Bell's Saturn

I'm no longer excited about this series. The Belgian and the double brown were extra forgettable and Venus was a complete joke. If they added Mars to their year round lineup I'd be really stoked

 

I definitely wanna try Saturn and hoping it's as good or better than third coast old ale. I assumed Jupiter double brown would be great coming from the makers of best brown but I was wrong. You think Bell's has any plans adding any of these to their lineup??

 

I think this sums up my impressions of Bell's Planet Series/expectations for the last three

1.) Mars - "Damn, I love this beer. It's not quite Hop Slam, not quite Oracle, but a damn good DIPA."
2.) Venus - "Bleh, what the hell is this weird crap? It's honey, vanilla, sour and still somehow bland."
3.) Mercury - "Oh great, can't wait to pick up that sixer my shop was saving for me. Oh wait, it was recalled."
4.) Jupiter - "Mmmmmm, an imperial Best Brown! Wait, what is this....."
5.) Saturn - "Homina homina homina! Can't wait to get a sixer"
6.) Neptune - "Hmmm, an imperial black IPA. I don't think I've seen one from Bell's, but they tend to do DIPA's well, so the DBIPA should be great too"
7.) Uranus - "PLEASE BE A RERELEASE OF BATCH 9000!"

 

I didn't think this year's Oracle was anywhere near as good as Mars. Tasted old to me.

 

Mars kicked ass. I hope Jupiter does as well.

 

I meant moreso the flavor profile was quite a bit different by my statements. I like Oracle, but I've only had it fresh once, so it was a new experience for me too.

 

So far each one of these tasted pretty close to what I expected. Were you expecting something different from the last 3?

 

I also agree that Mars was the best of the bunch, but since Bells is generous enough to send us these bottles when they're a month old, it was still a sub-par IPA. Very malt bombed.

Venus was interesting and I appreciated the creativity of it. Mercury and Jupiter were boring and not very good.

Luckily they don't send much of this series to WI, so everywhere offers single bottles. My hopes aren't very high for Saturn, but then again I don't know how a BA barleywine could be screwed up.

 

I'm with Al on this one. Other than Venus, where I had no idea what to expect, everything has been pretty predictable. Not sure why everyone hates Jupiter so much. Mars was great. Mercury was a Belgian Single. My process with Saturn and the rest will be the same, seek out 2 sixers, drink 9, cellar 3 for a weird planet vertical with some friends while blaring Gustav Holst.

 

I agree, I've been surprised at how negative people have been towards this series. I didn't even mind Venus, and like you say, Mercury and Jupiter were exactly what I thought they would be.

That said, @ojgio - I'd be surprised if you could easily get two sixers of Saturn. I haven't been able to find a single sixer of anything except Mercury in my area, and I can already hear the engine firing up on the Saturn hype train.

 

It may be tough to score 2, I would be more than happy with just 1, but my local shop has been great about saving me stuff and has stashed away 12 bottles of each planet so far. We did our wedding booze/kegs through this guy so he regularly hooks me up, for which I'm very thankful.

 

I think what irks people is that this series is supposed to be something special, but most of it has been boring basic styles and priced at a premium. I especially didn't see the point of a basic belgian and brown. Mars was probably fine if you got it fresh, Venus was pretty cool for the uniqueness, but the rest were boring and underwhelming. Just my $0.02.

 

I've loved the series. My local shop has saved me a 6pk of each. Mars was awesome, if Shorts made Venus you all would go crazy for it - also tasting really nice right now, and Jupiter was solid. As for premium priced, that was all on the retailers. My guy said the price per case is only $3.50 higher than Two Hearted and since these all share the same price get ready for a bargain of a bbl aged barleywine if you can find it! I'm sure shops are going to price Saturn high though.

 

That's an interesting point - Short's releases some beers I find absolutely awful (with some really weird ingredients) and people in this forum go nuts for them.

Not trying to hate on Short's, they're one of my favorite breweries, but the disconnect on this forum between how Venus was received vs how, say, Key Lime Pie or Juicy Tree was received is interesting.

 

I see your point. But I think most people were objective about Venus, especially when Mars was delicious. It really just was not good (the cardamom and sourness were not for me). I think Short's usually does a great job with their weird ingredients.

Mars was a pretty straightforward malty DIPA, Mercury was a straightforward Belgian Single, and Jupiter was a regular Imperial Brown Ale. Venus was not straightforward and just kind of a mess for me. I love to see that experimentation though.

 

Even though it wasn't advertised, I was expecting Bell's to surprise us and barrel age them all and each six pack was going to come with a Bell's branded Flesh Light, so I could literally have an orgasm while drinking the beer...

 

Sounds like something someone should have at Eccentric Day.