Bells Hopslam

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

Bottle pours a clear golden orange with a small fleeting white head. Lots of citrusy hop aroma. Grapfruit, and mandarin oranges. Flavor is failry light malt body, but tons of hops. Bitterness and flavor. Mostly citrusy hop flavors, Simcoe and Cascade tastes like. Strong lingering bitter bite. Moderate to fairly carbonated and a smooth rich finish. Very nice and worthy of high marks. Thanks to BuckeyeBoy for sharing this trade.

Rating #300. Bottle. Wonderful aroma that is quite different from Bell’s other hoppy monster, Two Hearted. Here the hops is much more citrus-based. I pick up grapefruit and sweet pineapple as the dominant hops scents. Not so much of the resin/pine as in 2-Hearted. Aroma is very reminiscent of Stone’s 10th Anniversary. Pour is a slightly orange golden color with a bit of a haze about it and a pretty substantial frothy head. As it’s dying back I’m seeing lots of lacing. Flavor is very hops dominated, but it doesn’t ever get out of control like a lot of hops heavy brews. The hops from the aroma give way to a more pine presence in the finish here, and this beer is mostly about the finish. Right before that there is a caramely malt presence, but it is fleeting at best, yielding to the heavy hopping. I find that it seems like there is a bit of a gap in the flavoring as it melts from malt to hops and for just a split second it comes off as watered down or something, but then comes the alcoholic warmth and the hops bite and all thoughts of this being a weak beer are long gone. That said, I think I’d prefer Two Hearted Ale to this one, but I’m not sure you could go wrong with either. Darn fine.

bottle batch 8277 courtesy of ucusty. pours a hazy red amber color with a small off white head. streaky lacing trails are left on the glass. candied citrus aroma... lots of sugary grains with orange/citrus, grassy and bubblegum hops, vanilla and a vegetal earthiness. the flavor is more like a fresh barleywine than dipa (old bottle perhaps?). much more grainy sweetness than hops... grassy, light citrus, floral (dominating but not bitter) and light ashy notes. i get honey on the finish after the second bottle (thanks sparky27) along with that same ashiness. nice slick mouth feel that leaves no sticky residue... i need this REALLY fresh from the taps...

Mildly hazy amber with a medium beige head that slowly fades away and leaves splotches of lace. Aroma of heavy hops, grapefruit, citrus, sweet malt and some earth and piney hops. Taste of citrus hops, grapefruit, mild honey, more citrus hops and enogh sweet malt tossed in to make it extremely tasty and amazingly balanced. The alcohol is hidden well and it finishes with a medium bitter finish. When I first tried it a year ago I was a bit leery of the mega hops and now I’m loving them and this is one great beer.
(original 3-16-18)
At Three Cellars tasting. Orange in color with a strange hoppy aroma, I can’t quite describe. Overpowering hoppy finish, a bit too unbalanced though it bears its name well.

Sampled again from a fresh keg @ Redlight, as was much more impressed. Fresh cut citrus and pineapple aroma was great, and this beer is dangerous @ 10%. Courtesy boboski. Hop aroma wasn’t as intense as I was anticipating, and it presented an odd pineapple-juice like aroma, along with some lemon rind smells. Nice cloudy dark yellow color with a thin wispy white head. Taste is a piney fruit hopiness with a hop finish that lingers, but at a low level. I’ll have to find another bottle of this to try.

(3/1/08) Sample from a bottle (I think jerc brought this one - thanks!) at the RB table at Zythos Bier Festival 2008 in Sint Niklaas. Amber-colored. Big citric hoppy aroma. A very bitter flavor with tons of citrusy juicy hops and some malt and caramel. A lot of grapefruit in the finish. Really great.

Slightly hazy copper with an off-white head. Intense, pungent nose of fresh green hops, tropical fruit, pine and light whiff of mint. Flavor has notes of peach,pineapple, mango, pine, grapefruit, vanilla, light caramel and a neutral, slightly bready yeast. Pleasantly sweet and malty with prominent, yet non-harsh bitterness. Full, round and lush on the palate (it’s Bells so the mouthfeel WILL be perfect) with lively, fine-beaded, non-prickly carbonation that carries the hop flavor and aroma perfectly. Great stuff. Bells can do no wrong in my opinion.

Bottle thanks to ericandersnavy. Pours a nice looking clear deep gold, off-white head. Aroma is terrific, very fruity, some pine, malt, floral,very nice. Flavor malty, faint sweetness, obvious hop flavor with a nice, very hoppy bitter. Mouthfeel is medium body, high carbonation. Overall, a very well made IPA...Good Shit!