Bells Hopslam

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

Fresh 2009 bottle courtesy of fiver29. Thanks John for handing this over in Vegas. Pours a cloudy orange colour with a short head that dissolves quickly. Aroma is sweet pink grapefruit and a touch of pine. Nice bitter flavour but thanks for not going too far over the top. There is some sweetness and a little malt to balance out the hop punch. Nice balance for a DIPA. Glad I got a chance to try this so fresh.

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.

Pours hazy orange, with a white head. Aroma is floral grapefruit, oranges, and caramel/sugar. Flavor is grapefruit, pine, spices, and sugar. Ends bitter. Thanks to footbalm for this bottle.

Shared with HogTownHarry, Harrys bottle (Thanks Harry!) Light tea colour body, slight off white head. Some alcohol in the nose, pineapple, hops and candyfloss, mmm. Flavour... goodness me! Sticky, maple syrup and slightly acidic quite ’earthy’ too! What a cracking beer. The alcohol isn’t overly evident in the flavour, long bitter finish.

Batch 8285 bottle from Discount in Milwaukee, WI. Light orange amber with medium, creamy white head and lots of lacing. Aroma is a very strong citrus and fresh hops, some pine, this litterally smells like fresh hop pellets. Big hop bitterness with fresh pine and citrus flavor, caramel, so resiny yet balanced. Full creamy body. This is an absolutely amazing fresh IIPA, it is so sad that we cannot get this in Chicago anymore. I also am glad that I have a sixpack of this.

Beautiful orange golden body with a big white head; Big very pleasant hoppy nose (exactly what I needed) lots of ripe sweet grapefruit- and orange juice; Big soft deep bitter sweet body; Long bitter finish ending quite dry, lots of grapefruit peel and sweet cookie aromas. Like I said, exactly what I needed!

Beer puors very chunky with lots of hop particles floating and a nice off white head that is retained with some nice lacing. Aroma is massively hoppy, with lots of fresh crushed fruit, especially grapefruit. Smells juicy and wet. Initial flavor is pure grapefruit juice, very bitter and biting. The finish mellows out a bit, but is still bitter. This is one hell of a double IPA. This is actually the fourth one I have consumed and I had not a clue this is 9.5% ABV. The most hidden high gravity beverage I have every had. I could easily drink several of these, but they would obviously make an impact.

Pours a bright orange cloudy color, aroma of strong piney hops, tastes of tons of piney/citrusy hops with a nice malt background. Palate is a bit thin, but in this case thats a good thing, because this beers hides the alcohol better than any beer ive ever had without a doubt.