Third Coast Old Ale | Bell's Brewery - Eccentric Café & General Store
Brewed by:
Bell's Brewery - Eccentric Café & General Store
Michigan, United States
bellsbeer.com
Style: American Barleywine
Alcohol by volume (ABV): 10.20%
Availability: Winter
Notes / Commercial Description:
From Bell's website:
"Third Coast Old Ale is a cellerable American-style barleywine that has notes of dried fruit and caramel embedded in a rich malt background that will grow more complex over time."
Added by BeerAdvocate on 02-28-2002
HISTOGRAM
View: Beers | Place Reviews
Ratings: 2,759 | Reviews: 1,118
4.06/5 rDev -1.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
12oz bottle poured into a snifter
2016 vintage
A- pours a deep brown color with a one-finger creamy off-white head that has great retention long after the pour.
S- dark fruit aromas of black cherry and raisin, followed by some piney and floral faded hop aromas. Underlying hints of caramel and brown sugar.
T- earthy and piney hops up front still have plenty of bitterness. Mid-palate brings out some sweet malty notes of raisin, fig, cherry and caramel. The finish gives notes of molasses and brown sugar, with a slightly oxidized piney hop linger
M- medium body with light carbonation leads to a creamy mouthfeel that continues into a slightly warming finish
O- at over a year old, still plenty of hop bitterness, but some malty notes are starting to take over
774 characters
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
12oz bottle poured into a snifter
2016 vintage
A- pours a deep brown color with a one-finger creamy off-white head that has great retention long after the pour.
S- dark fruit aromas of black cherry and raisin, followed by some piney and floral faded hop aromas. Underlying hints of caramel and brown sugar.
T- earthy and piney hops up front still have plenty of bitterness. Mid-palate brings out some sweet malty notes of raisin, fig, cherry and caramel. The finish gives notes of molasses and brown sugar, with a slightly oxidized piney hop linger
M- medium body with light carbonation leads to a creamy mouthfeel that continues into a slightly warming finish
O- at over a year old, still plenty of hop bitterness, but some malty notes are starting to take over
774 characters
4.27/5 rDev +3.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
4.08/5 rDev -0.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
3.75/5 rDev -8.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
4.27/5 rDev +3.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
4.16/5 rDev +1.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Brew pours a murky, turbid caramel brown. Head production is modest, with a turbulent pour producing about one finger of firm tan head. Retention and lacing are excellent.
Big ABW aroma! Waves of caramel grains - the smell of a homebrew boil that fills the garage - along with strong earthy hops. This is inviting and daunting.
Flavor follows. This is the pure expression of beer: sweet, brown sugary caramel malt, pine, orange peel, rye, wheat, prunes, and raisins.
Smooth and thick; supremely bitter but still sweet.
ABWs aren't for me, and this one is no exception, but it's a perfectly executed example of the style.
624 characters
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Brew pours a murky, turbid caramel brown. Head production is modest, with a turbulent pour producing about one finger of firm tan head. Retention and lacing are excellent.
Big ABW aroma! Waves of caramel grains - the smell of a homebrew boil that fills the garage - along with strong earthy hops. This is inviting and daunting.
Flavor follows. This is the pure expression of beer: sweet, brown sugary caramel malt, pine, orange peel, rye, wheat, prunes, and raisins.
Smooth and thick; supremely bitter but still sweet.
ABWs aren't for me, and this one is no exception, but it's a perfectly executed example of the style.
624 characters
3.48/5 rDev -15.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
4.21/5 rDev +2.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
4.19/5 rDev +1.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Got a bottle from Bine and Vine in San Diego. 2015 version.
Look: dark brownish, with a good amount of head at first but dissipated quickly, a lot of lacing around the glass.
Smell: full of molasses, sweet maltiness.
Taste: the massive molasses sweetness hit you right at the beginning. However, quite a dry finish as the hoppiness took over. Very herbal.
Feel: full body, viscous, chewy.
An excellent brew, even if it's not in the most attractive bottle there is. I'd recommend this to anyone!
497 characters
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Got a bottle from Bine and Vine in San Diego. 2015 version.
Look: dark brownish, with a good amount of head at first but dissipated quickly, a lot of lacing around the glass.
Smell: full of molasses, sweet maltiness.
Taste: the massive molasses sweetness hit you right at the beginning. However, quite a dry finish as the hoppiness took over. Very herbal.
Feel: full body, viscous, chewy.
An excellent brew, even if it's not in the most attractive bottle there is. I'd recommend this to anyone!
497 characters
3.82/5 rDev -7.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
4.49/5 rDev +9.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
This beautiful old ale pours a dark, dark, caramel brown with almost no head. The nose is overly rich, and filled with notes of caramel, toffee, brown sugar, and maple syrup. The taste is phenomenal, the brew washes over the tongue with rich caramel, dark chocolate, tons of brown sugar, and rich bourbon marasca cherries. The feel is great, very rich and not overly carbonated. For a 10.2% brew, this is relentlessly smooth and rich. No lingering alcohol, or astringency. This is an awesome example of a great barleywine, produced by one of my favorites breweries.
565 characters
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
This beautiful old ale pours a dark, dark, caramel brown with almost no head. The nose is overly rich, and filled with notes of caramel, toffee, brown sugar, and maple syrup. The taste is phenomenal, the brew washes over the tongue with rich caramel, dark chocolate, tons of brown sugar, and rich bourbon marasca cherries. The feel is great, very rich and not overly carbonated. For a 10.2% brew, this is relentlessly smooth and rich. No lingering alcohol, or astringency. This is an awesome example of a great barleywine, produced by one of my favorites breweries.
565 characters
3.75/5 rDev -8.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
3.64/5 rDev -11.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
3.69/5 rDev -10.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
3.26/5 rDev -20.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
Pours a dark red with a small off white head. Smells of molasses, malt, caramel, and sweetness. Tastes insanely sweet and of, caramel, toffee, sweet malt, vanilla, and light booze. Medium-heavy body with medium-light carbonation. Overall this is a decent barleywine but it’s just way to sweet in my opinion.
309 characters
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
Pours a dark red with a small off white head. Smells of molasses, malt, caramel, and sweetness. Tastes insanely sweet and of, caramel, toffee, sweet malt, vanilla, and light booze. Medium-heavy body with medium-light carbonation. Overall this is a decent barleywine but it’s just way to sweet in my opinion.
309 characters
Third Coast Old Ale from Bell's Brewery - Eccentric Café & General Store
Beer rating:
4.11 out of
5 with
2,759 ratings
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