On Sunday July 24th the Kite & Key had an event called Savage Sixtel Sunday. They've had other ones previously but apparently this one was also their 3rd anniversary. I didn't actually know that until after but good for them! I hadn't been to one of these before but the tap list to this was pretty awesome plus I knew a few people going so figured it would be a lot of fun. I started with a Bells Batch 9000 which was also the first beer that caught my eye when I first saw the tap list.
This was part of Bell's "batch" series where every 1000 batches of beer, they brewed a unique one-off. This one is labeled an American Strong Ale although I could see it labeled as a quad. Smelled of caramel, plums, toffee, raisins, and wine. Really strong but delicious aroma. Flavor started similarly with caramel, toffee then a decent amount of alcohol. The alcohol wasn't harsh but there is no mistaking that it is 12.5%. I can't imagine how strong this tasted fresh considering how strong it is at about a year and a half. Still, I really enjoyed it even with the alcohol, just need to remember to sip it.
After that I had to get Bell's Batch 10000, the last of the batch series. This one was an American Strong Ale.
The curious thing about this beer is they used 100 different malts and 60 different hops to brew it. That's a ridiculous amount of ingredients although there were probably only a couple ounces, if that, of a few of them. Pretty muted nose, not much going on there. Started with slight plum notes, some alcohol but not much else. Didn't change much as I drank more. Maybe fresh there was a nice hop profile but after a few months I didn't find much to it. I enjoyed the batch 9000 quite a bit more, but, to be fair, some of my friends thought this was better.
Well, as it was a Sunday night I'd had enough and was about to leave, but I started talking to Jim, one of the owners, and somehow ended up with another beer! It just appeared, I swear! It was named Ithaca Twelve, a quad.
Again, very muted nose, however, the flavor was much stronger than the batch 10,000 which totally made up for it. Lots of plum and raisin flavors with some caramel mixed into it.Just tons of dark fruit flavors which became even stronger as I drank more. Really, really enjoyed this.
What a fantastic night this turned out to be. I went because I really wanted to try Bells Batch 9000 but the really fun part of the night was getting to chat with a bunch of people I hadn't seen in a while. Jared and Kristy, of
PhillyTapFinder and Bryan, of the
Brewlounge (see his thoughts on the night
here plus a picture of me talking to Jim) were both there along with a few others although I didn't meet everyone. As I said earlier, I also got to meet one of the owners, Jim, who was really nice. All in all, glad I decided to go and almost definitely going to be at the next Savage Sixtel Sunday.
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