Bell's - The Planets Series

Anybody know of anywhere in southeast Michigan (preferably Oakland or Macomb counties) that has Neptune in yet?

 

My order:

Mars (Simply one of the best IPAs I've ever had, heat and all.)
Uranus (The best black IPA I've had... I'm not sure how one could be much better.)
Saturn (Noticing a trend? Probably the best English Barleywine I've had. Perfect amount of barrel character.)
Neptune (A very successful experimental beer. Can taste just about everything listed on the bottle.)
Jupiter (A pretty good brown ale. I liked that I managed to get some vanilla out of it.)
Venus (A bit of a mess, and 12oz was more than enough, but I liked their idea with this one.)
Mercury (Mediocre, and not what I come to expect from Bell's. Nothing memorable about it at all.)

 

I would co-sign with pretty much all of these assessments word-for-word. Loved the heat on Mars in particular, and Uranus was by FAR the best Black IPA I've ever had.

Haven't tried NEPTUNE yet...still hasn't made it to Ann Arbor.

 

I'd say Mars, Uranus, and Saturn are pretty easily a top three, and then Neptune, Jupiter, Venus, and Mercury were easy to place too.

Mars and Uranus were separated by .01 in my review score.

 

Havent seen any Neptune yet.. really want it

 

Just had Neptune. Nice beer but not as overly complex as the bottle would lead you to believe. In my opinion at least. Though everybody has a different palate.

 

So excited for this! Planning a trip home to MI in late Aug. See you then. PS. Distribute more Oarsman in AZ please.

 

I actually DID find it to probably be a little too complex for its own good... definitely going to age my next bottle for hopefully a year or maybe two to see what happens to it. I think that might not be the best idea because I think it'll morph into more of a "typical" stout, but I'll try it out anyway.

 

What?
The kitchen sink isn't tasting "phenomenal"?

There's a shocker..

 

According to a lot of the ratings on this site it is.

 

Neptune is the only one that sounds good to me.

 

1) Mars - hands down best beer Bells has done
2) Uranus - black IPA with over the top tropical hoppiness.
3) Jupiter - totally underrated
4) Neptune - not as insane as I expected, but solid
5) Mercury - what? No one likes Belgian singles??
6) Saturn - sorry...not a bourbon guy
7) Venus - why? Just why?

 

So, does Neptune actually work, or is it a jumbled/disjointed mess?
How does Uranus stack up to other 'elite' black IPAs?

Jupiter is very tasty. Hard to get pumped for an Imperial brown, though, even though I enjoy the flavor profile.
Mars was a super malty IIPA, which I appreciate.

Pretty amped about getting to try a batch of Saturn my friend has hoarded.

 

do you believe everything you read on the internet?

 

I enjoyed Neptune quite a bit. It's not the best of the series, but it's definitely not the worst. Not sure why a lot of people are calling this a hot mess. If you like black licorice and a little peppery heat on your stouts, you will like this beer. The other 50 ingredients are pretty indistinguishable.

 

Uranus does not taste like ass.

 

I thought the molasses was pretty prevalent as well. In fact, the label could have said that it was an imperial stout brewed with molasses, anise and pepper and I would have believed it.

 

Ah yeah, forgot about the heavy molasses flavor as well.

 

Looks like it's hitting Minnesota this week! I'm excited to try it, if for no more than the experience and the bottle cap...

 

I'm not sure what the other "elite" black IPAs are, but I've had Sublimely Self-Righteous, Wookey Jack, Iniquity, Hoppy Feet, Blindfold, etc., and it blew them all out of the water.