Bells Hopslam

Brewed by Bells Brewery
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Kalamazoo, Michigan USA

Batch 8278. This Imperial IPA pours a medium copper amber color from a 12oz bottle. Medium sized white foamy head, nice lacing with good retention. The aroma is floral hops with some honey and some orange blossom. A medium bodied Imperial IPA. The malts are fruity and sweet. The hops are floral and grapefruity. Lots of orange blossom flavors. They balance the hop bitterness very nicely. Guess I am too used to west coast double IPAs, but I want a little more hop profile. The mixture works well here, and this is a tasty beer, but if I had to taste it blind I would never guess it’s a Imperial IPA. A lot of that is due to the fact it hides the 10% alcohol very well. Very drinkable, and if the alcohol was a little lower would be a nice session ale. Mouthfeel is full. Finish is crisp and clean. Aftertaste is slightly bitter.

This one was very interesting. I love hops and this beer certainly packs them in, but the addition of honey was a pleasant treat. It really helped balance the hop bitterness with the sweetness from the honey. The 10% was well disguised. This one was delicious!

12 oz bottle. Poured copper in color with a large sticky beige head which left nice lacing on the glass. Aroma of strong citrus hops. floral and sweet honey. Taste is of strong citrus hops with a considerable amount of spice and bite to it. The taste is fairly sweet with caramel and honey as well. This is quite a nice double IPA and its outstanding very fresh.

My nose goes straight to the cup on this beer. Wow!!! Hops right in the face! Fresh, somewhat spicy citrus hops! Not complicated. Just right dab in the nose! As I pull it away, I noticed it is a little hazy. This think this is due to a protein haze. Although, personally, appearance means little to me on beers - it is all about taste - this site forces me to rate this beer low in this category. I take a another wiff of this beer. Is is Columbus? Crystal? Amarillo? Or.... did they dry hop with summit?! I pour a little beer into my mouth. My brains jumps to memories of a homebrew club meetings in Blacksburg - "Hop Juice" and then to Old Dominion double IPA with Summit. Saying this beer is "great" would be an insult. The hops are balanced through the entire beer. Not bitter at all. Just good floral/citrus throughout the taste. The beer ends with nothing - just a clean freshing fresh taste in the mouth. Hmmm... if only Bell’s made a hop toothpaste... :-) Great beer. One of my favorite of all times!

Pours a lovely slightly hazy orange with a good head with nice lace but poor retention. Aroma is very, very sweet malt with nice fragrant oily hops and some alcohol, reminds me of orange muscat dessert wine. Tastes very nice - very sweet indeed, with lots of strong oily astringent hops and just a tad too much alcohol with a citrus life-saver note in the finish. Great carbonation, nice and light frothy body. This is a monster of an IPA in terms of alco-burn, but a bit tamer and better balanced than most when the hops come into play. Surprisingly sweet, very dangerously drinkable. Many thanks to TheCheeseMan for the trade!

Bottle. Pours an amber cloudy body with a thin clinging hop filled aroma head. Aroma is shooting out of this glass of floral hoppiness, honey, citrus fruit. Flavor is a pure hop bomb that has nice notes of honey, pine, and citrus. This is great.

Very good hoppy IPA. I expected a bit more intense of a hop experience here like a 120 Dogfish or the equivalent. Nonetheless, Bell’s did well with a nice blend of hops, good strength, and a flavor that isn’t overly citrusy--and may even be sweet.

12 oz bottle courtesy of schroppfy. Pours a translucent copper color with a medium white head that lasted a short while. The aroma is rich with citrus, cotton candy and cookie dough. The flavor is hops forward with more citrus, pine, white pepper and caramel. The mouthfeel is full and malty. The finish is short and clean with a bit of lingering sweet caramel. Overall: A superb IPA, but not as biter as I had anticipated or hoped for.