Bells Christmas Ale

With snow on the ground and temperatures barely above freezing, I have found it very easy to make the early transition to winter or holiday-themed beers. Like every year I started with a 6-pack of Sierra Nevada’s winter classic Celebration Ale, then transitioned to some local favorites like Rohrbach Kasey’s Kristmas Ale & Naked Dove’s Nice & Naughty Christmas Ale. After I make my way through the classics I then looked to try something new, which brings us to the beer I am writing about today, Bells Christmas Ale,

Bells Christmas Ale is a 7.5% scotch ale, that pours reddish-brown with a light tan head. Its aroma thankfully did not contain any holiday spices. Not that I don’t enjoy them from time to time(Nice & Naughty), I just prefer a more straight forward approach to my holiday-themed beers. The aroma did contain a lot of caramel, along with a nice touch of peat smoke, a beautiful hint of cherry, raisin, toffee, herbal hops and a warm touch of alcohol. Honestly, the aroma was fantastic. I was fairly certain I would enjoy this beer. After my first sip, I knew my next beer purchase would be another 6-pack of this.

Sweet caramel dominates the flavor throughout. It is the first thing you taste and sticks around through the finish. While that might make it sound like Christmas Ale is unbearably sweet, it is beautifully balanced. Notes of cherry, toffee and peat smoke come through before a warm, herbal finish. The 7.5% is not completely hidden and I feel like that helps the beer. Its warmth pairs beautifully with a cold, snowy evening. The only thing I wish there was more of in the taste is the peat smoke. It comes through a lot more in the nose and if there was a bit more in the flavor, this review would be even more glowing.

I think it’s very clear by now that I really enjoyed Bells Christmas Ale. It’s a fantastic scotch ale and easily one of the best beers from Bells I have had in quite some time. If you are looking for a great holiday beer without the spices, I definitely recommend giving this one a try.

Overall rating: 4/5

Bells Sparkleberry & 30th Anniversary Cherry Stout Reserve

Usually when I see a new release from Bell's Brewery, I have to try it. Bell's is just one of those breweries you can usually count on to deliver a well-crafted drinking experience. Recently, they released two beers that captured my attention, Sparkleberry & 30th Anniversary Reserve Cherry Stout.

Sparkleberry is not a new beer but 2018 marks its debut in cans. It was first brewed in 2013 to celebrate Bells’ Sponsorship of Kalamazoo Pride. Over the years, Sparkleberry would occasionally make its way to NY but I kept missing my chance to try it. So as you can imagine, I was particularly excited to give this one a long overdue try. The idea of a Belgian-Style Tripel Ale brewed with Raspberries sounded delicious to me. I also liked the fact that the ABV(8.3%) is true to the style by being on the stronger side. The ABV, the style of beer, and the raspberries made this sound like the perfect summer sipper. As I opened the can, I just hoped I was right.

Sparkleberry was a bit of an unexpected drinking experience. I expected the raspberries to dominate the flavor but I also expected them to be much sweeter than they were. The raspberries were initially sweet but some lemon tartness shows up, followed by the flavors you would expect from a tripel, namely clove, pepper spice and banana. The finish is very dry, almost wine like and the 8.3% ABV adds a bit of astringency. Unfortunately, there also appeared to be a hint of nail polish remover as well in it. I really wanted to like this beer but was thrilled I shared the can after the first sip. The fruit flavoring did not blend as seamlessly as I expected with the base beer. It is not bad, but not a beer I would look to purchase again.

Overall rating: 2.5/5

I thought I was done blogging about stouts for a while but the 30th Anniversary Cherry Stout Reserve gave me a reason to do a quick review just in case. The beer is dark chocolate-covered cherries in a glass. The cherries are tart and balance the sweetness of the chocolate nicely. There is a touch of smoke along with a woody, spicy finish. The 9% ABV is fairly well hidden which was nice. The cherry and the dark chocolate were bold enough however to dominate mostly everything here. I enjoyed drinking this beer but I wanted it to have a little more complexity. Then again, it delivered exactly what it promised. It was also a much more pleasant experience than the last time I purchased the Bells Cherry Stout. That beer was so metallic I thought I was drinking T-1000 in a glass(hope that reference wasn't too dated). This one is decadent and delicious. If this dessert in a glass sounds appealing to you, I recommend picking it up.

Overall rating: 3.75/5




Rating Scale:
1. Repugnant and undrinkable
2. Acceptable but forgettable
3. Good, worth a purchase
4. Excellent, a step above the norm
5. Truly Exceptional. Drop everything, BUY IT NOW!

To discuss this blog or all things beer like my Facebook page

Look for me on Instagram & Untappd and Twitter @ACraftyLook

For more beer reviews check out: http://www.acraftylook.com

Thanks for reading. Sláinte!

Bells Mars Double IPA

The Bells Planet Series was something I found enjoyable and underwhelming all at the same time. In most cases, I remember something about each of the beers I tried. I remember sitting with my wife drinking Venus, while she cringed through each sip. I looked at her confused because somehow the bizarre blend of ingredients in a blonde ale worked for me. I remember being excited at the price of Saturn for being Bourbon Barrel Aged and then disappointed the more I drank of it. I remember sitting quietly after a long day of work drinking a Uranus and thinking it was a really great Black IPA. Then I remember reading the list of ingredients for Neptune and wondering what the brewing process for that was like. I imagined the brewers were looking at a list of every adjunct they had on hand and saying 'dump it in”. With the laundry list of adjuncts in the beer, barely any of them stood out in the flavor. Still, I thought Neptune was a good stout. I never got around to trying Mars: The Bringer of War because it was sold out every time I tried to buy a bottle. As you can imagine, I am thrilled Bells decided to brew it again and give me a second chance to try it.

Right off the bat, I loved the beautiful reddish-orange color of Bells Mars Double IPA. In beer form, it seemed to perfectly match a photo of the “Red Planet”. The aroma was nice, but from it I knew  I was in for a big beer. Huge notes of grapefruit, resinous pine, caramel malt, pineapple and candied orange stood out with a nicely. The first sip started out with a nice caramel malt sweetness before a massive rush of citrus and pine. Notes of pineapple, orange, and mango complimented those flavors before giving way to a sticky pine, grapefruit rind, slightly spicy, dry, boozy finish. When I say boozy finish, I mean it. The 10.1% is not even remotely hidden. I like a little heat on the finish but this was a bit too much. Still I thought Mars was a fairly good Double IPA, it's just nothing memorable. By the end of my glass, I was happy I only purchased one bottle. It's definitely on the syrupy side and that began to wear me down the further I got into the beer. I am happy I was able to try Mars, but I can't say it is something I could or would want to drink another bottle of.

Overall I would rate Mars a 3/5. I'm glad I got to try it and I hope to see other reissues in the future from this series.

Rating Scale:
1 - Repugnant and undrinkable
2 - Acceptable but forgettable
3 - Good, worth a purchase
4 - Excellent, a step above the norm
5 - Truly Exceptional. Drop everything, BUY IT NOW!

To discuss this blog or all things beer like my Facebook page

Look for me on Instagram & Untappd and Twitter @ACraftyLook

For more beer reviews check out: http://www.acraftylook.com

Thanks for reading. Sláinte!

Oktoberfest Pt. 2 (Ayinger, Yuengling, Bells, Great Lakes)

Previously on A Crafty Look...

Hacker-Pschorr Original Oktoberfest Amber Marzen had a beautiful malt profile but it's hindered by a metallic finish.

Spaten Oktoberfest was boring and bland.

Sierra Nevada's Oktoberfest was good but not as good as last year.

Left Hand Oktoberfest was quite good and deceptively strong at 6.6%.

Now that you are caught up with what happened last week, I can get right into this week's reviews starting things off with again in Germany with Ayinger Oktober Fest-Marzen. Pouring a clear amber with a white head, Ayinger's version of an Oktoberfest beer was a delight drink. Its aroma is very bready, grainy with some caramel and a hint of fruit and spice. The flavor matches the aroma, toasted bread and caramel shine initially. The sweetness of the caramel is quite nice. It is balanced by a nutty, spicy, dry finish. This stood out nicely compared to the other beers I reviewed. As you will shortly find out with Yuengling's Oktoberfest, balance is important. Oktoberfest beers have a tendency to get a little too sweet. I think Sam Adams is a perfect example of this. Ayinger Oktober Fest-Marzen adds a really nice amount of bitterness to prevent this from happening. The result is a wonderful beer for a crisp Fall night session. In short, I really enjoyed this beer. It's not the best beer I've had but it's one of the best Oktoberfest beers I've had.

Overall rating: 4.25/5

Next up we have the aforementioned Yuengling Oktotoberfest. I admit I have not had this one in a few years but I remember liking it a lot. This all changed when I put this beer against other ones in the style. Yuengling's version is largely hindered by it's lack of balance. Its ruby red color with an off-white head looks amazing. The aroma was bursting with caramel sweetness, a light spiciness and a lot of bread. A caramelized sugar sweetness is what mostly dominates the flavor. This all leads to the classic bready, Yuengling Lager finish. This would all work nicely if there was more hops in the finish to provide balance. Sadly, Yuengling Oktoberfest is completely under-hopped. The malt sweetness dominates mostly everything you taste. The hops are there but they are in the background and make things more bland than anything else. It merits saying this is a less expensive Oktoberfest beer and it is not a bad beer for the price. This is however, an example of getting what you pay for. This is the kind Oktoberfest you bring to a party of people you barely know because it is worth trying a bottle. You just won't give it a second thought when you leave the rest behind.

Overall rating: 2.5/5

Of all the Oktoberfest beers I chose for this epic two part review, the one I was most excited to try was Bells Octoberfest. I am a huge fan of Bells Brewery and have not had a chance to try their Octoberfest. The main reason for this is the beer has not been bottled in 5 years. So when I saw it on the shelves next to their other fall offering Best Brown Ale, I grabbed it immediately. I just hoped it would live up to the high expectations I had for it. Unfortunately it only met those expectations halfway. The first initial taste reminded me of cheap beer. At 11 dollars a six pack, the last thing you want to compare your beer to is something you could have bought for 4. But let's make things a bit more positive here, there are notes of Toasted nuts, toffee, cracker with a slight fruitiness in the flavor. The finish had a touch of citrus which I thought was nice. As the seventh Oktoberfest beer I've reviewed any slight difference from toasted bread, caramel, and toasted nuts is quite nice. To sum it up, even though it is reminiscent of cheap beer, it is not bad beer. At times I actually found myself enjoying Bells Octoberfest. Unfortunately it's just nothing memorable. If they did not bottle it for another 5 years I probably wouldn't notice.

Overall rating: 3/5.

Finally my last Oktoberfest for the year, from Cleveland, Great Lakes Oktoberfest. At this point I am sure you know what to look for in the aroma and the flavor, so I will make this short and sweet. I am not really a fan of this beer. It gets a little too sweet at times. The caramel malt lingers a little too long after the spicy finish. It becomes a little distracting. Closing this blog with this beer may have been a mistake. Honestly after all this malt, I can't wait to drink a beer absolutely drowned in hops. Great Lakes Oktoberfest is definitely the sweetest one of the bunch and that is not a good thing.

Overall rating: 2/5

That concludes my epic 2 part Oktoberfest blog. For the first time ever, I think I am done drinking Oktoberfest beers by the end of September. Since the actual Oktoberfest ends around then, I think that's all right.


Rating Scale:
1 - Repugnant and undrinkable
2 - Acceptable but forgettable
3 - Good, worth a purchase
4 - Excellent, a step above the norm
5 - Truly exceptional　

To discuss this blog or all things beer follow me on Twitter, Instagram & Untappd at @ACraftyLook

For more beer reviews go to: http://acraftylook.blogspot.com

Thanks for reading. Sláinte!

Bell's Oberon Ale

When you are a fan of seasonal beer, you can find yourself looking for them on a schedule. Fall beers usually arrive in stores in mid August, winter beers in late October, spring beers in January and summer beers somewhere between the end of March and early April. While I usually start purchasing most seasonal beers as soon as I can, I have a tendency to stay away from summer beer until the end of May. It seems like a cruel joke to sip a beer with an image of a sun or a surfboard on the label when a winter coat is still my go-to jacket and there is still potential for ice on the ground. While the end of May might seem a bit late to have ice on the ground, I do live in Upstate NY and weather here changes quickly. With that being said, cold weather seems to finally be out, summer beers are finally in and it's time to start reviewing my first of the season.

From the Bell's Brewery in Comstock, Michigan, Bell's Oberon Ale is an American Wheat Ale that pours a cloudy light orange with a thin white head. The refreshing scent of coriander and citrus stand out in the aroma. Upon tasting the delicious flavor of wheat, orange and lemon were immediately noticeable before a clean spicy finish with a hint of candy sweetness.

Bell's Oberon Ale works well because it manages to be light bodied and full of flavor. It does a much better job at creating citrus flavors through its ingredients than some of the other summer ales and shandies that hide their mediocre beer behind overpowering fruit flavoring. On top of that, Oberon Ale has an almost undetectable 5.8% ABV which is a bit stronger then the usual summer ale. What is noticeable and in my opinion could be the main drawback of this beer is the sweetness. While enjoyable, over time I could easily see the sweetness becoming a bit overbearing. Other than that I can safely say this is one of the better summer beers I've had and it was well worth the wait.

Overall I give Bell's Oberon Ale an 4/5. It's light, refreshing and very easy to drink. I could easily see this beer in my refrigerator throughout the summer months.


Rating Scale:
1 - Repugnant and undrinkable
2 - Acceptable but forgettable
3 - Good, worth a purchase
4 - Excellent, a step above the norm
5 - Truly exceptional　

To discuss this blog or all things beer follow me on Twitter & Untappd at @ACraftyLook

For more beer reviews go to: http://acraftylook.blogspot.com/

Thanks for reading. Sláinte!