Bell's Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Ale

Bell's Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Ale

We started in 1985 with a soup pot, a dream, and quite honestly a prayer. Thank God we made it! Please enjoy this special ale made with Michigan-grown barley malt and celebrate with us.
3.5
408 reviews
Comstock, United States

Community reviews

3.6 Batch 9871 9/27/2010: Bell’s 25th Anniversary Ale... Aroma: Toasty malts; leafy, herbal malts; dry leaves. Appearance: Hazy, honey-colored; small beige head that fades away rapidly; mild carbonation. Flavor: Malty; sweet syrupy honey-toffee maltiness at first followed by brandy-like alcohol (with a bit of burn) and a clean, herbal and floral hoppiness; some pine in the finish that drys out over time; moderate bitterness that lingers along with dried apricot and fig. Palate: Medium-full body; smooth and slightly viscous. Overall: Kind of like a Jr. American-Style Barleywine; good and quite drinkable; way over-priced at $16.99/6-pack, but I guess that’s the trenad these days; this beer is conflicted and HonusWagner puts it best: "This beer has no idea what it wants to be. Is it a scotch ale, like the abv and caramel notes in the nose indicate? Is it a barley wine like the alcohol heat and sweet rich fruit notes imply? Or the IIPA that is overly resinous and citrusy while having a treacle sweetness? Too many things going on for this to be a truly great or even very good beer," but it does seem to be growing on me... 12 fl. oz. bottle (Alc. 8.5% by Vol.). Rating #391 for this beer.
3.7 Bottle. Pours reddish brown with billowing head. Aroma is excellent malts, flavor is less excellent. I wish it tasted like it smelled
3.5 Bottle. Hazy amber beer with a small offwhite head. Vanilla, caramell, citrus and spicy aroma. Berries (red), fruity, spicy and ginger flavour.
3.9 Light copper pour with a white head. Aromas of malt and touch of dried fruit I particularly get some raisin notes. Big malt flavot with the dried fruit character coming through nicely. A respectable offering, glad I got to taste it aged, thanks Sergio.
3.8 Pours a light brown-copper color with a very low, off-white, creamy head. Aroma has a very strong malt nose, light raisin, mild toasted and finishes with a strong caramel sweetness. Flavor has a very strong toasted sweetness, mild molasses sweet middle and finishes with a light grassy hops kick. Body is hefty, low/average carbonation present and a very sticky feeling. Overall a pretty good brew. A beer that can be enjoyed in moderation as the flavor is a bit sweet in my opinion.
3.6 Bottle tasted at Oxford Tasting Nov 2012. Pours copper with a puffy white head. Brown sugar and nutty aroma, with significantly more alcohol on the nose than was actually there. Liquid caramel, with honey and more alcohol. Light carbonation, interesting enough that I wish I had some of my own to see if time could tame this a bit.
3.8 Bottle at The Oak Cafe. Pours a cloudy orange-amber color with a small head that lingers a bit. Very nice dried fruit aroma mixed with caramel, sweet bread, spices, fresh citrus, and toffee. Taste is bit sweet but packed with flavor. Dried fruit, pine, bread, lemon citrus, cake, cherries, toffee, and caramel. Finish is slightly boozy, very spicy, and a little tart. Has a bit of cherry cough syrup flavor going on but no too bad. Mouthfeel is fairly thick, syrupy, and fizzy. Overall, this beer has improved greatly in two year. I hated it when I first had it but it has really mellowed out and become complex. Seems like the hops have hung around too. Very enjoyable American Strong.
3.7 12oz bottle, purchased from Jackie-Os’ cellar. Bottle says "9871" on the back. Hazy dark red color, little murky brown to it. Good thin khaki head. Nice rows of lace. Bigger body. Impressively, still some light, crisp carbonation to it. More dry texture, overall. Big, fruity caramel malt. Toast, cereal, bread. Hint of vanilla in there. More bitter taste, less sweet. Alcohol not noticeable. A little bit of musty old hop and metallic flavors, but the barley is the main event here, and it’s still drinking pretty respectably, overall. Decent hop profile, still. Spicy, hop, kind of citrusy, light pine, resin. Interesting, well balanced brew, impressive how well it’s still drinking, I was not expecting that. Kind of like an imperial amber / barleywine hybrid. Unique, interesting stuff.
3.5 [4729-20120818] Bottle. Mildly toasted hoppy malt aroma. Slightly hazy, orange brown body with a quick foamy off-white head. Sweet roasted malt flavour has quite a bold bitter aftertaste. Medium-full body. Wow, bold. (7/3/7/4/14) 3.5 (@ Campground Brewdown 2012, Millmont, PA)
3.7 25th February 2011 Hazy amber beer, tidy off white head. Fresh malt base with a little dried fruit. Somewhat German like! Fresh and fairly neutral palate. A little generic fruit with some aniseed. The fruit tastes a little crystallised. Not bad at all. Really reminds me of a fresh German Beer but turned up to 11.
3.7 This aged nicely in my fridge and left me with a well rounded strong ale. Notes of vanilla and wood in the aroma, with a flavor balancing some maltiness (bread, caramel) with a big dose of east-of-the-Mississippi hopping: grapefruit, lemon citrus, spice. Big but still smooth, hopped but balanced. The alcohol was very tame and a complement to the whole. Bottle.
3.4 12 ounce bottle pours an amber orange color, aromas of light grassy hops, some caramel, light toffee, and a touch of fruit. Flavors are the same, light spiciness in the aftertaste, decent beer overall.
3.3 Bottle at home, from my Minneapolis Town Hall glass. Pours hazy deep red/gold, thin off-white head, decent lacing. Nose is lemony hops, caramel, toffee, red fruit, pretty and cakey. Flavours of big red fruit, lemongrass, spice, ginger, berries, cream soda. Dryish finish...
3.7 Color is a nice orange and murky, white head. Aroma is a sweet thick alcohol. Taste is thick and sweet, with a sweet thick finish. Doesn't feel like a high abv. Finish is smoky.
3.7 The beer is copper hued, with a decent sized head and random traces of lacing on the pint glass. The aroma offers a heavy malt bill, with some hops and alcohol. This definitely smells like an American strong ale. Similar to Bigfoot in some regards. The flavor is nice, and feels more potent than 8.5%. I would say the beer is hop forward, though there is a formidable malt showing. Mouthfeel is medium to thick, with a pronounced hop presence throughout. This beer almost drinks like an imperial IPA with a strong malt bill. Tasty stuff. A good beer to split with a friend. Cheers! Serving type: bottle Reviewed on: 08-11-2011
3.3 bottle. amber with small head. caramel malts and some fruitiness. a bit sweet with a hint of spice.
3.0 355 ml bottle courtesy of larsniclas. Pours hazy reddish brown with a small offwhite head that doesn’t leave much trace on the glass. Smell is sweet and slightly malty with cereal, plums, peaches, slightly dry grass, lemon zest and moist wood. Taste is sweet and bitter with cereal, grapefruit rinds, white sugar, oatmeal, orange zest, grapes, plums, moist wood and white bread. Mouthfeel is round, tiny tart, slightly astringent and medium bodied. Finish is sweet, tiny tart and salty with cereal, grapefruit rinds, plums, oatmeal, lemon zest and grape skins.
3.1 (Bottle) Pours hazy dark orange amber with a small head. The aroma holds oranges, peach, cookies, honey and light caramel. Maybe some bread spices. The flavor is light to medium sweet, light to medium bitter and tiny acidic with notes of orange, flowers, some fruits, resin, bread, caramel, honey and light cookie dough. The mouthfeel is soft with a light to medium carbonation. Spicy hop finish. Medium bodied.
3.4 Sampled at UCTS testing. Pours cloudy amber with a small pink head. Smells caramel malty. Tastes caramel, abit bitter and stale.
3.1 Bottle at USA comes to Skövde. Hazy copper/amber beer, small offwhite head. Cork aroma, malty, roasted, bready, hay, rubber notes. Malty, bready flavor, hay, spices, some cork. A bit strange.
3.7 Bottle @ rlgk’s tasting. Pours clear deep amber with a great beigish had leaving lace. Aroma is sweet malty fruity apricotes candy peaches slightly citric and piny. Flavor is malty sweet bitter fruity astringent grainy a bit pungent. Finishes bitter oeppery and a bit sweet.
3.5 Sampled at USSkovde Hazy golden. Soapy aroma. Some nuts. Caramel and notes of menthe. Some grassy hops. Pretty light body. Orange and peaches.
3.7 Super big beer nice dark color clear, thin head. This was a super beer with a good stong ale nice malts and will age well.
3.5 A surprisingly lackluster beer for their anniversary. Not much flavor, and whats there doesn’t mingle particularly well together
3.0 12 oz. bottle, pours a hazy dark orangey with a small beige head. Aroma smells off, very oxidized, with hints of light fruits, some caramel and candied sugar. Flavour has lots of oxidation, caramel, some light fruitiness and stale hops. This one shouldn’t have been aged as it’s past its prime. I can tell this would have been quite stellar when fresh.
3.4 2012-08-18. Golden amber body, headless. Aroma is mild, muted hops and caramel malt, lightly floral, light notes of oxidation. 7+ Similar flavour, modest hops and caramel malt, light bitterness. Past its prime I think but not bad considering. Bottle, Campground Brewdown 2012 shared by yobdoog
3.2 Had this at the Campground Brewdown courtesy of Trevor. Pours amber with a touch of haze under a thin white head. Sweet plums and oxidization, caramel. Very sweet, candy and malt. Toast and toffee. Caramel, toffee, too sweet.
3.7 Deep amber pour with creamy white head and lace. Aroma of dark brown sugar. Brown sugar, a resiny bitter, and sweet rock candy flavor. Medium/full bodied but a tad fizzy.
3.0 Bells says this was a dipa and as one it wasn’t great. Thick and sweet and not nearly as hoppy as I would have liked.
2.9 Bottle: Poured a dark golden veering on copper color ale with a medium size foamy head with OK retention and some lacing. Aroma of weird cereal notes with a big rush of sugar and some off balanced hops. Taste is a weird mix of everything that was left to brew around the brew house that day including half caramelized malt with weird unrefined cereal notes with a dry hoppy finish. Body is quite full with medium carbonation and no apparent alcohol. This one is a bit messy in a similar fashion that batch 10,000 was messy.