Bells Hopslam

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

12 oz bottle pours a hazy orange. Aroma is hops citrus, sweet hops and lots of them. Flavor is sweet at first quickly followed by a smack of hoppy bitterness that finishes almost sweet. Lots of grapefruit and a little pine. Very good and much better fresh.

Bottle Pours a clear golden with an off white head. The head is frothy and lasts well. Fairly good lacing. Has a good hoppy aroma of pine, oranges, and a touch of vanilla. Has a good carbonation and a wonderful mouthfeel. The flavor is excellent. The alcohol is well hidden. Very well blended. Has a soft bitterness. It is bitter but the bite is mellow. Has an oily texture. A medium body mostly because it’s so refined. A good finish with a good lingering aftertaste. This is a real good beer. Very smooth.

Bottle from Party Pak. This one is a keeper. Crisp and satisfying. Balanced. Hops are insane on the nose. Flowers, brown sugar on grapfruit, fresh butterflies and sunny breeze. No bees luckily. It begs for Independence Day grilling and family reunions. Slides down into my happy, now hoppy belly. My tongue owes me one here. Sweet candy (no apples, no something better) malt is perfect compliment to surreal hoppy flowers. Nice bite in the end makes it like drinking relaxation. Alcohol is faint and cleans the palate. I dare say maybe a bit big, but the most drinkable 10% I have had. Can I say I love this beer, yes. Top-rate. Thanks Bells!

Uhhhhh, are we all thankful this beer exists?? YES! Leave it to Bells to flush their completely sweet and malt citrusy goodness hop BOMB with honey...to only sweeten it up even further! The palate and finish on this brew are absolutely amazing...hands down on of my favorite DIPA’s! Now if somehow I could find it on tap...

Pours a beautiful pale golden into my crappy micro-light pint glass. The head on this beaut is solid and steady with sticky lacing. The smell is piny and boozy all at once, which kinda leads to it being a bit over balanced. Think I’ll let it warm up a dram, let some hops kick up. WOW, warming it up a tad was a damn good Idea this bad boy gets sticky and power hopped, but, alas the booze still rears itself with this background creamed butter taste. If you like hops with a balanced respectability, this beer is for you!

Pours a hazy golden orange with some floaties and a smallish off-white head. Beautiful citrus aroma, orange, mango, apricot, and grapefruit all present. Nice lively palate. Nice malty sweetness balanced by a strong but not too strong bitterness that leaves itself a little bit to be remembered by. Wow. Re-rate 08 - One of my faves fresh, but it seems like it loses a lot quickly.

I poured this into a DFH snifter. This beer pours very cloudy. I would have liked to see it cleaner. According to the BJCP, slight haziness is allowable if it is dry hopped, but this is a bit more than that. It doesn’t seem to clear with time either. There is a huge hop bouquet even from a distance. Very strong citrus aromas, especially grapefruit, but slightly more bitter. The flavor is amazing though. It is not nearly as bitter as the flavor would have led me to believe. It is a dead ringer for actual grapefruit flavoring. The bitterness is only in the background, and there is enough sweetness to back it up. This is a great example of an Imperial IPA (except the cloudiness); perhaps one of the best i’ve had.

A deep orange color with a nice creamy head. A piney aroma with a little citrus. I was thinking this was around 70 or 80 IBUs and I was correct. A very citrus beer, that was oddly well balanced and sticky on the palate. Very good. Re-rate. Wow. Sticky, not citrus but passion fruit/mango with a spicy-piney bitter finish. Stays with you for a long time. Very drinkable, very good. Re-rate 2008 Jan 28th Get more honey and astringent bitter hops now, everything else is still there, but I get more harsh flavors, including alcohol. 848316