Marginal off-dry marzen with brown leafy hop astringency and earthen gourd musk given swift orange spicing over gluey Vienna malts.
BELL’S OCTOBERFEST MARZEN
Tag Archives: BELL’S BREWERY
BELL’S BOURBON BARREL AGED EXPEDITION STOUT
On tap at The Local Taphouse of Nyack. Intense 2018 barrel-aged version of brewers’ well-respected Expedition lets rich bourbon chocolate sweetness scintillate chewy molasses-draped cinnamon coffee ascension. In the backdrop, medicinal cherry, anise, fig and raisin illusions survive.
BELL’S RIND OVER MATTER WHEAT ALE
On tap at Growler & Gill, ‘crushable’ dry Oberon-like wheat ale retains slightly bitter lemony orange rind zesting, limey cologne musk and herbal lemongrass wisp for bright citric-spiced moderation.
BELL’S DOUBLE TWO HEARTED ALE
Containing twice the Centennial hops as its forbearer, alcohol-fueled Imperial IPA prickles the tongue with gracious citrus bittering, sweet floral-perfumed hop serenity and pungently dank pine resin. Polite yellow grapefruit, navel orange and pineapple bittering contrasts tangy peach-tangerine-cherry sweetness succinctly above doughy pale malt breading as mild brandy-wined ethyl alcohol fervor increases. Recommended.
BELL’S THIS ONE GOES TO 11 IMPERIAL RED IPA
Caramel toasted amber graining reinforces pineapple-orange-grapefruit zesting, “assertive” resinous pine bittering and earthen rye dryness of fascinatingly well-balanced West Coast IPA. Floral-sweetened mango, cherry, nectarine and tangerine tang softly penetrates sharp citric-pined surface (where mild alcohol burn beckons).
BELL’S CHRISTMAS ALE (2019)
Traditional Scotch ale lets delicate wintry spicing and dewy peat moss sweeten dry rye respite, brown tea-like earthiness and moist foliage. But its phenol hop aridity may be off-putting.
BELL’S CHOCOLATE VANILLA CHERRY STOUT
On tap at Ambulance, sour oaken cherry tartness seeps into mildly creamed lactic vanilla surge and cocoa-dried dark chocolate malting over soily peat earthiness.
BELL’S SONG OF MYSELF GERMAN-INSPIRED IPA
Frustratingly unspecific Euro-bent IPA lacks true stylistic allure as German hops and malts never coalesce into anything uniquely exciting. Instead, sharp grapefruit-orange-pineapple tang and wispy banana daiquiri boozing lost in a sea of subdued floral, herbal and vegetal notions. Musky turnip dankness and delicate lemongrass riffs reach lingered grassy hop astringency.
BELL’S SPARKLEBERRY BELGIAN-STYLED ALE
On tap at Ambulance, sparkling raspberry ale with enough lactic Belgian Framboise thrust, sour cherry tartness and sulfuric green grape esters to denounce its teasing tripel tag. Subtle champagne spritz, delicate Chardonnay buttering and dry rosé wining detail its multi-berry midst. An elegant sweetly soured Framboise with ample raspberry-pureed fruit juicing securing savory affluence.
BELL’S LARRY’S LATEST FLAMINGO FRUIT FIGHT
Tart passionfruit and lime adjuncts bring dryly sour tropical fruiting to the fore as vinous white-wined green grape tannins and juicy lemon spritz gain mild acidity. Limey passionfruit continuance picks up herbal lemongrass snips to wispy white wheat base.
BELL’S BEAR HUG IMPERIAL STOUT
On tap at Ambulance, caramel-burnt black chocolate spicing and dark coffee tones retain subdued maple molasses sweetness to contrast latent ashen earthen nuttiness.
BELL’S HOPSLAM ALE
On tap at Ambulance, wonderful dry-hopped Imperial India Pale Ale with a ‘dollop of honey’ spreads its complexities all over the place. Floral grapefruit-peeled orange tang, zesty lemon briskness and sticky pine resin of a sharp-toned IPA spark the front end while dried-fruited apricot, plum and fig illusions plus tertiary pineapple-peach-tangerine snips soak into the dewy earthen mustiness ransacked by rummy vodka-licked Scotch malt assertiveness (leaving a boozy alcohol astringency upon the expansive finish).
