Bell's Lager Of The Lakes | Bell's Brewery, Inc.

4.05/5  rDev +11%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a slightly cloudy straw color with an uneven, pockmarked head. Fine, if flawed.

Aroma is of the brewery floor; yeasty and damp. A flush of crisp oyster crackers floats by, with notes of parsley and lemon pith. Young and and enticing. Calls out for briny shellfish.

Taste is subdued and far less pungent than the nose. A bit watery, with hints of cut grass, allspice, and butter. Sweeter than anticipated on the palate, but finishes dry. Would be killer with a lobster roll (Connecticut-style), but would falter in the face of raw oysters.

Mouthfeel is mellow and rounded, with foamy, friendly carbonation. Maybe ever so slightly under-carbonated for the style, but still very nice.

Overall, not too shabby. Wouldn't go out of my way for it, but, appropriately enough, would be just about perfect for a day out by the lake.

★ 841 characters

3.52/5  rDev -3.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

Appearance is light yellow with white cap and good lacing.

Aroma is a little more substantial than the appearance implies. I get clean maltiness, not too strong, with a hop presence that is more herbal than spicy. Also a distinct hint of yeast bread.

Taste is very pleasant. malt forward with hops in the background. Hops emerge more prominently mid palate and last through the finish. Hop herbalness is more present in the aftertaste which leans more toward the herbal than spicy.

Texture is medium with a pleasant creaminess.

Overall this is a worthwhile effort. This label doesn't mention the words Bohemian or Czech style (I believe earlier labels did) but for me it falls into that general category. This is a pleasant, low key lager that should appeal to beer drinkers generally and has enough extra in the body and hop finish to be interesting to beer aficionados.

★ 881 characters

3.51/5  rDev -3.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5

Poured into a shaker pint glass.

Look: Clear golden body with slowly rising bubbles. A white soapy head remains in tact for some time leaving large swaths of lacing.

Aroma: Spicy and grassy with sourness on the back side.

Taste: Soft malts up front coveted in spicy hops, some lemongrass and even subtle bitter grapefruit in the finish.

Mouthfeel: Mefium bodied, dry.

Overall: Nice pils, good grassiness, a little too tangy or sour to be refreshing.

★ 456 characters

3.52/5  rDev -3.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Fresh pour at world of beers. Strictly rating on style, Almost clear gold color. Minimal white head. Skunky/metalic scent. Bitter, but a large amount of skunky/metalic aftertaste. True to style, but I would prefer it to have more crispness to mellow out the metalic taste.

★ 278 characters

3.19/5  rDev -12.6%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25

Bell's Lager has a thick, white head, a hazy, straw appearance, some lazy bubble streams, and splotches of lacing left on the glass. The aroma is of subdued sweet & light malt, and the flavor is of sweet, white bread, pale malts, and low-to-moderate, somewhat grassy hop bitterness. Mouthfeel is light to medium, and Bell's Lager finishes crisp and easy drinking.

RJT

★ 369 characters

3.54/5  rDev -3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5

Light, straw colored body; decent carbonation; white, frothy head. Fresh grass with light cereal grain make up the aroma. Gentle malt sweetness with a light cracker flavor; bold hop bitterness developing midway and lingering through the finish. Crisp mouthfeel.

A good pilsner overall. It delivers solid if unremarkable flavors and mouthfeel.

★ 343 characters

2.58/5  rDev -29.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 2 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 2.25

Bell's Lager Of The Lakes pours a pale SRM-1 color with a tall, foamy head.

Aromas of Saaz, Mosaic, and other noble hop varieties, along with some pale malts and light herbal grassiness.

Very sharp flavors waxing strongly metallic; quite a bit of herbal and pilsner qualities, but the explosion of trash can metal just sort of ruins the experience.

Heavily carbonated, slightly creamy, and a dry finish.

A boat lager this is not. Nor is it in any way enjoyable. I'm gonna give the rest to someone else. Easily wins the award for Bell's worst beer.

★ 555 characters

3.5/5  rDev -4.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

pours a clear amber straw with a large white head that poofs. nose; yeasty dough, melon, lightly tart & skunky. taste; clean grain (pils), light grassy hops, & sweet fruity gose-like acetone. very simple flavor profile. medium carbonation & mouthfeel. an easy poolside drinker that offers no fight.

★ 303 characters

3.96/5  rDev +8.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

The coloring is golden yellow and thin looking. This beer is sweet and refreshing, would be enjoyable on the beach or a boat in the summertime. The Aroma is malty and citrusy. It has a very light taste with hints of malts and sweetness and finishes slightly bitter. Overall it is not too exciting but it is good and refreshing.

★ 327 characters

3.5/5  rDev -4.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Pale gold and transparent. You can see the carbonation in the glass as well as a nice white head. Malty aroma. To me this beer was a little plain and boring. You could taste the maltiness and it had a very little tinge of bitterness. The aftertaste was plain in flavor but a little bitterness lingered. A more enjoyable lager from those I've tried but not my favorite.

★ 368 characters

4.33/5  rDev +18.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 4.5

Appearance: not much head, but is fizzy, light in color
Aroma: malty, citrus
Palate: dry, fizzy, crisp carbonation
Flavor: tart and malty slightly sweet

★ 152 characters

2.9/5  rDev -20.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

This beer was a light yellow color with a sweet and tart smell. The taste was of malt, faint orange with molasses, and it was bitter. The texture was a thin hops. Overall, I thought it was okay, not amazing.

★ 210 characters

3.68/5  rDev +0.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Pours a medium to small white head. I can smell kind of malty and cirtus aroma. Classic lager body and taste, my friends can taste some of the sweetness but i can't. It finishes with some bitter taste.

★ 201 characters

4.61/5  rDev +26.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5

This beer was amaazong. When tasting it, I felt like I should be on a beach on a lake in northern Michigan. With it's light golden color and the citrus/slight hop flavor it was a beer lighter beer and I could definitely have a few by the bonfire.

★ 246 characters

3.65/5  rDev 0%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5

Pours an a chill-hazed and effervescent gold with a thumb of ivory colored head. Above average head retention and lacing

S: Wet cereal and grassiness, floral hops as it warms

T: Follows the nose, a little soapiness as well up front, a little dryness as well. Stays grassy as it warms, dry with a mineral hop notes. Finishes crisp, soapy with a little pear and dry breadyness

MF: Medium body, crisp carbonation, alright balance

Pretty good drinkability, just not a ton of flavor, a step above run of the mill for the style

★ 531 characters

4.82/5  rDev +32.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75

Appearance : Clear, Golden Yellow, Light , white head

Smell : Light & Pleasant Smell, Nice aroma

Taste: bready, slightly hoppy, could drink many, light

★ 155 characters

4/5  rDev +9.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

This beer has a clear, golden-yellow color, typical lager look. It has very subtle smells, light and pleasant, nothing too strong and overwhelming. It is a light and refreshing beer, has good flavor to it and is not strong at all. Again, typical lager for those who enjoy them. I prefer stronger and heavier beers.

★ 314 characters

3/5  rDev -17.8%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

This beer was dark in appearance and was 100% malt. I'm not a huge malty beer fan, so it wasn't my favorite. But it had consistent flavors and was enjoyed by others.

★ 165 characters

4.61/5  rDev +26.3%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75

Such an underrated beer and for all the wrong reasons. 83/100? Okay, so it isn't some massively hopped 10% abv limited edition double IPA with exotic ingredients from all across the globe, but what you have here is an absolutely delicious craft lager.

Freshness date printed on the bottle, two thumbs up to Bells.
Translucent gold stereotypical beer color with a white two finger head that leaves webs of sticky lacing.

When you pour it into a glass it smells of crisp salt water, almost like the ocean. There's a floral hop smell and cereal sweetness to the nose too.

The taste is bready, slightly hoppy and salty. Vaguely spicy with very subtle notes of basil and soapy cilantro. Finishes with a crisp slightly sweet malt note and delicate flowery hop snap.

Watery while still being flavorsome, very thirst quenching - a great transition beer in it's own right for people who are new to craft beer, but moreover a great spring/summertime lager. What exactly is wrong with that?

★ 983 characters

3.43/5  rDev -6%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

This is a clear golden lager. The bottle is an awesome map, white and blue theme. There is an off white fuzzy head. It smells lightly grassy and I get a faint aroma of cheese. The feel is medium bodied and heavily carbonated. It has a crisp finish. It tastes faintly citrusy with a blunt malty taste. Overall, a decent lager.

★ 332 characters

3.76/5  rDev +3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Malt lager with very distinct flavors. Malt undertones, with high carbonation and bright golden color. Molasses and syrup hints and a pretty crisp aftertaste.

★ 158 characters

3.1/5  rDev -15.1%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3

In both taste and smell a faint orange and molasses quality came through along with your average lager malts. The overall body/complexity of this beer I found to be rather thin and the hops really only added a slight bitter quality to the beer and no real flavor. Of the lager session I had that night this was my least favorite. Still certainly not a bad lager though.

★ 369 characters

3.1/5  rDev -15.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 3

12 oz. bottle poured into shaker pint glass.

L: Sparkling straw with a sudsy, bright white head that didn't last long.
S: Good blend of wheat, other grain, and old world hops. Some DMS, but not a fault.
T: Sweet with a slightly bitter finish.
F: Surprisingly fully bodied for style, and more syrupy than I was expecting. Not as crisp as I had hoped.

O: A solid lager, but nothing spectacular. Would drink again with no hesitation, but probably wouldn't actively seek it out.

★ 476 characters

3.53/5  rDev -3.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours a clear, golden color. 1/4 inch head of an off-white color. Good retention and good lacing. Smells of strong pale malt, slight sweet malt, hint of Euro yeast, hint of hops, slight earthy malt, and a hint of wheat. Fits the style of an American Pale Lager. Mouth feel is sharp and crisp, with an average carbonation level. Tastes of slight hops, hint of resin, strong pale malt, sweet malt, hint of earthy malt, hint of yeast, and a hint of wheat. Overall, good appearance, but average aroma, body, and blend.

★ 521 characters

4.68/5  rDev +28.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75

Appearance (Look): style points for labeling, nautical theme accented by the map of the lakes is a nice touch, poured into 20-ounce Arc International Luminarc Gravity Glass, straw yellow to yellow amber in color depending on lighting and angle thereof, one-finger creamy white head slowly dissipated to very thin lacing, clear and inviting, lively in terms of carbonation, which is abundant when first poured, gradually tailed off to sparse vertical strings of small bubbly rising from base of glass

Smell: a carb lover's dream, smells like bread, yeast, swirling contents produced light hop aroma

Taste: flavors match smell, simple, clean malt core stays true to the Ba description of an American Pale Lager

Mouthfeel (Feel): crisp, light, mild, a bit of fizz action on the palate and tongue

Overall: This is my first beer rating, EVER, so please pardon my ignorance. That being said, I have sampled quite a few beers in my time and as far as a lager goes, this is one of the best I've had the pleasure to imbibe. I was happy to discover the availability for this beer is year-round. When light, clean, crisp and simple are the criteria for selection, this is my beer of choice.

★ 1,183 characters