487. Bells Brewery – This One Goes to 11 Ale

Bells Brewery - This One Goes to 11 AleI spend last week in Seattle, Washington – mostly for a work conference – but I didn’t let that stop me from seeing the city’s craft beer scene.  I was able to hit 12 microbreweries and try over 20 local craft beers during my trip.  Today, I’m back home at Fat Jack’s in Bloomington, IL for our monthly homebrew club meeting.  Before the meeting I grabbed this beer… mostly because I liked the name.  Then I found out, it was commemorating Bell’s 11000th batch and comes in at 11% ABV.

Location: On tap and served in a 10oz curved glass at Fat Jack’s in Bloomington, IL.

Numbers: 11% ABV, 320 Calories

Appearance & Aroma: It’s got a tarnished copper color to it and it’s fairly hazy. There’s a very thin head on it, which fell to only a light ring around the glass, and it left very little lacing.  The aroma was mostly caramel malts with some piney and citrusy hops and some dark fruit notes in the background.

Taste & Feel: The body was full and the mouthfeel was fairly smooth.  The flavors up front were sweet caramel maltiness with some toasty breadiness.  In the middle, it became slightly sweeter with some balanced by the citrusy hop flavors.  The finish is a mix of caramel malts, citrusy and resiny hop bitterness and a light alcohol warmth.  The malty and citrusy flavors last for a minute or two in the aftertaste.

Food Pairing: This is a bit beer and should definitely be paired with a food (even if I didn’t on this occasion).  With the big caramel maltiness and hop flavors, I’d go with something that helps cut down on these flavors, but lets them live a bit along with the food.  Therefore, I’d pair it with something like a seasoned pork loin or something similar.

Overall Impression: With a name like this, you expect it to be a bit over the top.  It definitely had some big malt and hop flavors, but it was fairly well balanced – leaning a bit on the malty side – and wasn’t too over the top in terms of flavors.  I enjoyed the flavors, as well as the lightly warming alcohol feeling at the end of each sip.  If you can find this one, definitely give it a try.

My Rating: ★★★½☆

Your rating:

Author: kkozlen

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