Bell's 2018 Releases

Loved it!

 

May need to re-mortgage the farm in September with those releases. Outstanding brewery!

 

Lot of cherry stouts and coffee stouts

I get they grow cherries near by, but 3 stouts plus pooltime ale?

 

I have never got the regular Cherry stout to fade, even after a few years its still right there. I like cherry and but for the $ I would buy this a lot

Enjoy

 

hell yeah

 

Has anyone heard what happened to these? Road to Hell was supposed to be a July release, according to the calendar. I got kind of busy and forgot about it. I haven't read anything about it and the beer is not listed here.

 

I was really looking forward to these. I started to get into Belgian dark ales in the last year or so. I am guessing these are a no go at this point.

About 2 years ago I drove to Kalamazoo on a day that Black Note released. I arrived at the General Store somewhere between 10 and 20 minutes after the last bottle was sold. I sat down at the bar with my brother-in-law and we ordered a beer. About half way through that first glass Double Two Hearted went up on the board. The one saving grace from that trip. That and having a few beers with my brother-in-law.

 

Funny how things go. I was at Bell’s store last month and they had singles of Black Note. I have never seen it on store shelves in our area. Not once. Luckily Winking Lizard had bottles to drink at their restaurants this year. Didn’t see Double Two Hearted but the Anniversary Cherry Stout Reserve had me giggling like a school boy. Love that one.

 

I'm just super eager for that American Wheat IPA that's coming. I bet it's going to be goooood.

 

I tried double two hearted in my area (not the brewery) and didn't really care for it. Seemed more like triple two hearted, too hot and boozy to compare to the original. Most ipas over 10% start getting too sweet for me.

 

I was really excited for Road to Hell too. Since neither R2H, BN or BAE has hit in 2018 I went looking for approved labels. None of the three beers has had a label approved in 2018. I don't think that guarantees they won't be released, but it doesn't seem to look good at the moment.

 

Funny folks takes on Smitten

I find it to be exactly what I expected over the years>>clean with a soft clean feel and that dry crisp finish— wish we could still get it. Not the “in” thing but well made.

 

That's how I felt about The Oracle. The price of it in my area is ridiculous so it's not really moving and one ended up in the singles section so I tried it, one and done for me.

 

Bells started distro. here a couple months back and I'm told there doing very well so far. I'm a big fan of rye, would of loved to have tried Smitten. Sounds like a nice, tasty summer crusher to me.

Cheers

 

I loved Smitten. Great rye flavor. It was a late winter release and my favorite Bell's seasonal. I don't understand why Oberon is so popular and Smitten is being replaced, because Oberon is one of the very few craft beers I actually find gross. Larry's is good, but I miss Smitten.

 

Oracle was one of the best beers I ever had, definitely one of the best DIPAs, much better than Hopslam, and reminded me of Stone. I'm a huge West Coast IPA fan not so much East Coast. Oracle was right on par with its Piney hopiness and what I'd expect out of a west coast IPA, so much that I would love Oracle to take Hopslams place for an every year seasonal beer.

 

Never been a fan of Rye Smitten always found it gross. Oberon was my first craft beer 15 years ago and always found it delicious. But now I will only drink Oberon in its initial release in March/April and in cans. As I have found those first 3 days poured into a wheat glass from a can is a totally different Oberon experience, no orange needed. Then again the fresh Oberon out of a can experience may only be experienced in Michigan as distribution might prohibit such freshness. But man I've had over 800 beers, 95 different styles and Oberon is in top 50 when having in first week of canning and poured from can into wheat glass. Bought Smitten Rye once 5 years ago, never bought again. If I wanted a good rye beer I'd drink Linenkugel Canoe Paddler, however since Molson buyout, canoe paddler had never been the same....today it tastes like coors. But don't go dissing Oberon, you just haven't had it super fresh.

 

Mars was okay, Oracle I found to be amazing. No I know they won't replace Hopslam, just saying Hopslam is in top 250 on this site and there's lots of pride towards Hopslam whereas I found oracle to have Stone IPA significance. As this is what I want in an IPA. I don't want juice, i want a Piney hop tongue sting and oracle had this. It's one of the latest beers I've had that had blown me away. I'll probably never buy Hopslam ever again nor Mars but every time Oracle is released I'll buy 2 6 packs.