KOTBR #101 - Bell's Batch 9000 and Friends

I don't know if you've heard, but Bell's Brewery has brewed a couple batches of beer. A couple THOUSAND batches of beer. Make that NINE thousand batches of beer.

Anheuser-Busch might snicker at that total, but count me impressed. I've brewed a few batches of homebrew and every single one is a bitch. Ok, fine, maybe it isn't a that bad, but I'm sure as shit never getting to 1000 batches.

It's a good thing Bell's is prolific so I don't have to be. Every time Larry Bell and his crew reach the magic threshold of one thousand batches, they mark the occasion by brewing a one-off Commemorative Brew creatively named for its batch number. Hence we have the Bell's Batch 1000s series.

I've been holding onto some of these Batch 1000s beers for several years -- no, I haven't had Batch 5000 in my possession for 8 years -- and I might have opened some earlier had I not expected an impending release of Batch 9000. You might recall that I made a logical, bullet-proof prediction about the release date for Batch 9000. I was only off by a full year.

Having finally, mercifully come to the release date of Batch 9000, I've been able to open up my stash of Bell's Batch 1000s beers.

Batch 5000
Style: Old Ale
Release Date: February 2002
ABV: 9%

Strange is about the best word I can use to describe this beer. The nose emitting from the glass is of alcohol and smoke. The taste goes from sweet to sour to sweet again in one fell swoop. The mouthfeel is mostly warming with a bit of puckering astringency. Though not necessarily my favorite of the verticals, it was amazingly complex and I am happy to have had the opportunity to try it after such a long time in storage.

Chris: 4.15 Mugs | Rod: 2.3 Mugs | Jason: 2.75 Mugs | Mike: 4.2 Mugs | Gina: 2.5 Mugs
KOTBR Score: 3.18000 Mugs


Batch 6000
Style: American Barleywine
Release Date: October 2003
ABV: 10.5%

The year 2003 was a big year for sequels. The Lord of the Rings, The Matrix, Terminator, X-men, Bad Boys... all of these movies had sequels in 2003 that captured 6 of the top 10 movie slots for the year. Now money isn't everything, so you can argue about the artistic success of these sequels. But it goes to show: we love a sequel.

So it's not surprising that people go ga-ga over verticals. They return again and again to see how things have changed since the last installment. Technically, this beer is the 5,999th sequel in Bell's long running series, but we're focusing just on the thousands. So I was happy to find that Batch 6000 was nothing like Batch 5000, which tasted like leftover Chinese restaurant beef in a bottle.

Batch 6000 is a barleywine. It had a tart, sweet nose that gave just a hint as to what you were in for with this beer. Butterscotch. Caramel. A bit of chocolate and dark fruits. It was thick, like a syrup. It didn't have the alcohol heat that you would expect from a 10.5% ABV beer, but I'm guessing that is what 7 years of aging will do. For me, this was the best of the evening's sequels.

Chris: 3.6 Mugs | Rod: 2.0 Mugs | Jason: 4.06 Mugs | Mike: 2.70 Mugs | Gina: 3.4 Mugs
KOTBR Score: 3.15000 Mugs

Batch 7000
Style: American Double/Imperial Stout
Release Date: September 2005
ABV: 12%

When a beer gets this old, there's a pretty good chance something is going to go wrong with it. The question is "did this go wrong in a good way?"

Batch 7000 is a dark brown beer, with minimal lacing. Notes of boulion, wet dog, molasses, and pretzel are evident in the front and middle, with a finish that jumps up with grassy and earthy and still hoppy flavors. Mouthfeel is chewy, and the beer still has quite a bit of alcohol heat. This might be a candidate for further aging.

I have no frame of reference for how this beer started, but I know it's pretty good right now. And if it's gone wrong, it's also gone right. 4.35 Mugs.

Gina: 3.00 Mugs | Chris: 3.27 Mugs | Rod: 3.0 Mugs | Jason: 3.7 Mugs | Mike: 4.35 Mugs
KOTBR Score: 3.46000 Mugs

When you've got a lineup this motley,
you need a board to keep it all straight.
Batch 8000
Style: Witbier (according to Beer Advocate), Wheatwine (according to Bell's rep Veronica)
Release Date: July 2007
ABV: 9%

The Bell's 8000 Batch received a bit of negative fallout in the beer community because of the explicit warning to drink this beer fresh. Many people like anniversary beers to be big and able to stand the test of time. Despite this trend, Bell's brewed a Belgian Wit for the 8000 Batch that leaned toward the imperial side.

Throwing caution to the wind, Chris decided to age this one anyway and I'm glad he did. This beer developed into a sweeter, complex Belgian treat. The smell brought to mind a hybrid of Tripel and Wit with the familiar qualities of coriander, orange, pepper and lemon zest topped off with sweet honey. This beer definitely lived up to what its aroma advertised, maintaining all of the expected fruits and spices but with a pleasantly spicy cinnamon finish.

Maybe it wasn't designed to be aged, but it has certainly held up well. I think I enjoyed the aged variety more than I did when it was fresh. 3.7 mugs

Mike: 4.37 Mugs | Gina: 3.3 Mugs | Chris: 3.9 Mugs | Rod: 3.7 Mugs | Jason: 3.68 Mugs
KOTBR Score: 3.79000 Mugs

Bell's Batch 9000: HBG Tested, Mother Approved.
Batch 9000
Style: American Strong Ale
Release Date: February 2010
ABV: 12.5%

For all the time we've waited for Bell's to release this beer, the table seemed to agree that Batch 9000 is not quite ready. But what the hell, we're here to review beer.

This beer is the brand new baby in the series. And, my god, this baby is hot, sweet and thick! The smell is of dark fruit and brown sugar (no doubt from the molasses used in this brew), with a hint of coffee. Licorice comes through in the taste, along with toffee and raisins. It finishes on the dry side with a slight alcohol burn that lingers.

Batch 9000 is a huge beer and, like its brethren, should age well for years and years. But don't let that stop you from trying a bottle now!

Mike: 3.1 Mugs | Gina: 3.3 Mugs | Chris: 3.4 Mugs | Rod: 3.9 Mugs | Jason: 3.49 Mugs
KOTBR Score: 3.44000 Mugs


As of April 7th, the most recent batch in Bell's online system is Porter. It was packaged March 26th and is considered Batch 9645 -- only 355 batches to go until Bell's next Commemorative Brew!

Bell's Batch 9000 Release Date

Don't get too excited, I don't have any official information about Bell's next 1000 batch celebration beer. I've just decided to simultaneously wear my beer geek hat and my regular geek hat while attempting to determine when Bell's Batch 9000 might come out.

As you may know, every bottle of Bell's beer contains a batch number on the bottom of the back label. If you take that batch number and head over to Bell's webpage, you can enter that number (top-left corner) and figure out exactly when that beer was bottled. Using this system, we can make a pretty good guess as to when Batch 9000 will come out. Here are some bottling dates we can get out of the system right now:

Batch 8000 -- July 26, 2007
Batch 8750 -- September 17, 2008 (Porter)
Batch 8769 -- September 30, 2008 (Two Hearted Ale, most recent batch in the system)

The number of days between batch 8000 and 8750 is three-quarters of the way to batch 9000, so if we assume that they will continue bottling at the same rate we can make a guess for Batch 9000. There were 419 days between batches 8000 and 8750, so there will be about 559 days between batches 8000 and 9000. 559 days from July 26, 2007 is February 4th, 2009, the approximate bottling date for Batch 9000.

Now that we've got a birthday for Batch 9000 what special recipe do you think/hope Larry Bell will use for this batch?

KOTBR #27 - Labor Day BBQ

It was Labor Day, we had some meat and a grill, so it only made sense to drink. Even though I originally suggested a BBQ, Chris was man enough to step up, host and cook the food for the event, thus saving us all from trichinosis, salmonella, beef tapeworm, hoof and mouth, and possibly myxomatosis.

As an added bonus, we got to watch the Muppet Show. Talk about childhood flashbacks... the opening theme put memories in my head so vivid that I was almost overwhelmed with the bittersweet memories of my lost childhood. Or maybe that was caused by the endless supply of beer Chris kept feeding us.

Bell's Batch 8000 - I suppose a beer that's 9% ABV isn't really the best way to start a night of drinking. Nevertheless we began the evening with Larry Bell's latest and greatest, a beer with a 95 rating on ratebeer - and of course I didn't like it all that much. 8000 is a wheat beer with a cloudy, pumpkin-colored appearance. In fact, pretty much everything we drank Monday had the exact same appearance, which was kind of weird. Anyway. Something about this beer reminded me of Brugge Beer's White, though I'd take the White over this. 8000 has a tight, tart-like mouthfeel and a flavor that sticks with you. The beer hits right on the front of the tongue and then leave you with not much else. I found it hard to get a read on this one, to be honest; but I know I wouldn't want more than one. 3.0 Mugs.

Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA - After starting with the 9.0 ABV 8000, we scaled it back a bit with this 7.2 ABV IPA from Bear Republic. This beer had the same pumpkin color as the Bell's, but with a lot of sediment and floaties. The Racer 5 has a sweet, hoppy nose, which is followed by a mouth-snappin' hoppy taste. I prefer my IPAs a little milder, with a little more malt backing. I know Chris really digs this one, but I'm the guy that hates everything. 3.0 Mugs.

Unibroue Seigneuriale - I'd pronounce that as "Senior Ale" - but if you know Unibroue, then you know that this isn't a beer for your grandpop. Another 7.2% ABV beer, this had the pumpkin color, a tiny bubbly head, and a tart, fruity Belgian-style nose - but there was something slightly off. Gina mentioned fermented apple, Jason agreed - I'd say that's the closest description I could come up with. The beer had an apple taste, but also a hint of caramel - caramel apple is probably a fair description. The other thing I noticed was that the beer had a very "flat" taste. Although I'm a fan of the caramel apple, I'm not so much a fan of Seigneuriale. Interesting, but not necessarily good. 2.5 Mugs.

Goose Island Demolition - Well, I like the bottle for this beer, but other than that I don't have a lot good to say about it. The bottle explained that the original Goose Island brewery was located in some sort of mini-mall that was being torn down, but through the magic of beer, the brewery stayed. This beer was created in tribute to those folks who stuck with the brewery through the demolition.

Look, that's great and all, but why does this beer taste like dirt? Earthly tones - I actually thought of green beans with my first drink. Then a bit of a sulfury taste, similar to what I got from Fat Tire. I guess this was 8% ABV... I dumped it in the sink. You can probably see where this review is going. 1.5 Mugs.

Bear Republic Big Bear Black Stout - Because we're gluttons and I can never pass up a stout - we also had a slight tasting of another Bear Republic offering. This beer had a dark, dark body (think Darth Vader), with heavy lacing. A deep Hershey's syrup nose was followed with a thick, chewy taste that found a fine middle ground between chocolate and smoked meat. 8.1% ABV. Small sample. This was good stuff. 4.0 Mugs.

A Labor Day Libations review, but first a movie preview...

They only met once, but it changed their lives forever.

They were five total strangers, with nothing in common, meeting for the first time. A brain, a beauty, a jock, a rebel and a recluse.

Before the day was over, they broke the rules. Bared their souls. And touched each other in a way they never dreamed possible.

So take the phone off the hook, put on your pajamas, hop onto the couch, grab a box of tissues, not to mention a bottle of Midol, because if you watch this movie often enough, you will ovulate. I, of course, am speaking of...

The Breakfast Club, the Zima of 80's movies.

Don't agree with me? Read the movie poster again.

But I'm not here to talk about chick flicks. Labor Day has come and gone. Summer is over. And there is no better way to mark the occasion than to cook some meats over an open flame and chug down some cold brews. And that's exactly what I did on Monday with some of my fellow HBG Knights.

Let us begin with Bell's Batch 8000. This limited edition Witbier is about as good as Witbier's come, though Witbier is one of my least favorite varieties. Something about the combination of flavors like citrus, banana, clove, coriander, etc. just doesn't sit well with me. Kinda like eating potpourri. The Batch 8000 looks like a solid Witbier with a cloudy orange appearance. The smell was pleasant; a nice blend of banana and clove. Almost like banana nut bread. The taste was surprising. Initial hit of spices, including coriander. But the beer left a sugary sweet mouthfeel. Not unpleasant. I enjoyed this beer more than others in the same category. Maybe it is because I'm ready for all things fall. At 9% ABV, it has a bit more strength than most Witbiers. So be careful. 3.5 mugs.

Next up, Bear Republic's Racer 5. Not yet available in Indiana, this IPA came courtesy of Chris and myself. We picked up eight 750 mL bottles in Chicago during a recent road trip. And we felt the need to share with the others. I've been enjoying IPA's a lot over the last 6 or 9 months and this is a good one to share with others who are not hop heads. In smell and in taste, you find hops all over the place, but not with the bitterness that you'd expect. It has a hint of citrus, but I think the hops flavor comes out more. This is an easy drinking beer, and a good place for non-IPA drinkers to start. It is not my favorite IPA. But it is very good. And the best beer of the night. 4.5 mugs.

Unibroue's La Seigneuriale. I have no idea how to even begin pronouncing it. This is another beer from the Chicago road trip. It is another in a long line of Belgian style beers from this Canadian brewer. Let me begin with a story first. My wife's grandfather is a farmer man in northern Indiana. Every fall, he enters the best of his harvest in the fall fair and comes home with many, many blue ribbons. He also has a home made cider press (as in the press is home made) that makes home made cider. Best apple cider in the world. After he is done making cider, he takes the apple remains and piles them around a tree to decompose. Bees always swarm to it. The best way to describe the smell: the beautiful, sweet aroma of decomposition. That is also how I will describe La Seigneuriale. It has been my favorite Unibroue beer to date. It is not a beer that I would regularly drink, but it is one that fascinates me. 3.5 mugs.

The last beer of the night was Goose Island's Demolition Ale. Let me say that after drinking this beer, I figured that my taste buds were shot. Because I found the beer to be lacking in taste and aroma. A quick look at Beer Advocate and I quickly discover that I'm not alone. One reviewer wrote how he is a big fan of GI but was very disappointed by this beer. But others at BA wrote about how much they liked it. So I'm going to be responsible and say that I am withholding my review until I can conduct another review. I will review it on another day.

KOTBR #27 - Mike makes an offer I can't refuse

Mike is a slavedriver. For real. He don't care that it's football season (he's a soccer fan), and I wasn't in front of the computer at all over the weekend - but only camped out in front of my tv. I had an email from him today that said, and I quote, "Chris, you better post your goddamned review of the beer we drank on Labor Day, or I'm going to come over to your house and kick your fat ass! Hell, I'll even kick your little dog's ass, too!" For real! He's mean.

Don't believe me??? Probably a good thing. I like to make shit up.

Anyway, to save my little dog from Mike's boot, here are my mug ratings from our Labor Day brews:

Bell's Batch 8000 - Wow! This isn't a good beer to drink as your first beer. I think I commented that it would better if it was like my third beer and my taste buds were already a little numb. This just grabs your taste buds and does to you what Humprhey does to Deano's tap. I'll give Larry Bell the benefit of the doubt, because I don't think he makes a bad beer. I'll give him 3.25 mugs, partially for bravado, and partially because it's how many strong beers I would need to drink before I would like this one more.

Unibroue's Seigneuriale - I think this roughly translates as "The Lord's Ale". If that's the case, God has bad taste in beer (is it sacriligious to criticize God's taste in beer?). Typically a very big fan of everything Unibroue, this one falls flat for me. This should be "Johnny Appleseed's Ale" because that was the only thing I could taste - apples. My personal beer mantra is "Don't fruit the beer!", and this just goes against my mantra. Too much. 2 mugs.

Goose Island Demolition - I don't remember much about this beer, which I think says enough. 2 mugs.

Now, I'm going to preference my next two reviews by saying that I have a very strong bias in favor of the brewery and everything they make. But it's only because their worthy of the praise.

Bear Republic is located in Healdsburg, California, a quaint little town in Wine Country about an hour north of San Francisco. On my trip out there in May, I trekked to Bear Republic upon the strong urging of BadaBoomz' Mike DeWeese. I cannot thank him enough. I think very highly of Nick Floyd's and Larry Bell's overall product offering, but brewmaster Richard Norgrove just might have them both beat, at least in my book. I tried everything they were offering, and some of it twice. I spent a lot of time there, obviously, getting to know the bartender and the staff. The following two beers were my favorite's then, and I've got to say, I still love both of them. It's very unfortunate that their beers are not offered in Indiana (World Class & Cavalier, you listening??), but at least we can get them in Chicago, which is where I picked these up on my recent trip with Jason to the Windy City.

Big Bear Black Stout - This ranks up with one of the best stouts I've ever had. It tastes just the way a stout should - thick, heavy, chocolate, nutty, and caramel. Damn, this will be a wonderful beer to drink this fall! 5 mugs.

Racer 5 IPA - This is their most famous beer, and I know why. It's the best IPA I've ever drank. For someone who isn't a huge hophead, but still likes some bitters to your beers, this is perfect. It's mellow, yet forceful. It's just the right mixture of hops (for me), and leaves a very pleasent aftertaste. Can I say it's sumptuous? 5 mugs.

Now, Mike, please leave my little dog alone. She doesn't even like beer!

Random summary of beer

I recognize that I'm not so good about posting much anymore. When work and school doesn't have my attention, it goes to my family. And rightfully so. But I still love beer, and bringing you news about good beer. I have to apologize to my fellow Knights for not being so prompt on stuff these days.

So this is my summary of what should be several different posts.

1. Muncie rocked. We had a great time hanging out with our friends on the Good Beer Show. We're show #128, which I'm guessing will go up sometime this week. We drank a lot of high ABV beers, none of which I thought were bad. Mike told you what they are in his post. The Fickle Peach and the Heorot are both cool, and you have to check em out. Thanks Jeffrey T., Traci and the Gang! And thanks Mike for driving home!

2. I'm not too sad that I didn't get to participate in the Retro Beer Challenge Round 1. Although, Rolling Rock was the very first beer that I liked enough to finish. 11 years ago - how's that for retro? How sad is that? Dos Equis was the 2nd. Thanks Old Latrobe, PA!

3. BadaBoomz has almost free valet parking now. It's free if your bill is $30 or more. Otherwise, it's only $2. Thanks Mike!

4. Deano's is hosting Brat-toberfest on Saturday, September 15th. Music, beer, brats. What more could you ask for? Oh, yeah, we'll be there, too. On a side note, I've now hung out a Deano's the last two Friday nights, and I've just come to re-appreciate what good shits they are there. Thanks Deano, Jody, Nick, Laura, and Michelle!!

5. The Hop Shop has Bell's Batch 8000 in six packs for $13.49, Two Brothers Heliocentric Bragot in a 22oz. for $6.49, and Upland Lambics in 750 mLs for $14.99. If you don't know, The Hop Shop also has free beer tastings every Saturday until 8pm. Thanks Courtney!

6. When Jason and I were in Chicago on Monday for a Cubs vs. Cardinals, White Sox vs. Royals double header, we first stopped at this fantastic beer store in Wrigleyville. It was awesome! My favorite purchase was something I can't get in Indiana, but is one my new top three favorite beers in the whole world - Racer 5 IPA by Bear Republic in Healdsburg, CA. I bought a lot of beer. So did Jason. We now have a lot of beer. Thanks Binny's and Bear Republic!

7. My very favorite beer of all-time is the Optimator. Thanks Spaten!

I think that's all for now.

2007 Hoosier Beer Geek Review - by the numbers

The Knights should thank their livers for allowing them to review approximately 57 different brews from all over the globe (30 cities, 10 states and 6 countries) in 2007. There were 51 beers at 27 Roundtable events while the remaining six reviews were random entries (warm-up beers, diary entries). During 2007, we had two amazing parties, 1 beer with our namesake*, and were especially busy during the month of December when we did about a quarter of our Roundtable reviews (13 beers).

Beers/Locations

We rated the most beers at one time (6) during Jim's Chrismukkah celebration, which was somewhat surprising since all of the reviewed drinks had an ABV of 8% or more. The remaining 26 Roundtables commenced at 20 separate locations with Deano's, Brugge, and Badaboomz as the setting for more than one Roundtable.

Our highest rated breweries with one beer, Upland (Ard Ri) and Dogfish Head (90 Minute), had 5 mugs overall. Our highest rated brewery with more than one beer was Bear Republic with an average of 4.25 for their Racer 5 IPA and the Big Bear Black Stout. Not surprisingly, the most represented state was Indiana featuring 15 reviews from nine distinct breweries including Upland, New Albanian, Broad Ripple Brewpub, Oaken Barrel, Brugge Brasserie, Barley Island, Mad Anthony, and Three Floyds. Other states that had five or more reviewed beers were California, Michigan, and New York.

Styles

Our most reviewed style (of approximately 27), Belgian Strong Ales, had eight different beers. They were Brouwerij Huyghe Delirium Tremens and Delirium Noel, Brewery Van Steenberge Piraat, Ommegang Abbey, Bell's Batch 8000, Brugge Brasserie Imperial (I think this is considered a Belgian Strong, but I am not positive), Unibroue Signeurale, and Goose Island Demolition. They faired well overall, having an average score of 3.14, but there were seven other styles averaging a four mug or better rating (Irish Ale, Scottish Ale, Quadruples, Imperial Stout, Imperial/Double IPA, Dry Stout).

Knights

Of the seven Knights, the average rating / # of reviews (of 51 Roundtable beers reviewed):
• Chris - 3.72 / 27
• Jason - 3.69 / 29
• Jim - 3.67 / 37
• Kelly - 3.67 / 12
• Gina - 3.51 / 29
• Matt - 3.40 / 10
• Mike - 3.15 / 43

Here you can see the Knight with the most time on his hands (or the biggest lush) is Mike with 43 reviews. The highest rated beer (5 mugs) by the most knights (6 out of 7) was the 90 Minute IPA from Dogfish Head. Chris was the Knight most likely to give a five mug review, with seven beers receiving the honor (Upland Ard Ri, Delirium Noel and Delirium Tremens, He’Brew Origin Pomegranate Ale, Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA, Bear Republic Big Black Bear Stout and Racer 5 IPA). The remaining Knights were a little more reserved with their mugs, offering the highest rating to only one or two beers (with the exception of the newest Knight, Matt, who did not officially give a five mug rating to any beer in 2007). Other five mug ratings were Founder’s Kentucky Breakfast Stout, Koningshoeven Quadrupel Trappist Ale, and BBC’s Jefferson Reserve Bourbon Barrel Stout.

We accomplished a lot this past year and met some new friends along the way. We're thankful for you and your support over the past year and we hope to bring you even more beers, events, and news for 2008. If there is something in particular you would like to see, let us know. We're always looking for suggestions.

* Sint Sylvester Vooranvond - A HBG Commemorative Ale – awesome, but no official review submitted.

KOTBR #27 In Review - Labor Day, The Breakfast Club, and Keeping the Ship On Course

I've seen it happen again and again - Indianapolis blogs that die the slow death; a post here and there, then once a week, then once a month, some of them dead even though they don't know it yet...

It's not going to happen here, despite Chris' efforts to pull a Joseph Hazelwood. Someone has to be Ferdinand Magellan*.

But before mutiny, let's address Roundtable #27, The Breakfast Club and the beer consumed on Labor Day.

First - the Breakfast Club. Despite Jason's best efforts to use the movie's own poster to prove it's "Chick Flickness", the audience has spoken, the polls are closed, and The Breakfast Club is - by a score of 31 to 16 - definitely not a chick flick. But Jason is welcome to cry while watching it anyway.

And now the beer - Four of the Geeks met at Chris' house on Labor Day for some tasty BBQ and a massive sampling.

Bell's Batch 8000 - Banana nut bread potpourri, a tight, tart-like mouthfeel, and a stuffed-dog humping of your tastebuds. 3.25 Mugs.

Unibroue Seigneuriale - Johnny Appleseed's Ale; caramel apple, the beautiful, sweet aroma of decomposition. 2.66 Mugs.

Goose Island Demolition - Overextended tastebuds knock one knight out, but the other two soldier on. Green beans and sulfur, and a lack of memory. 1.75 Mugs.

Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA - The perfect IPA for non-hopheads? Chris thinks so. Jason calls it "best best beer of the night." A mouth-snappin' hoppy taste. Mike drags the score down again. 4.16 Mugs.

Bear Republic Big Bear Black Stout - Jason sat this one out too. Deep Hershey's syrup nose - thick, heavy, chocolate, nutty, and caramel. We dug it. 4.5 Mugs.

* * * * *

*I would prefer that from here on out you address me as Captain Ferdinand. And I want a hat with a feather.