Bells Big Head San Diego Style Ale

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

From a 12oz Bottle. Courtesy of CharlesDarwin. Thanks a ton, Tom! Pours a transparent honey gold color with a thick layer of frothy ivory head. Citrusy hop aromas of pithy grapefruit flesh and some sweeter, juicy, fleshy tones as well. Notes of piney spruce boughs. Some light honey and bready malt sweetness lingers beneath the hop tones, combining to form a subtle fresh apricot aroma. Medium-light bodied, lightly carbonated mouthfeel with a soft carbonation. For an 11% beer, the body has a light feel to it, but the malt sweetness is still prevalent, no doubt inevitable with the high ABV. Lots of bitterness up front on the palate, a resinous pine bough and grapefruit rind flavor instantly scars the palate. A honey sweetness comes out next, along with noticeable alcohol, creating an apricot brandy-like flavor. Hefty pine is left lingering in the finish. I find myself enjoying this beer overall, but I’ve been eagerly looking forward to REALLY enjoy this beer, which just didn’t happen. Drinking this beer is kind of like getting punched in the mouth; it tempts you dangerously with the freshness of the hop bouquet, daring you to quench your parched palate with a fresh, refreshing, dank IIPA. You lean in closer, eagerly anticipating the first sip, and then, bam - a mouthfeel of pine resin and boozey gin. Not a bad beer overall, but a bit too harsh and un-refined, especially with the alcoholic component, to fully appreciate the feature ingredient - the hops.

Bottle shared by Crosling. Poured a deep, clear golden color with a moderate off-white head that left nice lacing. Raw leafy, resiny hop aroma. Flavor is all hops. Moderately smooth entry leads into a leafy, resiny hop hit that tastes like licking hop flowers. Smooth with a nice bitter bite, quite oily. It is as advertised, a hop forward, SD style IIPA. Not very complex, but tastes good for what it is.

Thanks to Ryan for this one. Amber colored body. Aroma has lots of hops and a sweetness pervades. Flavor is very malty, along with bitter floral hops. Not sticky as other beers of this ilk.

Light golden color, small foam. Lots of hop freshness in the nose, with ample hints of lemon, pine, spruce, hop oil and alcohol. Oily texture and super hoppy, with lots of resin. Pine, lemon, spruce. Hops at their core. A really well done example of the Triple IPA.

Courtesy of tbd975. Pours nearly clear, but not, deep gold with off white head. Nice big ole aroma of grapefruit juice with some pine out in the back to go with some faint sweet maltiness in the background. It even gets a bit grassy. The taste is bold and yummy with a brash note of pine hop bitterness bleeding into grapefruit juice. Like the aroma some mild malt sweetness rides out the back. Nice big hoppy brew bringing forth a semi thick mouth feel that carries a tasty load of bittering hops and a touch of sweetness. Well done.

Huge thanks to hoppymeal for this bad ass brew. Big orange colored pour with a rather large head. Aroma is huge with spicy/citrusy/vegetal hops - monstrous and sweet! Flavor is big and heavy with some citrusy-piney hops that almost overload the palate - just a hint of sweet malts. Not bad at all, but not my favorite. Could easily be a dead on clone of Alesmith Summer Yulesmith.

Thanks to nolankowal for the bottle! Pours murky orange...moderate cream colored head. Aroma has a ridiculous level of citrus hops...tons of orange, grapefruit, and peach aromas mixed in amongst some wheat and yeasty accents...very nicely done. Flavor is hops, hops and more hops...and mostly citrus hops. I expected a fairly high bitterness level, but the aroma did not prepare me for this...the hops hit early and hold on. Lots of grapefruit with some orange, some piney hops and a slight yeast accent. Bitterness is intense throughout. Slightly alcoholic in the finish, it is very creamy on the palate and mirrors the ABV very nicely. I must say I enjoyed the aroma more than the flavor, but overall this was a well constructed drink.

Pours a very lightly hazy, dark orange color. A thick, frothy, cream colored head shows good retention, leaving jagged lines and spots of lacing behind. The aroma is as juicy as they come, with huge notes of fresh orange, peach, and nectarine showing atop a fairly neutral, toffee malts background. Flavors are considerably more bitter than the nose projects. Sharp, biting grapefruit enters the fold, followed by bitter orange, green grass, and even a touch of resinous pine. Refreshingly bitter, and void of alcoholic notes. The body is big, smooth, and just slightly sticky. Finishes with lingering grapefruit. This is an awesome IIPA in the San Diego mold. It doesn’t quite touch the West Coast elite in terms of tropical juiciness, but it is damn good nonetheless.