Bells Hopslam

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

No idea Hopslam was a 2XIPA when drinking it. A pine aroma, and pineapple/citrus flavor backed with sweet malt. Bitterness and malts were in perfect union. I sampled two bottles, first one was proper temperature (about 45 degrees). Second bottle was ice cold out of the cooler but amazingly the hop presence did not diminsh from the temperature drop. After consuming Hopslam my friends and I gushed for fifteen about how Bell’s makes great beers. Kudos, Kalamazoo!

Did NOT expect to get one of these prior to being called to an EMERGENCY - shipped to a good friend that has shared so many beers already. Think the only thing that bugs me about this beer is that it’s just TOO easy for me to drink. I honestly had no clue it was 10% until looking here (instead of label or whatever) Why does my bro in Michigan not love me?

Red orange (about an 11 on the Lovibond scale? I happen to have one in front of me as I rate, ha) with a large off-white head that is slowly but mostly diminishing. Humid sweet and citric hop aroma - peaches and grapefruit - very pleasant, puckering and heavy. Highly bitter, moderately sweet malt flavor, loads of tingling pine resin and sticky sweet caramel malts. Cool, tongue-numbing finish. Bitterness hides the alcohol quite well, but you can still get a hint of alcoholic burn at the immediate end of the flavor profile. Superb double IPA.

bottle from ucusty, thanks dude! tutti fruitti aroma like children’s bubblegum, yet strangely not artificial. was this from the honey? sharply bitter, at first i don’t find it like these crazy over the top nw ipas, but as i continued to sip, the surrounding bitterness built up to a happy peak.

Bottle from daknole (yay!). Batch 8909, packaged January 5, 2009, so this should still be quite fresh. Pours a lightly hazed orange amber with a medium white head. Piles of sweet hops full of floral, citrus and pine notes, and a hefty amount of malt. Medium to thick body, with creamy carbonation that sneaks in a little bite from time to time. Flavors have a nice a sweet grapefruit note and a little bit of alcohol. Finishes with a long heavy grapefruity quinine note, with almost a hint of oaky dryness.

Dark golden, slightly cloudy, no head at all...Strange aroma indeed! Very hoppy, with some interesting herbs and grassiness. Hops dominate in the aroma, but especially in the flavor. Not too sweet like many Imperial IPAs. In fact, it is pretty dry and refreshing. Floral notes help to mask the high alcohol, which is barely noticeable at all. Nonetheless, this is definetly a sipping beer. Very nice.

12 oz bottle. Oh jeez. This beer was like chewing hops. The aroma is hops, the taste was hops, and the finish was hops. There is a slight sweetness to it in the finish thanks to the honey. However, as much as I enjoyed this beer, I’m not sure why this sold out so rapidly (I only got a 6 pack because I happened to be at the store when they got the shipment in). It’s good but the hype is far out of proportion. It’s a good beer to try, but it’ll take a long time to go through the 6 pack.

Bottle... Poured amberish-orange with a thin white head. Aroma of floral hops and buttery grains. Big carbonation on the palate. Lots of hop flavors with a strong, sweet base that accentuated the malted, grain balance.