Bell's Sparkling Ale
Sparkling Ale is an American Triple, fermented with both Trappist and Belgian yeast. The result is a golden, malty ale, high in alcohol with a fruity nose, a rich ester profile and tart finish.
3.5
653 reviews
Comstock, United States
Community reviews
Clear golden with a thin white head. Aroma was really faint but I could get some pale grain maltiness and a slight peppery yeastiness. Flavor was as expected from the nose. Nice easy going pale grain maltiness, a little doughy yeast, peppery hops with a touch of biscuit and grassiness.
Golden and cloudy with a white head. Hoppy and citrusy aroma. Belgiany and fruity with a lot of carbonation. Nice.
On tap, pours cloudy golden with thin cream head. Bread, orange, cinnamon on the nose. Sweet orange and honey, light cloves, sour bread, strawberry, lemon as it develops, dries out with some hop sweetness, yeast lingers. Very good Belgian triple.
Bier Baron, DC tap ($5): Pours golden with white head. Aroma is american hops, yeast, coriander, and citrus. Taste is more bitter than a Belgian tripel. It is also more mellow and less sweet. Easy to sip. Nothing special, but kind of good anyways.
Thought this was only ok...golden, fruity, but a little too sweet and not dry enough to be a really strong trippel. Decent, but not one of Bells or the styles’ best.
On tap 2 oz. taste at Lost Dog Cafe in McLean, VA.
Clear, straw yellow with off-white head and fair lacing.
Aroma of banana, caramel, spice and yeast.
Taste of spice, caramel, yeast and banana.
Medium body and medium/low carbonation.
An OK beer that comes up short when compared to a Belgian tripel.
Great triple with perfect balanc. Sweet upfront with a subtle bitterness on the way down. Yum
Draft at the Bywater. Pours golden with a quarter inch of thin white foam that leaves very little lacing. Has a bit of champagne on the nose. Nice amounts of ester and yeast on the tongue. Clean finish. Solid overall but a bit flat for style.
On tap. Aroma has notes of Belgium yeast, toasted malts, cereal, bread, citrus fruits and spice. Pale yellow straw color with a small white head. Very sweet and medium to light bitterness. Palate is full bodied and oily soft. Overall a pleasant representation of the style. Not bad.
Pours a slightly hazy golden yellow on tap with frothy white head that dissipates to leave light lacing. Aroma of belgian yeast, wheat, banana, and sweet malts. Taste is typical american version of a belgian tripel. Decent, booze well hidden, nothing too crazy.
On tap at New Bohemia tap takeover. Smells of Belgian yeast quite heavily tagged in with a little bit of banana and malt. Poured with a slight head and a light gold hazy color. Tasted great had a solid flavor profile of a Belgian added with fruity undertones that with the heavy carbonation made a very sweet & tart quick finish. Overall, truly enjoyed this!
Location: Draft @ Growlers Pour House, 12/9/12
Aroma: It has a nose of Belgian yeast, spice, some banana, apricot, and other fruits
Appearance: This one pours a clear golden color with a white head and some light lace
Flavor: Tastes a little sweet, fairly fruity, a hint tart, fairly yeasty, and has a good amount of spice
Palate: The body is medium, it has a fairly fizzy carbonation, and a lightly dry finish
Overall Impression:
I thought this was some solid stuff overall, but it didn’t feel special or anything. It did hide the alcohol pretty well.
32 oz. swing top growler.
The beer is mostly transparent, just slightly hazy. Orange hued with nearly an inch of white head that recedes to a thin layer after a few moments, leaving some decent lacing on the glass. The aroma offers malt, yeast, spice, ripe oranges, hops. The flavor is not up to par with the authentic Belgian tripels. I appreciate that it has a different hop character and is not necessarily trying to replicate something Belgian, however, Bell’s Sparkling Ale lacks the delectable quality found in the upper tier examples of the style. Yeast character is lacking. Malt presence is there, but could certainly be more robust and present. Middle class in the style, yet solid and worth a try.
Serving type: growler
Reviewed on: 12-04-2011
On draft at whole food. Pours a hazy yellow with a white head. Citrus and spice aroma. Soft finish.
Hazy pale white head. Fruity yeast atoms. Pineapple? Taste sweet grainy texture. Not my favorite style.
Draft at Proof. Clear golden pour with a rocky white head that laces. Aroma is Belgian yeasts, esters, sweet bready malts. Creamy textured body with notes of yeast esters, banana bread, light tropical fruitiness with some spiciness on the end. Pretty tasty.
From the bottle, golden pour, small white head. Yeasty and some bread with a nice sweet tone. Taste has some nice Belgian sweetness and pretty good stuff.
On tap at Timberwood Grill, light honey and floral aroma, lovely reddish golden color with light bubbles, delicious flavor of stone fruit, a hint of funk and gently sweet, very nice mouthfeel. Refreshing and tasty.
gold/amber color, aroma of yeast, clove, coriander and spices, candy sugar, tropical fruits, sweet malt, flavors are the same, tropical fruits, booze, spice lingers on the palate, very easy to drink at 9%
Poured from bottle: clear, amber color, sparkling. Aroma of fruit, tropical, floral. Taste was a medium sweetness, smooth, with a good fizzy carbonation. Good beer.
On draft. Pours a clear gold with a thin white small bead head that stays. Aroma is malt, orange rind and persimmon. Taste is tart, sweet and malty. Very interesting sour beer.
Draft into a 4oz sample glass. Pours a clear gold with about a finger of white head. Aroma of spices, citrus fruit and white bread. Taste is about the same but more spices. Medium bodied with a somewhat sticky texture. Lively carbonation and a long finish. Overall, very good. I would gladly drink this again.
12oz bottle. pours out a hazy bronze in color. nice head from the pour. cool carbonation. aroma of spice, Belgian yeast and pale malt. flavor is sweet and malt forward with a nice spice + hop characteristic. not overboard on that "Belgian yeast" flavor which i feel is a good thing!
12 ounce bottle. Pours a clear gold with orange tint. Small white head. Mild aroma of yeast and citrus. Taste is yeast, citrus, malt, and cloves.
A bit too spicy for me. Decent.
Bottle # 707 of 857 (Batch 10689) - Pour is fairly clear gold with a fine bubbled white head that retains on the average side in this tulip; eventually ringing the glass, with some light spotty lacing. I was impressed by the nose of this one ; it actually has a fairly proper belgian aroma. Breads, mild funk, honey and grains ; It starts on the sweet and mildly funky side, with more sweetbreads and caramel sweetness, fruit esters, and some light spicing, I suppose. It seems to be missing something.. .but a nice attempt.
A good brew with nice belgian yeast, bread and spice flavors. A bit of a fruit / sharp tart finish with notes of toffee. Goood.
Bottle. A strange brew. Pours hazy gold with a medium white head. Finely carbonated with a strange aroma and flavor of spices, fruit and wheat or pale malt. Some floral/citrusy hops in the finish. Very drinkable but not much like a tripel.
12oz bottle...This Tripel really does sparkle. Not quite as yeasty as it’s Belgian namesake, it none-the-less has the a lot of the complex high notes of the same. A well done American (Michigan) interpetation of this style.
Bottle shared at a recent BA/RB tasting... A golden/orange pour with a thick forming white head. Huge yeast esters and spices on this one. Nice hop character, citrus, spruce, cloves, and a hint of alcohol while the yeast dried out the finish allowing it to go down quite east. A solid American made Belgian Ale.
On tap at a sports bar in Macomb, IL (really wish I’d paid attention to the name). Pours a clear, slightly dark gold with standard white head. Some fruitiness with more floral hops in the finish. Some nice fruit notes, but this is missing the spice you’d expect and want in a triple. Minimal yeast too.