25th Anniversary Ale
Bell's Brewery - Eccentric Café & General Store

25th Anniversary Ale25th Anniversary Ale
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From:
Bell's Brewery - Eccentric Café & General Store
 
Michigan, United States
Style:
American Strong Ale
ABV:
8.5%
Score:
84
Avg:
3.74 | pDev: 12.57%
Reviews:
349
Ratings:
515
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Jun 12, 2018
Added:
Jul 28, 2010
Wants:
  20
Gots:
  67
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by sweethome:
Photo of sweethome
Reviewed by sweethome from Illinois

3.92/5  rDev +4.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Pour is hazy dark tan or gold. Nice lacing. Sweet nose of carmel malts, pineapple, dried fruits.

Nice full mouthfeel, generous entry, big and flavorful. Mid-mouth, this beer drops quickly - kind of disappears. Then builds back at the end with nice balance. In some ways, this reminds of a muted barleywine. A big beer, not overhwelming, but big, flavorful and warming.
Oct 16, 2010
More User Ratings:
Photo of Sigmund
Reviewed by Sigmund from Norway

2.75/5  rDev -26.5%
look: 2.75 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 2.75
Shared bottle at local tasting, as Bell’s 25th Anniversary Ale. Hazy amber colour, low off-white head. Strong sweetish aroma, bordering on "sickly". Sweet and alcoholic flavour, also resinous hops. Not my favourite this one.
Jun 12, 2018
Photo of Captain69
Reviewed by Captain69 from Illinois

4/5  rDev +7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
BELL'S MAKE SOME GRRAT BEERS - AND THEIR ANIVERSARY ONES ARE EVEN BETTER GREAT TASTE ALL THE WAY THR THE BOTTLE.
NEXT TIME YOU HEAR IT IS COMING OUT SEE YOUR FAVORITE BEER SUPPLIER TO SAVE YOU A FEW BOTTLES
Jun 07, 2018
 
Rated: 3.45 by DVMin98 from North Carolina

Jun 12, 2017
 
Rated: 3.7 by Jodio from Texas

Feb 06, 2017
 
Rated: 3.75 by Gtg642 from Michigan

Jan 07, 2017
 
Rated: 3.67 by MDDMD from Pennsylvania

Jan 07, 2017
Photo of WastingFreetime
Reviewed by WastingFreetime from Wisconsin

3.74/5  rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
Review score is from notes of fresh sample.

Just wanted to declare that my cellared bottles have gone beyond peak performance for my personal tastes. It's done quite well in the cellar up until now (I perioidically sampled a bottle) but it looks like five to six years at ambient basement temperature is this particular brew's limit for my tastebuds...
Nov 07, 2016
 
Rated: 3.61 by Fargrow from Michigan

Jun 17, 2016
Photo of ONovoMexicano
Reviewed by ONovoMexicano from New Mexico

4.02/5  rDev +7.5%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
12 ounce bottle poured into a mini-snifter.

I'm loving the gooey amber pour this gives, especially as it's unexpected. I loved the 30th Anniversary Ale from Bell's and was expecting this to be a stout like that one, so the color and obviously different beer immediately piqued my interest. In the glass the beer shows a light carbonation and high level of clarity and when held to light the amber develops a rose hue. Only thing I didn't see was the burly head, lace and film I like. 4.75

Smells of tobacco, aged raisins and caramel with a grassy overlay show first. A deep, developed sweetness that has many a layer to it lurks. Booze kind of peaks its head out and then fades. 4

I have a lot to contemplate as I sip this. It's showing some oxidized notes and with them I get earthy notes, floral notes, hints of banana almost, and tobacco and wood. Even a bit of cardboard and nail polish. I don't believe this beer is barrel-aged, but the flavor and nose certainly offer up some suggestions that it is. Where as the front side is caramel and brown sugar sweet, this dissipates into an ester-heavy finish that kind of reminds me of a dunkelweizen with notes of banana, bread and clove. Fascinating and it grows on my rather quickly. 4

A few things about the feel kind of take me aback. First off, it feels a lot thinner than it should given the rich flavors, ABV and style (I'm assuming this is an old ale or English barleywine based on the flavor and aroma). Second, the oxidized notes impart something odd that temporarily interrupts all the awesome flavor and feel. Get around it and this has a sweet creaminess and hints at the full body that these flavors command. As with the flavor, I adapt to them and find myself enjoying this. 3.75

I didn't have this fresh so it's hard to know how this changed over the years. To my thinking though, some of the flavor and aroma that are awesome are clearly the result of age. However, I think it also developed some undesirables that don't ruin the beer but are a slight hindrance.
Apr 25, 2016
Photo of mdterps187
Reviewed by mdterps187 from Maryland

4.39/5  rDev +17.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5
This beer has really turned a corner. I only vaguely remember it from when I bought a sixer back in 2010, but I recall a muddled malt profile and some out of place soy sauce/umami. It's a shame this didn't sit in storage longer because now I wish I'd saved all six of them.

Pours a slightly opaque ruby-amber with an off-white head. Carb is fairly low though higher than expected for a 5+ year old bottle.

Smells like an English old ale. Any hop aromatics are long gone. There's some added dried fruit from the yeast to add to a caramelly, toasted bread malt aroma.

Tastes of raisins, dates, dark caramel, crystal malt with the faintest hint of alcohol heat.

Mouthfeel is thick and syrupy. This thing sticks to your tongue with a surprising amount of body- more like some beers with double the strength and gravity. Carbonation is low, slight prickle from the alcohol content.

Overall, I'm really impressed with how this has rounded out. Some beers taste like they need a little refinement when they're fresh but this one needed a total overhaul. Time, bottle conditioning, and some slight oxidation for the better have treated this bottle well. I hope Bells makes this again but leaves it in storage for a good long time before release (or at the least takes a page from Dogfish and instructs the buyer to bury in a hole and forget for the better part of a decade).
Mar 25, 2016
 
Rated: 3.85 by midlifec from Michigan

Feb 07, 2016
 
Rated: 3.71 by Budinetz from Pennsylvania

Jan 29, 2016
 
Rated: 3 by JMFP from Delaware

Jan 01, 2016
 
Rated: 2.3 by mendvicdog from Maryland

Nov 11, 2015
 
Rated: 3.35 by thatoneguymike from Georgia

Nov 08, 2015
Photo of drpimento
Reviewed by drpimento from Wisconsin

4.07/5  rDev +8.8%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4
Found this beer squirreled away in a place that's been dark but quite warm for a long time. Aroma is malt and raisins. Flavor's like nose plus herbs. Great palate. Nice beer. Wonder what it would've been like properly cared for.
Oct 03, 2015
 
Rated: 4.1 by Kenai4 from Minnesota

May 18, 2015
 
Rated: 3.75 by wethorseblanket from California

Feb 14, 2015
 
Rated: 3 by jrob21 from North Carolina

Feb 13, 2015
25th Anniversary Ale from Bell's Brewery - Eccentric Café & General Store
Beer rating: 84 out of 100 with 515 ratings