Third Coast Old Ale
Bell's Brewery - Eccentric Café & General Store

Third Coast Old AleThird Coast Old Ale
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From:
Bell's Brewery - Eccentric Café & General Store
 
Michigan, United States
Style:
American Barleywine
Ranked #89
ABV:
10.2%
Score:
92
Ranked #5,307
Avg:
4.12 | pDev: 9.95%
Reviews:
1,179
Ratings:
2,901
Status:
Active
Rated:
Jan 17, 2024
Added:
Feb 28, 2002
Wants:
  273
Gots:
  592
Third Coast Old Ale starts with a rich, caramel base, and finishes with heavy hop bitterness. Sharply intense at first, it will age gracefully, adding complexity and subtlety to your cellar. Go ahead, test your patience.

Flavor Profile:
Complex, Warm Malt Character, Huge Body, Rich Caramel Malt Aromas

Beer Info:
A mixture of burnt caramel and other earthy malt flavors, with enough hop presence to prevent a sense of sweetness. Sharply bitter when first packaged, this hop aspect will fold into the malt character over time and find balance.

Shelf Life: Unlimited
Ingredients: Water, Malt, Hops, House Ale Yeast
Nutritional Information (per 12 oz. serving): Calories: 318, Carbs: 26.7
IBUs: 65
Original Gravity: 1.101
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by bigaltemple:
Photo of bigaltemple
Reviewed by bigaltemple from Colorado

3.97/5  rDev -3.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
12 oz. bottle from batch 9970 poured into snifter

A - Pours what at first glance appears to be a cola color, but when held up to the light a really nice, rich red appears. Very small head appears for a quick second but is gone in an instant. Some good looking lacing though.

S - Deep, dark caramel malts are really prevalent. Strong sense of raisins. Also picking up some figs and dates.

T - Sweet caramel, with some hints of toffee. Mild alcohol burn , but not overpowering. Slightly bitter on the back end as it gets warmer.

M - Medium body with very light carbonation. Kind of creamy.

O/D - Rather enjoyable. Looking forward to sitting on the other bottle until a much cooler night.
Jul 25, 2011
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 4.5 by AbeO

Jan 17, 2024
Photo of CBlack85
Reviewed by CBlack85 from South Carolina

4.32/5  rDev +4.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Poured from a 12 oz. bottle into a New Belgium globe glass.

2020 vintage

The beer pours a muddy brownish amber color with minimal ruby(ish) highlights. An aggressive pour yields a light tan head that lingers for a while leaving behind a small cap and moderate lacing.

Boozy and surprisingly hoppy aromas with a nice amount of caramel, toffee, dark fruit, and mildly toasty malts . I am surprised at the amount of hops present after 3 years in the bottle!

Bold flavors of toffee and caramel with a pronounced booziness. The beer is still, even after three years in the bottle, hop forward giving a nice balance to the huge malty base. Medium/heavy body, and lightly carbonated, the beer finishes slightly slick on the tongue.

Overall, this is a phenomenal beer, that ages very well! Such a treat! Thanks to @Whyteboar for this one
Dec 09, 2023
Photo of TooManyGlasses
Reviewed by TooManyGlasses from Canada (AB)

4.5/5  rDev +9.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
12 ounce bottle dated Sept 11/19, purchased at Bell’s General Store in Kalamazoo.
Pours a slightly ruddy reddish mahogany colour with thin short lived khaki head.
Nose initially struck me as a bit vinous but this blew off with caramel, brown sugar, oak, with earthy slightly piney hop aromas.
Tastes of burnt caramel, toffee, brown sugar, and bourbon but despite four years of age the hop presence is still strong with an earthy, piney bitterness.
Medium full mouthfeel with low medium carbonation and a creamy consistency ending with a warming booziness and a lingering bittersweetness.
Wonderful sipping barley wine.
Oct 31, 2023
Photo of Otter-the-Beer-Man
Reviewed by Otter-the-Beer-Man from Maryland

4.07/5  rDev -1.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
Bottle is dated 10/10/15. Enjoyed 10/9/23.
Cellaring courtesy of my brother, Buddy.
L: dark brown. Thin head settles and disappears quickly. Sediment floating throughout.
S: thick caramel. Old wood. Dark rum.
T: pleasant non sweet caramel alcohol flavor.
M: smooth with no carbonation
O: aged very well.
Oct 10, 2023
 
Rated: 4.7 by Jacob313 from Michigan

Jun 27, 2023
Photo of NorsemanOne
Reviewed by NorsemanOne from Utah

4.23/5  rDev +2.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
Bottled 9.21

Poured at about 40° into a stemless wine glass.

Pours a caramelly bourbon brown with slight clarity and a deeper sandy tan head. 4.25

Big malt and boozy aroma, surprised at how boozy it still is almost 2 years later, though not overwhelming, just clear and forward that it's a boozy one. 4.25

Malt bomb but not un-dynamic. Caramel, boozy heat and burn, and slight creaminess. 4.25

Body is warming, subtly carbonated and has a syrupy thickness to it. 4

Overall an excellent Barleywine that though I haven't tried fresh aged terrificly. 4.25
May 14, 2023
 
Rated: 4.58 by SoundMakesSense from Indiana

Mar 05, 2023
Photo of Buggyrocker
Reviewed by Buggyrocker from Michigan

4.81/5  rDev +16.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75
Bell's Third Coast Old Ale rocks.. I am so happy I was able to find it in my hometown after looking for it relentlessly for weeks... this stuff is the shit. Oh so sweet maltiness...dark amber color.... medium head. ... malty sweet alcohol aroma.. sweet brown sugar, pecan pie, bourbon, cranberry, black currant, mild black licorice, molasses, bitter maple sugar.. complex.... phenomenal! Will kick you right in the ass at over 10%.., love this beer (or barley wine I should say)! Big thumbs up!
Feb 12, 2023
Photo of Kiiz
Reviewed by Kiiz

4.63/5  rDev +12.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
L: Very dark maroon, off white head. Strong lacing @room temp

S: red berry, dark fruit, caramel, spices. There’s also the smell the alc, which takes away from the smell a tad bit imo

T: starts off with red berry and caramel, then moves into hops you might find in a dipa (I’m no hop head so no idea which ones). Has a hit of sweetness a few seconds after the hop flavor goes away. Never had barleywine but it’s taste has shades of brandy which is really cool to see in a beer.

F: fairly heavy yet smooth, complements the beer very well

O: If you have any ounce of self control, age a least a couple 6 packs of these. The added depth and removed alcohol bite would easily give you 12+ world class beers.
Nov 30, 2022
 
Rated: 4.23 by Jsalz21 from New Jersey

Nov 17, 2022
Photo of Beersnake
Reviewed by Beersnake from California

4.15/5  rDev +0.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
2014 bottle tasted almost exactly 8 years later. Poured at fridge temp. Pours a nice dark brown with minimal head. The nose is full of caramel, raisins, prunes, figs, a touch of maple, and a slight note of almonds. Incredible!

The taste is a great mix of sweet toffee, dark fruit, and hops. The hoppy bitterness is clearly a shadow of what it once was, which is just fine with me! I like my American barleywines with some age to trim some of that hop bite. Grass, pine needles, leather, hay, figs, toffee, raisins, plums, brown sugar, and maybe a touch of coffee grounds/tobacco. Very smooth and easy to drink. No sign of the ABV. A treat indeed.
Oct 28, 2022
 
Rated: 4.32 by RalphStanley34 from French Polynesia

Oct 09, 2022
Photo of fujindemon74
Reviewed by fujindemon74 from Pennsylvania

4.59/5  rDev +11.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
L- burgundy, opaque, deep amber in the light

S- sweet candied molasses & figs and dark fruits

T- follows the nose and then finishes with an herbal-piney note

F- medium to full, little to no carbonation, a still sipper for sure

O- I adore this beer, a stellar showing of an American Barleywine
Jun 16, 2022
 
Rated: 4.25 by gardner254 from Ohio

Jun 02, 2022
Photo of grumpyskolman
Reviewed by grumpyskolman from Wisconsin

2.48/5  rDev -39.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.5
Holy cow, this is extremely hoppy. So if you like very, very hoppy ales, go for it. For me, I couldn’t finish it. Way, way too hoppy for me. Like overwhelming. But, if hop is your gig, maybe you’ll fall in love. I
Apr 12, 2022
Photo of DucksFan16
Rated by DucksFan16 from Tennessee

3.94/5  rDev -4.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
Bottled on 09/23/2021. Enjoyed on 02/24/2022.
Feb 24, 2022
Photo of Blogjackets
Reviewed by Blogjackets from Ohio

4.18/5  rDev +1.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
The beer pours a murky brown with a good head, though the head diminished quickly and I saw no lacing throughout the tasting.

The nose of brown sugar and caramel proves to be the sheep's clothing for this 10.2% wolf. There is a hop presence in aroma which became more pronounced as the beer warmed.

The taste is a nice combination of sweet and bitter. The maltiness approaches the path of cloying, but never gets there. The mid-swallow hop bite is significant but short-lived. Caramel returns to smooth out the finish.
Jan 30, 2022
 
Rated: 4.52 by Argail from Louisiana

Nov 22, 2021
 
Rated: 4.1 by TLA from Pennsylvania

Nov 21, 2021
Third Coast Old Ale from Bell's Brewery - Eccentric Café & General Store
Beer rating: 92 out of 100 with 2901 ratings