Another Winner from Bell's

Bell's Brewery never ceases to delight.  Batch 10,000 Ale is one in a long string of beers from Bell's that has simply amazed me with the taste.  Let me get the caveats out of the way:  You will NOT like this beer if....

1.  Your favorite beer in the world is Bud Light and cannot stand the taste of anything else.
2.  You think spending a lot of money on beer is a waste.

This beer is pricey!  I dropped $16 on the 6 pack.  I love good beer and will shell out the money for quality, but $16/6pack is steep even for me.  It's a good thing I had just won $25 on a scratch off lottery ticket or I might not have chosen this one.  Since the money was easy come, I thought it might as well be easy go.

Here is my take on beer and food.  If you are not willing to take the risk to try something you have never had before, you will end up regretting it later.  Food and beer are gifts that should be treated as such.  In the land of plenty, quantity is overtaking quality by storm.  I will never understand people when they rave on and on about an $8 all you can eat buffet.  When you ask them if the food was good they will usually say it was "alright" or "so-so" but it was all you can eat! 

Believe me, I remember the days of my youth taking up collections from the guys and handing a wad of singles to my sister while saying, "Get us as much as you can for whatever we have here!"  Thankfully those days are long gone.  I'm not saying that the cheaper beers aren't any good.  I'm saying that you should drink what you like, but realize there is more out there than your standard go to beer.  That being said, on with the rating of Batch 10,000.

This beer pours like a meal.  I left my 6 pack out in the back of my truck to get icy cold and it poured into my pint glass like gravy.  Partially from the cold, partially because there is a lot going on in this beer.

    The inky black color of this ale might confuse you as you pour it into your glass.  When I poured my first one, I was actually disappointed.  I thought, "Here comes another heavy and dark beer that I just paid too much for and that I am not going to like."  How wrong I was. 

There is definitely some high malt and caramel tones to this but the overall feel is like you are drinking an ale.  It goes down clean.  It doesn't linger in the back of your throat like cough medicine.  It is fresh, hoppy, and quite refreshing.  It's almost like pouring a glass of coffee stout into a pilsner.  The flavors really compliment each other and you find yourself reaching for another bottle.  This is a definitely something you want to enjoy in moderation though.  The reason-the alcohol!  My God this beer kicks you in the nuts and comes back for seconds.  At almost 10% ABV, you need to watch it with this one.  Don't think you can do the 6 pack and move on to something different.  If you do a 6 pack of this in one sitting, the only thing you will be moving on to is a bed.  High octane stuff but with a lot of flavor.  You don't taste the alcohol like you do in some potent stuff.  It is an after thought.  It is the warm feeling in your tummy and the slight buzzing in your dome that you feel.

All in all this is a beer I might get a 6 pack of once a year.  It is too pricey for me.  I get that the ABV is high but getting drunk from drinking beer is not the conclusion I am looking for.  I would suggest trying this at a restaurant if they have bottles.  You will still pay out the ass for it, but at least you won't get soaked for the total price of a 6-pack.

The goal of this blog is to expand the readers horizons.  There will be times that you get burned when you buy something out of your comfort zone.  Believe me, I have been pissed numerous times when imbibing on a new style that just doesn't float my boat.  The important thing to remember is that drinking good beer should be an enjoyable experience.  If you get the right kind and pair it with the right food, it can border on mystical.