Bells Hopslam

Pours amber burnt orange color, with nice white head. Aroma of hops and citrus. Certainly sweet, with clear caramel and especially honey notes. Goes down easier than I expected with the 10 ABV. A little on the sweet side, and I’m not really digging the honey influence.

Bottle courtesy of Garry (changeup45). Pour is amber brown, with 1 finger white head. Aroma is lots of hops and malt. Taste is quite delicious hop, but very balanced with malt. Tasty brew.

Bottle from Martha’s Vineyard in Grand Rapids MI. Why are so many of my favorite beers being consumed in motels these days? Either I have exquisite luck finding great beer while traveling or I simply have more freedom to sample when I’m away from home. Anyhoo...this is a really wonderful beer. Again, on opening the hops jump out at you...but this time they are leafy, fresh and very citric. The palate is so full with hops and yet the malt balance really does make this beer so much more than one dimensional. Someone else compared this to DFH 90 min and I have to say I prefer this beer...it’s more refined, more even keeled. I’d draw another analogy to women but I’m starting to sound like a guy who equates beer rating to sex which isn’t really fair...since when I sample beer my performance has nothing to do with my enjoyment! HA! Back on topic... Try this beer if you can...it’s fantastic.

Orange brown pour with one finger froth that lingers nicely. Aroma is forward with a citrusy sweet toasty malt with some caramel, molasses, and biscuit. Resin follows closely. Flavor is quite bitter but balanced with sweetness quite nicely. Citrus prevails in the hop depth, leaving a lingering and prickling reminder of its presence. Palate is tingly smooth and full, Truly a nugget of beauty.

Thanks to Beerman6686 for hooking me up with this in a trade. Pours an extremely clear amber with a small bubbly white head. Aroma is excellent; lots of sweet oranges, a bit of grapefruit, caramel malt, and some floral notes at the finish. Flavor is definitely even more impressive than the aroma. Thick, sugary start to the flavor, with lots of caramel. It then moves to an agressive floral, pine, and citrus hop flavor, with lots of alcohol tinge mixing with well placed carbonation to fully encapsulate the tongue. Very very nice, but I feel that the overall flavor of the Alesmith IPA I just rated was more complex. The alcohol is awesome, but it portrays the difference between single and double IPAs very aptly. Still a top notch brew.

Holy hell. This brew is a ruthless face puncher and is maybe the best of the style I’ve ever had. I can’t help but compare it to Dogfish Head 90 minute, it’s pretty similar to what I remember of that one but I think it’s actually better. A complicated, quirky standout brew in a style where to me many of the offerings just blend together. Exxcellent.

January, 2009 Bottle. Pours a clear amber with a fluffy white head. Big sweet aroma, citrus hops, a bit of pine, malt, and sugar. Very smooth taste, of malt, pine, flower, sugar, that picks up a nice rich hoppy bitterness. Hides the alcohol really well. Lingering sharp bitterness. Really great Double IPA.