286. Bell’s Batch 9000

Bell’s Bell’s Bell’s Bell’s Bell’s Bell’s Bell’s...

From Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Bells”

Hear the sledges with the bells -

Silver bells!

What a world of merriment their melody foretells!

How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle,

In the icy air of night!

While the stars that oversprinkle

All the heavens seem to twinkle

With a crystalline delight;

Keeping time, time, time,

In a sort of Runic rhyme,

To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells

From the bells, bells, bells, bells,

Bells, bells, bells -

From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells.

A different Edgar...

This is our tenth beer from good ol’ Larry Bell: we’ve tried Hopslam, Cherry Stout, Sparkling Ale, Winter White, Christmas Ale, Third Coast, Oberon, Octoberfest, and Two Hearted. My my my...

Batch 9000 is a deep mahogany with red highlights; the head is ivory and quickly reduces to a ring. Thick, rich, and dark in the nose—it starts with dark fruit and sherry and finishes with molasses and toffee. Batch 9000 has a thick, chewy mouthfeel with a sprinkling of carbonation. It is viscous and slick on the palate, and there is a decent amount of alcohol bite—this beer could use a bit more aging to mellow out the alcohol in it. Flavor-wise, Batch 9000 starts with a dark caramel fruitiness—there are raisin and plum flavors mixed with cherry—before moving into molasses flavors in the middle, and ending with a herbal and licorice bitterness, along with some alcohol warmth. Interesting beer, but it is still a bit young—we’ll be trying this one again in another year or so to see how it stacks up.

From the bottle: “Batch 9000 is a part of our commemorative series celebrating our progress with special brews. Black, dense and rich, this is a great ale for the cellar.”

ABV: 12.5%
Packaged on January 27, 2010

(4/12/2010)