Bell's Wheat Eight Ale
Basic Content List for the Wheat Series
Wheat Two
Wheats: White, Dark
Yeast: Bell’s house ale strain, WLP410 Belgian Wit II
Wheat Four
Wheats: White, Victory, Toasted sprouts, Torrefied
Yeast: WLP550 Belgian, WLP570 Golden, Wheat Two blend
Wheat Six
Wheats: White, Dark, Toasted sprouts, Torrefied, Red, Caramel
Yeast: WLP500 Trappist, WLP530 Abbey, Wheat Four blend
Bell’s Wheat Project (2005) is an experimental foray into the development of complex flavors in beer.
The Project comprises five new ales, four in series and one specialty strong product.
The first four, Wheat 2, Wheat 4, Wheat 6 and Wheat eight are all made using 55% Wheat (either wholly or mostly malted) and 45% Barley malt.
The barley malt makeup is exactly the same in each of the four and consists of three different malts.
The total amount of grain in each of the four is also exactly the same, so each of them should have a virtually identical original gravity. The type and amount of hops in each of the four is exactly the same. And the processing through the brewhouse and fermentation is also exactly the same. The changing factors between the ales are the composition of the 55% of wheat used and the type and number of yeast strains used. In Wheat 8 the 55% of wheat is made up of eight different kinds of wheat malt, and this ale is made with eight different yeasts.
Wheat Eight
Wheats: White, Dark, Victory, Toasted sprouts, Torrefied, Red, Caramel, Chocolate
Yeast: WLP4000 Belgian Wit I, WLP565 Saison, Wheat Six blend
Wheat Two
Wheats: White, Dark
Yeast: Bell’s house ale strain, WLP410 Belgian Wit II
Wheat Four
Wheats: White, Victory, Toasted sprouts, Torrefied
Yeast: WLP550 Belgian, WLP570 Golden, Wheat Two blend
Wheat Six
Wheats: White, Dark, Toasted sprouts, Torrefied, Red, Caramel
Yeast: WLP500 Trappist, WLP530 Abbey, Wheat Four blend
Bell’s Wheat Project (2005) is an experimental foray into the development of complex flavors in beer.
The Project comprises five new ales, four in series and one specialty strong product.
The first four, Wheat 2, Wheat 4, Wheat 6 and Wheat eight are all made using 55% Wheat (either wholly or mostly malted) and 45% Barley malt.
The barley malt makeup is exactly the same in each of the four and consists of three different malts.
The total amount of grain in each of the four is also exactly the same, so each of them should have a virtually identical original gravity. The type and amount of hops in each of the four is exactly the same. And the processing through the brewhouse and fermentation is also exactly the same. The changing factors between the ales are the composition of the 55% of wheat used and the type and number of yeast strains used. In Wheat 8 the 55% of wheat is made up of eight different kinds of wheat malt, and this ale is made with eight different yeasts.
Wheat Eight
Wheats: White, Dark, Victory, Toasted sprouts, Torrefied, Red, Caramel, Chocolate
Yeast: WLP4000 Belgian Wit I, WLP565 Saison, Wheat Six blend
3.4
197 reviews
Comstock, United States
Community reviews
wow the last two ratings have been bad for this but it was a good bew. you illini dont know what youre talking about
a really weird dunkel, ORa really bad bottle... that is the question... had a weird acidic feel to it and not as much wheat in it as most dunkels. more like chocolate lactic acid and lots of carbonation with a touch of spice. kinda weird. rye bread as well.
#988. Bottle. Thanks to whoever brought this to the White Elephant exchange at the Chicago Area gathering at Flossmoor station. Man Im glad bells is gone from Ilinois. It wont tempt me to buy stuff that for the most part I dont enjoy.
Pours a muddy dark brown, topped by an inch of soft and creamy tan foam. Decent head retention, good lacing. Aroma of darkened (but not burnt) toast, tons of roasted grain, and a hint of unsweetened chocolate.
Delicious flavor - dry chocolate malt, lots more toasted malt, and roasted malt, bready, and even a little strong campfire coffee - a bit smoky around the edges. Medium body, very soft carbonation, but plenty of it.
Bells wheat 8 pours hazy copper. Head is thick and foamy, leaving minute lacing. Strong yeast essence, with cloves, tropical fruit, bananna, some nutty, sugary notes. Tastes fruit forward, with banana and mangoes, yeasty phenoles, candy and cloves. Spritzy at first and creamy on the end. Nice. Thanks C-izzle!
Bottle: Dark reddish brown pour with an off white head. Aroma, burnt wheat, yeast, some coffee/chocolate notes. Flavor, burnt wheat, some sweetness, a bit nutty. This was one of my favorites in the series. I thought it may have declined a bit, but it’s doing alright.
12 oz bottle. Clear reddish brown color with lasting light brown head that laced the glass. The aroma is a show stopper. Like the best breakfast you’ve ever had...unless you don’t like coffee and french toast (imagine the toast a bit burned) with maple syrup and a touch of melted butter. That is what it smells like. There was also a whiff of roasted chestnuts. The flavor isn’t quite as complex. It’s roasty and dry throughout without any roasty bitterness. The mouth feel is on the thin side unfortunately. An imperial version of this would be a knock out I bet.
12 oz bottle: Rather cloudy deep ruby red color with smallish light tan head. Aroma is roasty, notes of carmelized raisens, faint vanilla. Flavor has lots of toasted malts, roasted/burnt coffee notes, with a mildly sweet finish.
(07.22.06) 12 oz brown bottle from Archer Liquors, Chicago, IL. Lot 7133. Faint malty aroma. Poured clear dark brown with small off-white head. No discernable carbonation. Medium bodied ale that starts dry with roasted malt flavor. Finished dry and clean. Very mild flavored. A very good drinkable ale but Wheat two and Wheat Love are more flavorful relatively.
Bottle. A dark brown color. Pleasant chocolate, roasted malt aroma. A citrus and malty flavor with biscuits and chocolate in the aftertaste. Rating from notes.
Bottle from Jay (springslicker) Thanks. Probably my least favorite of the four. Dark colored pour without much of a head. Smell is similar to four and six, smokey malty presence, but this one is different. Taste is rich and smooth but it has an odd taste to it. This odd taste was present in all 3 beers (possibly the yeast?) but its most prominant in this one. Not bad but not the best. The darkest one of the bunch too..
I’ve had 8, 4, 2, and Love. This one is excellent...they all are. And they each have a somewhat distinctly different flavor. This one was VERY wheaty, yeasty, smooth....
bottle. Aroma: Dark roasted malt, toasted rye bread, belgian yeast, slight metallic twang, coffee. Appearance: Very dark brown and hazy. Noticeable clumps from a unsteady pour. Head was medium beige and slightly creamy and soon dissipated into a small cap. Flavor: Sweet malt, toasted wheat, and a light tartness. Slight coffee, as well. Light bitterness. Palate: Medium bodied. Medium-high carbonation. Finish was fairly clean. Overall: Easy to drink dark wheat beer. Flavor is a little muddled. Was hoping for more esthers/phenols or belgian character.
Bottle... Murky, near black ale with a mid-sized, frothy, khaki-colored head. Good retention. Chocolate, wheat and coffee aroma. Moderately sweet flavor with notes of caramel and chocolate. Medium-bodied with a milky mouthfeel and average carbonation. Chocolatey finish. Headbanger provided the bottle!
Rich malt nose, caramel also, deep brown, tiniest of tan heads. Flavour has bitter almonds, dark roasted malts, some pit fruit. Full bodied, bitter as can be! Terrific! Thank You mds.
Bottle. Pours a dark chestnut-brown body with a small white ring of head. The aroma is nutty and toasty along with creamy roast - not entirely pungent but it’s nice and delicate. Chocolate nuttiness and creamy almond flavour but kind of thins out towards the end.
12oz-A nice dark brown with a small head. An aroma of chocolate and coffee. A taste of wheat dark malt and coffee. A medium body and very tasty.
Dark brown/black opaque pour with a tan foamy head that lasts for quite a while. Wheaty aroma, lights notes of hops. some malt textures too. Taste consists of a definate hefewiezen taste, the wheat and orange notes, a very light caramel note, with some backing of the malts and the hops. Palate is tingley, oh so lgihtly bitter, carbonated, and some what thin. It’s a decent dunkelweizen, but it’s nothing special on that part.
Deep brown. Light texture; moderate carbonation. Mild flavors and aromas. Hint of bitterness in the finish. Faint estery yeast in the background. Not a lot of depth, in general, really. And sure, you don’t expect massive depth from a dunkelweizen, but still. I suppose I kind of expected a little more from such a stellar brewery.
Bottle. Very dark brown, almost black body, fingers worth of tan head. Toasty malt and mocha aroma, burnt wheat. Hint of coffee bean but not roast, something else. Tart wheaty bite, nutty dark malt. Bit grainy at times, lightest hint of mocha, some charred malt notes. Average, not quite medium palate. Interesting but a bit tough to drink at the same time.
12 oz bottle
I found this while poking around Riley’s. Given that supplies are starting
to trickle, it was worth trying now. It turned out to be pretty decent even
though I’m not that big a fan of dunkels. In the end it was worth the $2 I
paid.
Aroma / Appearance - The nose consisted of a combination of roasted
malts, bittersweet chocolate and rye. It was not very deep or complex but
it was still pretty inviting. The body was a dark brown (almost black) with
sticky dirty lacing and an off-white head.
Flavor / Palate - The three most prominent tastes were (in order) rye,
bitterness and then sticky brown rice. I could not pick up much else from
it despite several efforts. It was well-balanced and enjoyable with a full
mouthfeel. The finish is dry and clean, leaving almost no trace behind. I
could easily drink two or three of these on a cool summer evening.
Bottle, Batch 7133. Dark cola-brown, with a bit of light making its way through; pours a sizable large-bubbled head that fades over the length of a few minutes; good show of lacing. Aroma shows wheat, lemon, and soy sauce. Light-to-medium bodied, tastes like a beer that lets light through; slightly smoky, tangy citrus character, maple syrup, wheaty goodness. Slightest tart edge on a medium finish. Very drinkable.
Head is initially small, frothy, light brown, mostly diminishing.
Body is hazy dark brown, bottle conditioned.
Aroma is moderately malty (toasted grain, caramel, nuts), lightly yeasty (cobwebs).
Flavor is moderately sweet, lightly acidic, lightly bitter.
Finish is lightly sweet, lightly acidic, lightly to moderately bitter.
Medium body, watery texture, lively carbonation.
Pleasant but unassuming.
355ml bottle obtained in a trade with OhioDad, thanks Scott. Batch 7133. Deep brown, near black in colour, rich tan coloured head, slowly dissipating, great lacing. The aroma has lots of bready and earthy malts, some chocolate, light sweetness, small roast. The flavour was of dark fruits, chalky, some chocolate powder, bready malts. Juicy mouthfeel, medium body, medium/high carbonation. Finishes lingering and sweet. A much better offering then the 4 and 6.
An unclear brown beer with a thin brown head. The aroma is wheaty with a slight burnt note, and so is the flavor too.
Thanks to Walt for this beer. Poured an effervescent hazy dark brown with a fizzy tan head that dissipated quickly. Coca-cola clone. Smells of rich whole wheat, honey, cinnamon, biscuit dough. Flavor is quite unique and unequivocally wheaty... toasty shredded wheat flavor, some dark chocolate, some vinous acidity, with a bit of a bitter sour finish. Body is more moderately carbonated than the six. I found the toasty flavor of this to be a refreshing change of pace, making it an enjoyable dark wheat beer.
Very good hard to describe. The malts is quite strong in this rather complex, very tasty beer. The hops are back in there somewhere, but it is the complexity in the toasted grains that is the focus here. I was glad that it wasn’t too sweet.
Very nice. Good balance. Could drink these all night. Quite wheaty with some yeast and hops in the background.
Dark multi brown with a small off white head. Toasty caramel, wheat, clove, banana, earth, other subtle fruits, grains. Balanced medium palate. Solid dark wheat.
Very dark red ruby colour. Nice retention on a tan head. Nose is mostly coffee/roast with a strong cereal bone. Mouth is fairly watery, with a good healthy foaming ability. Flavour is fiarly sweet, with a wheaty roasted character. There isnt a ton to say about this beer. Its a wheat beer, it has some roasted malts, and is slightly sweet. very much "beer cola"