, and cinnamon. Mouth feel is a little sticky. Pretty juicy and sweet. Low bitterness. Peaches, oranges, vanilla in the mouth. Kind of goopy. Pass.
Poured from a 12 OZ bottle into a pint glass.
Aroma- fruit and grain, stragely not appealing.
Appearance- A gold colored beer with no head, I thought the beer may have been flat.
Taste- I didn’t care for it, I usually love all things "Bell’s". but no this.
Palate-This is a medium bodied, nominally carbonated beer.
Overall- I didn’t care for it, can’t quite say I hate it but I will not drink it again.
Bottle sampled at Olympic. From notes. Loads of vanilla and apricot. Really diggin this beer.
Bottle at Brony Tasting, DC. Rich light gold. Sweet cherry fruity aroma. Cherry medicinal, tart chalky body. So strange. What the hell were they trying for? Odd apricot, alc bite. Weird (yes, later I read the description. I guess this is what a beer with that list of ingredients should taste like, I didn’t like it so much)
Bottle courtesy of solidfunk, thanks! Clear golden color. Aroma of straw. Taste is sweet and syrupy apricot. Hmmmm.
A little strange. Some apricot with a little tang. Pours amber. Lightly sour finish. Average carbonation. Bottle.
Pours rather clear golden . Small to no white head . Smell is herbal sweet , even a bit of honey ... Taste is sharp bitter , sweet herbal essence . Bittersweet herbal finish .
Apricot aroma and spice. Taste is apricot, lemon and honey, cardamom on back end. Very spicey and dry. Different.
Golden beer with a bit of a haze to it. I couldn’t coax a head out of the pour. Very jammy nose with some spice and vanilla notes. Honey sweet beer with lots of apricot, peach, and vanilla in the finish. Pretty cloying. Not my favorite...
Bottle. Pour honey color. No head. Strong aroma of vanilla. Flavor of apricot and vanilla. Interesting sweet/bitter finish. Didn’t love it, but it was very interesting. Rated a little higher because of the uniqueness.