Batch 1,000
Bell's Brewery - Eccentric Café & General Store

 

 

On tap ar Bells. Described as a Copper Strong Ale not an American Barleywine. Flavor profile is of a Strong Ale nearly a Wee Heavy. Almost no nose at all. Taste though is full bodied, malty with nice caramel notes. Really smooth and drinkable for a 8.6% brew.

 

 

On-draught @ Bells. Brief notes on a phone:

A: Deep copper body. Off white head recedes inside a minute, leaving no lacing. Average vibrance. No visible yeast. Translucent. Semitransparent.

Sm: Sweet copper malts, pale malts, Amber malts, biscuit malts. Graham cracker. I don't find the promised cocoa and oak notes. Rich, with an off-putting fruity booziness.

Heavy caramelization is evident. Toffee-forward, with hints of meringue and faint butterscotch. Has a honey-like treacley saccharine vibe. Some tea-like hop bitterness.

T: Vague fruit sets off the booze. Not as sweet as the aroma suggested, but sticky and malty, with a robust treacley core of copper malts, Caramalt/caraMunich, and biscuit malts. Hints of English ale-redolent marmalade, toffee, and tea-like herbal hop notes.

Cohesive but rough around the edges, with a loose balance that isn't quite dialed in. Decently built, but a bit on the sweet side.

Mf: Sticky, slightly syrupy, sappy, a biteen astringent, and subtly coarse and dry (esp on the finish). Overcarbonated. Medium to full bodied. To style, but not tailored to accentuate this flavour profile specifically.

O: Between a sipper and a standard copper ale in terms of drinkability. It's a nice beer for what it is, and will please fans of a more English character in their copper ales, but in terms of my personal taste, it's a bit lackluster. More intricacy, subtlety, and nuance would help.

C+