Bells Big Head San Diego Style Ale

Formerly brewed at Bells Brewery
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Kalamazoo, Michigan USA

Bottle from STFUN, thanks Josh! BIg head....(duh) suits the name. Cloudy orange/red in color. Good lacing. Good aroma of bitter/citrus hops. Thick in texture, low carbonation. Taste is nicely balanced hop bomb. I like the malty touch. Lots of citrus hops. Slight trace of the eleven percent alcohol but still a good DIPA. thanks josh

12oz Bottle Another beer I’ve been looking forward to from hoppymeal, thanks Derek! Big Head pours fairly clear polished copper. Tiny, barely noticeable, particles are suspended throughout the body. Creating the slight haze that is there. A standard pour created a ruddy, pillowy off white head of two fingers that fell to a thick one finger cap and left big chunky lacing on its way down the glass. Big Head is a really great looking IPA. This is a big hoppy brew with the alcohol to match. Apricot and bitter grapefruit are all surrounded by a steady pine needle hoppiness. There’s not much malt in the nose and that’s just fine with me. The alcohol isn’t very noticeable in the smell but I do get the fumes tickling my nose and can feel them in the back of the throat. The label doesn’t lie, be prepared for a lot of hops. Flavor follows in the tracks of the nose. A quick flash of apricot upfront is taken over by both sugary sweet grapefruit and down and dirty bitter unsweetened grapefruit. The alcohol is present but only with a little heat in the back of the throat. This beer is hoppy from start to finish and had a great sweet quality on the finish that shows up just enough to let you know it’s there and keep the hops from running rampant. This beer is incredibly silky with just a bit of stick on the backend. There is a surprising silkiness for such a big beer. The bitterness wasn’t huge at first but now that I’m half way through the glass I realize how much of a tongue wrecker this one really is. This is just the way I like it. Good drinkability for such a huge beer. Nothing is too the point of being overbearing and it’s a joy to drink. The bitterness will take its toll over time though. Another good beer from Bell’s and one I’m glad to have had the opportunity to try. I wouldn’t mind seeing this in their regular rotation. Thanks for the taste Derek! 5/19/08

Bottle. I wonder if these are the beers the CA hop heads calll the chronic. Amber body with a white head. Grapefruit, citrus, floral hop resin and a big etoh bite. A dam good IIPA.

Bottle courtesy of Greg Koch at our stop at the Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens on 08/03/2008 on day three of RBSG. Clear copper amber body with a small off-white head. Big citrus hop aroma. Huge citrus and resin flavor possibly simcoe. Medium body with moderate carbonation.

Thanks to hopdog for sharing this one. Pours a mostly translucent golden amber with a medium bubbly/creamy off white head that laced. Aroma of caramel malt, floral, light citrus, light alcohol, orange and kind of on the sweet malty side. Flavor was a load of American hops, yet a bunch of caramel malt, sweetness, orange peel, grapefruit, light alcohol and lots of hop bitterness.

Bottle. Copper color with ivory head. Mostly pine up front followed by grapfruit and mango sap (you know, the sticky sap that comes out of a mango when it falls ripe from the tree). A well balanced IIPA.

12 oz bottle. Pours a slightly hazy orange body with a great, almost one inch, off-white head that retained for a good long time. Big piney and citrusy hop aroma with a good bit of toffee and caramel maltiness. The flavor is fairly heavily bitter with lots of grapefruit pith and piney goodness up front. The malt really comes out in the finish with an undercurrent of sweet toffee below all the hops. A pretty well balanced IIPA, it’s big all around. Mouthfeel is pretty substantial, but it doesn’t get overly thick or clingy despite all the malt. Rather creamy in texture with nice soft carbonation that really cuts thru the body well and keeps things lively. I may have been a little late to the party with drinking this, but it’s still a really great beer. Still brimming with hoppy goodness.

Bottle, thanks to cpferris. Copper color with a good sized off-white head. Piny aroma with a solid amount of rich malt in there also. Sweet rich malt flavor backed by a bunch of bittering hops. A little like fruit rind, and that lingers a pretty long time after swallowing. Nice bitterness, and another good IPA from what is, IMO, a stellar season for IPAs.