26 replies to this topic

[BarelyBrews]

SO once again bells brewery is moving up the charts of the breweries in the United States. They have a great beer store too. Hope this linky works :bells story link

[stellarbrew]

SO once again bells brewery is moving up the charts of the breweries in the United States. They have a great beer store too. Hope this linky works :bells story link

I've heard much praise for their beers, but have never yet had the opportunity to try one. Everytime I ask the guy at Total Wine when they will have Bells available in Georgia he tells me he thinks there are plans to pick it up soon, but no definite date. Maybe that's just his form answer when someone asks for a beer they don't have, to keep them coming back. Anyone have any idea about Bells in Georgia?

[Dean Palmer]

Great beers and a damn nice guy who runs the place (Larry Bell). We had the opportunity to spend some time with Larry and drink some of his beers along with him when he visited Florida last year.

[ncbeerbrewer]

Bell's is a great brewery and awesome beers too. Gotta love Two Hearted and they make some good stouts too. Nice to see a good brewery moving on up.

[japh]

I Don't think I've seen them out here yet, I'd try them if I could find them.

[chadm75]

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....HOPSLAM!

[MtnBrewer]

Bell's isn't sold here either (one of the few). I've tried it at the GABF a few times and haven't been all that impressed. But I'd like to have more than a few 1 oz. shots to base that opinion on.

[realbeerguy]

I've heard much praise for their beers, but have never yet had the opportunity to try one. Everytime I ask the guy at Total Wine when they will have Bells available in Georgia he tells me he thinks there are plans to pick it up soon, but no definite date. Maybe that's just his form answer when someone asks for a beer they don't have, to keep them coming back. Anyone have any idea about Bells in Georgia?

One member of our Club here in Savannah works for the distributor who is bringing Bells into GA. I think he said somewhere around June 1.

Edited by realbeerguy, 15 April 2009 - 02:17 PM.

[stellarbrew]

One member of our Club here in Savannah works for the distributor who is bringing Bells into GA. I think he said somewhere around June 1.

Excellent, thanks. Another reason to look forward to summer.

[Salsgebom]

Bell's isn't sold here either (one of the few). I've tried it at the GABF a few times and haven't been all that impressed. But I'd like to have more than a few 1 oz. shots to base that opinion on.

I have a feeling if you sat down with a couple bottles of Hopslam and Expedition Stout in a good setting, you'd agree it's good stuff. North Carolina overall is a crappy place for beer and our increasing bottle selection, while extensive, isn't quite like sitting down at the brewpub and having it from the source. But Bell's beer is some of the best on the shelf, and their brewery is top of the line. Their wheat beer (Oberon) on the other hand is over-rated; it's obviously not geared towards us beer geeks.Bells processes mirror macro breweries- good to know for you hippie organic small brewery types out there. They are also big users of hop extracts, and use lots of it even in their hopslam in conjunction with pellets. If you have a hard time cloning Bell's beer, there are good reasons for that. The people running the show are kingpins, simple as that. Much respect to them.Now if only they would hire me..

[Recklessdeck]

I remember visiting my brother while he was in college at U of M, when I was maybe 17. He gave me a two-hearted ale and it changed my life! I went home raving about this beer that mysteriously tasted like a flower! Who woulda guessed there were flowers in it...

[MtnBrewer]

I have a feeling if you sat down with a couple bottles of Hopslam and Expedition Stout in a good setting, you'd agree it's good stuff.

I'm willing to try it. I don't think I tried either of those. I know I've had Two-Hearted and Oberon and didn't see what the big deal was. Two-Hearted overwhelmed me with Centennial hops and Oberon was flavorless.

[BarelyBrews]

I'm willing to try it. I don't think I tried either of those. I know I've had Two-Hearted and Oberon and didn't see what the big deal was. Two-Hearted overwhelmed me with Centennial hops and Oberon was flavorless.

Two-hearted can be overwhelming sometimes, the Oberon i totally agree i don't understand what the big deal is totally overated. There best brown and porter are good imho, the stout is ok, the rest are standard . I have made clones of the best brown and they were good, as were a buddy clone also. The brewery wins my support because during the hop shortage they never gouged us. Sold what they could to us at great prices, also very helpful. My brewing friend remembers when they were wheeling the grains around in a wheelbarrel( before my legal drinking age. )

[dagomike]

Oberon has just become a synonymous with summer around here. It's not really summer without it, even though it's not some super fantastic beer that the hype suggests. THA I think is one of the best IPAs out there. A very simple beer brewed well. Kind of a throw back to what the IPA was before it became a hop contest, IMO.Anyway, word around here is we might actually lose Bells locally. Freaken crazy. When will politicians wake up and realize the beer lobby hurts consumers and local businesses?

[jammer]

I Don't think I've seen them out here yet, I'd try them if I could find them.

Try Belmont Station. If anyone has it, they might. no affilliation, just been in there once to ogle and drink.

[ScottS]

Oberon has just become a synonymous with summer around here.

Yep.I've had widely varying Oberon though. At it's best, it's my favorite commercial beer. At it's worst, it's overpriced and boring.

[ncbeerbrewer]

I picked up a bottle of Oberon when I was up in ohio visiting the in laws. I had heard and read the hype. It was good and I would try it again but it didn't blow me away either. We get Bell's down here in NC I just have not seen Oberon though.

[tjthresh]

The only Bell's beers that are worth the money are Two Hearted, Expedition, and Third Coast Ale. Expedition and Third Coast are even better with a few years on them.Then you get into there Batch and Barrel aged stuff which is usually amazing, but the tend to be 'right place, right time' offerings.Everything else they produce is average at best. Oberon is not real different that a Boulevard Unfiltered Wheat.Seriously, I can name 3 or 4 better brewers in Michigan alone.

[MoreAmmoPlz]

It's not the best american wheat but it's a local and on a hot Michigan afternoon there's nothing like sitting down with a bottle of Oberon.

...Anyway, word around here is we might actually lose Bells locally. Freaken crazy. When will politicians wake up and realize the beer lobby hurts consumers and local businesses?

Care to elaborate on this? I hadn't heard.

Yep.I've had widely varying Oberon though. At it's best, it's my favorite commercial beer. At it's worst, it's overpriced and boring.

AgreedI was eating out with some of my co-workers at Bonnie's in Lansing and ordered up an Oberon. The only way I can describe the taste is that it seemed overly stale and a bit sour. This was in August so it was almost like they had left the keg in an overly hot room all summer long and had just put it on tap. After drinking about a quarter of it I had enough and asked for a different brand. My co-workers looked at me like I was the biggest snob on earth but there was no way I was going to suffer through the whole pint. The funny thing was another guy had ordered one and he thought it tasted fine.

[AspenLeif]

Yep.I've had widely varying Oberon though. At it's best, it's my favorite commercial beer. At it's worst, it's overpriced and boring.

It's not the best american wheat but it's a local and on a hot Michigan afternoon there's nothing like sitting down with a bottle of Oberon.

That's what I got from it too. I always thought the popularity of the oberon was overblown, but in part to it being popular because it was different when it came out. Bells was one of the first microbreweries to do well in southern MI...and they kinda rode the popularity wave as it built momentum. Not saying they don't make good beer, but they just go in at the right time with their product. I remember it being hugely popular with the hippies around MSU...and as the craft beer popularity spread, so did the popularity of this beer as they already had established distribution channels as demand increased.MB