Bell's Wheat Four Ale
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. Wheat 4 is made with four different wheats and four yeasts.
Wheat Four
Wheats: White, Victory, Toasted sprouts, Torrefied.
Yeast: WLP550 Belgian, WLP570 Golden, Wheat Two blend
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. Wheat 4 is made with four different wheats and four yeasts.
Wheat Four
Wheats: White, Victory, Toasted sprouts, Torrefied.
Yeast: WLP550 Belgian, WLP570 Golden, Wheat Two blend
3.2
203 reviews
Comstock, United States
Community reviews
12oz, 7104/bottled October 18, 2005. 14months old now. pours copper with rocky head, way too carbinated. nose is very belgian yeasty and belgian candy sugar. taste is very watery, like a light belgian beer. i’m not getting the dunkel style in this at all. just imagine a belgian light beer.
the wheat line in belss was a great idea for them. it adds 5 more beers to their wonderful selection
Has way too much carbonation. HUGE head. Way too much fizz in the beer when drank. Slight wheat smell, slight medicinal smell. Nice orange wheat color. Almost no taste at all because the tingle of the carbonation overpowers the beer. Pretty unremarkable. I hope the rest in the series aren’t this bad.
This poured out of the bottle as almost completely foam. The rocky beige head eventually fell to a beer I could drink. Big cereal grain nose with hints of burnt caramel. Copper color with lots of effervescence. Caramel sweetness with lots of expected wheat, almost like that sugar coated puffed wheat cereal from when I was a kid. Strong yeast flavors. Maybe a little thin.
Pours a hazy peach copper color, topped by a huge head of frothy off-white foam. Good long head retention and lacing. Tangy wheat in the aroma, a little on the sharp side.
Dusty wheat and cereal grain in the first sip, it starts medium-dry then turns sweet. Interesting. Cereal grain and a tannin bitterness in the aftertaste. Good hops for balance, a touch of yeast flavor. Medium body, very nice smooth and soft carbonation.
Part of the Bells wheat series. Very carbonated. Huge head that lasted. Wheat is very evident in the aroma and taste. Yeasty as well with a hint of citrus. Finish is slightly bitter with a sour aftertaste. I really want to compare it with the others in the wheat series. Very interesting experiment by Bells.
Thanks to Landseer for giving this to me to complete the wheat series. Pours orange with a HUGE foamy off white head. Aroma is yeasty and fruity.Mouthfeel is fizzy, not as nice as the two. Flavor of toasted grain, wheat, yeast, lemon, and a hint of smoke. Finish really takes a dive....very strong yeasty notes with an offputting sour and lemony bite. Not a good dunkel. But to be fair...this is about 11 months old. Points for the interesting experiment.
Bottle. A cloudy brown color with an off-white head. Orange, lemon, banana, and bread aroma and flavors, A solid rich wheat beer. Rating from notes.
Bottle from Jay (springslicker), Thanks! Progressively darker than the Two was, this one is a dark orange / brown colored beer. Smell is sweet and fruity, with a heavy malt presence and a soapy smell. Taste is lively and probably over carbonated, with some hints of smoke. Not as good as the Two. The second of the four that I will drink today. not bad..
Rating taken from notes 07/25/06. Bottle thanks to Styles! Poured transparent brown/copper with a fizzy beige cap, leaving minute lace. Aromas seem to be one dimentional with most of things leaning towards yeasty esters and some dark fruit (plum, fig, prune). There’s some mild hopping that you can tell is here from the aroma, but it’s not like the hops are really speaking out. FLavour seems to be a watered down form of Aventinus. Lots o’ fruity yeast, wood, toasty with an earthy, semi-fruity bitter finish. Pretty spritzy. I’m not asure what to think of this one. Need to try some more to better understand this entire wheat project.
Bottle. Appearance: very tall head, solid amber color. Smell: light burning wood. Taste: too fizzy to taste anything but alchohol. Overall, it’s bitter as well. I didn’t really like this beer. I’d drink it over the domestic three, but that’s it.
Bottle... Murky, caramel-colored ale with a huge, frothy, off-white head. Decent retention. Earthy, grainy aroma with soft notes of apple and caramel. Medium-bodied and super fizzy. Good bitterness provides perfect balance. Bone dry finish. Kudos to headbanger for shipping the bottle to me!
Pleasant wheat aroma, soft spice too, Hazy, unfiltered, dark amber, pours a fluffy cream head. Heavy malted wheat taste, mildly spiced. Medium bodied, a pleasant drink, like a mild version of Aventinus. Very good. Thanks mds.
12oz bottle-A huge white head on a orange body. Too much head but reading other people reviews I was not the only one. A taste of sour and alcohol. Overall not a bad tasting beer.
Bottle. Muddy brown-orange with some yeast sitting at the bottom and a bready white head sitting atop. The aroma has plenty of fruit - banana, pineapple, pears, and then some faint plums. Agreeable, live carbonation with bready and tart fruitiness. Reasonably quenching.
When your glass is nothing but foam and you didn’t even get through a quarter of the beer that’s not a good thing. SO "HUGE" head. With a rather brownish/ amber color to the actual beer. Nose is yeasty, doughy, with some citrus fruit, some definate wheat notes, and some light hops. Taste is wheat, light citrus, mild hops, and kind of grainy. Palate leaves quite quickly, so it’s short and rather carbonated. Overall, The beer’s palate just leaves you. It’s a decent wheat ale, but there are much better of the Bell’s Wheat ale series.
Bottled. Hazy orange coloured. Weak yeasty aroma. Weak yeasty and slightly fruity flavour. Thin. Very sparkling. Unpleasant sharp yeasty finish.
Appears a hazy, cloudy, orange toned light brown with a huge 4 ginger off white head that slowly fades into a small, clumpy head. Spotty streaks of lace are left around the glass.
Smell is of dusty cocoa, caramel, funky yeast, and hits of citrusy hops.
Taste is similar to the aromas but a dull, yeasty wheat fill out with some cocoa, caramel, and toffee notes. Weirdness that I’m on the fence about.
Mouthfeel is medium bodied, spritzy, bitter, slightly sweet, and orange peel bitter sweets.
Drinkability...strange brew with funk. Not my cup of tea for wheat beer.
355ml bottle obtained in a trade with OhioDad, thanks Scott. Batch 7104. Deep golden orange in colour, large lasting beige head, lots of lacing. The aroma is sour and yeasty, lots of citrus, must and bananas. The flavour is sour, yeasty, lots of must, orange citrus. Very fizzy mouthfeel, medium body, high carbonation. Finishes very gassy, sour. Starting to fade, drink it now.
12 oz. bottle via trade with OhioDad - Big hiss when opened. Pours a hazy amber color with a 3 inch off white head. I couldn’t even pour the whole bottle in the glass. MAJOR carbonation. Has some lacing due to the huge head. Has the typical yeasty, wheat beer aroma and flavor (spicey but light banana). Light to medium body. Worth a try. Thanks Scott.
Thanks to Walt for this beer. Poured a very hazy bronze with a large fluffy off-white head. Great aroma of apples, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and brown sugar. Flavor is dry and spicy, with notes of lemon, ginger, and nutmeg, with some dry hops filling in the back. Body is light and refreshing. Sort of odd, but I’ve had some German wheats similar to this so I’m not dismayed. Though its flavor isn’t exactly bursting with complexity, I find it agreeable and refreshing in the summer heat. Nice.
Thanks OhioDad. Hazy yellow-white beer, fluffy over the edge of the glass. Deep amber orange with a very cloudy, creamy appearance. Sweet apple aroma, some banana, cinnamon, clove and apricot. Malts are toasty and toffeeish. Texture is very creamy, sweet yeasty spice. Apple and banana flavour, melon and tapioca. Light earthy hops. Very nice brew.
From 12oz Bottle. This one is a geyser. Careful pouring ends up revealing a thick, roily body with gobs of yeast murking up the depths. Rich reddish brown coloring with a massive yellow head. Plenty of yeasty lemon in the aroma, accompanied by wheat toast. The mouthfeel is extra full and rich, making me feel like I’m eating some of my mother’s raw wheat bread dough. The flavors are a bit dusty, and are heavy on the wheat, giving the yeast an almost baker’s yeast like sourness. Some nutty notes in there as well. Incredibly rich and wheaty, but not excessively complex beyond that. Still, its quite well crafted in serving its purpose.
Bottle from trade with Ohiodad, 7104 batch. Thanks Scott!! Poured a hazy orange color with a huge frothy off-white head that lasted and left big chunky lacing. The nose found clove, citrus, and wheat. Clove and lemon also in the flavor. Light body, slightly watery and a very high carbonation that also took away from the flavor.
7104 batch.Massive head,the 4 stands 4
400%better than the 2,the 6 is next.The best Bell’s so far as weize goes.Bells
rules as a US brewer.
aroma is heavy on the cloves, with some nutmeg, some wheat malt, some pepper. appearance is cloudy dark orange. flavor is very carbonated and somewhat overwhelming with the clove and nutmeg and spice. there arent a whole lot of fruity flavors or , well, anything other than the subtle spices and the carbonation. its good, but not bells greatest.
Batch 7104, most likely the same as everyone else’s. Pours a cloudy orange red with a huge off-white head--not as big as the wheat 6, as i got most of the bottle into my Duvel glass. When the head finally goes down, it looks pretty nice, albeit a smidge murky. This head seems a little frothier than the 6. Aroma of yeast, wheat, some banana, and a little bit of sour funk. . Ah! Too much carbonation, though considering the head I figured this would be flat. I think I can actually pick up on some alcohol. Other than that, the taste follows the aroma, with a little bit of dust added in. I wish I wasn’t a dumbass and would’ve rated all these guys (with the exception of the Love) earlier, as I think they are past their prime. I’ll try the wheat 8 next--I can’t remember if I have the 2 lying around, thus completing the series.
As everyone else has noted - a huge yellowish fizzy head that takes forever to disappear and leaves a ton of lacing. Murky gold color. Interestingly, despite the initial surge of carbonation it seems to go flat pretty quickly. Spicy and yeasty nose, with the same reflected in the flavor. Malted middle, and a touch of hops at the end.
Poued a HUGE head, Before I rad other threads I din’t expect this, 20 minutes to pour the beer! lol! Abit of sourness, musty, yeasty. ok, but not something I’d seek out.
12oz bottle acquired in trades with OhioDad & JCapriotti (thanks!). This one poured all head. Finally settled down to a deep and hazy orange color. Aromas of yeast, wheat, and all around musty. Tastes of yeast, spices (pepper), wheat, and lightly fruity. Over carbonated (which explains the huge head).