Bells Hopslam

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

Nice full body with a pristine head. The smell if of grapefruit and grass. The taste is full with a bit of an alcohol bite. Very good IPA.

The aroma is sweet white grapes and lementine oranges. I can smell it from a few feet away! Pours a syrupy golen color body with a nice small off-white head. Flavor starts off with the same sweet grape/citrus as in the nose. This is quicky followed up with a more bitter hop tase that’s very grassy/piney and a good bit of earthy lemons coiming back in the finish. When this first came out I bought 2 and drank one, which I was’nt overly impressed with. The second of the two is the one I’m rating. It’s been cellared for about a year.

06 Version from thebeercellar. Thanks again. Wow. Still has tons of hops in it. I can’t wait to try one fresh. Cloudy orange with a muted white head. The aroma is very grapefruity with some elements of pine. The flavor is so balanced. Full of malty sweetness and lingering hoppy bitterness. Stunningly sticky, I finished it ten minutes ago and it is just now leaving my mouth. 1/26/08 Fresh bottle, thanks Ty. The aroma and flavor are much more bold. Still very balanced. Delightful. I would love to have access to this all the time. 2/9/08 Second bottle from Ty. Worth upping the score a bit. The only beer I’ve had that has more straight up grapefruit smell and taste than Sweetwater’s IPA. Damn, what a great beer. I wish I had more access to this.

what can i say, it doesn’t get much better than this. one of my favorite types of beer and this one is a standard to be aspired to. the smell is amazing and the hops, while definitely "in your face" are wonderfully tasty. bottle from Charlotte, NC

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.

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.

Pours a slightly cloudy orange color with a decent, but not exactly rocky head. Aroma was wonderfull piney, citrusy hops. Flavor was full-on but more balanced by sweet malt than the Hop Slam name would imply. Full-bodied, bracing hops flavors abound. This beer is great for the first three quarters of a glass but I found its attributes surprisingly faded for the last portion. Can’t explain it. I love hoppy beers and this is a good one. Might have been a fluke. I’ll try another bottle tonight. Quality and attention to detail is evident. This is a fine ale made with top-notch ingredients.

outstanding... anyone who remembers the initial releases of two hearted ale will be very pleased with hopslam. it’s not as wildly grapefruity or out of control as two hearted once was but it’s still awesome... the bottom end is full and unending... it’s a perfect compliment to the total facial this brew gives... overall, very smooth, very harsh, very good.