(Kalamazoo, MI) – Hoppymeal at Beer Advocate always seems to beat me on the Bell’s labels but only by two hours this time! Nice work. Anyway, Bell’s Brewery got label approval for Oarsman this week, and this time it will hit distribution. The beer has been described as a wheat ale with some tartness to it (which comes from traditional sour mashing methods). At only 4% ABV, this one is highly session-able. An email is out to the brewery to get availability info.

As for Bell’s 9000, the brewery’s mega-imperial stout, there were some rumblings recently at RateBeer but nothing from Larry Bell himself. The rumors are that the beer may take a while due to fermentation having stalled or not getting attenuation right or the beer just being “off.” All unconfirmed of course but let’s be happy that the brewery is doing everything it can to make the beer right. Stay tuned . . .