Bells Hopslam

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

Bottle. Batch 8277. Pours a sparkling murky cloudy pinkish amber. Lots of head, and a crazy amount of lacing. Aroma is spectacular; grapefruits and citrus out the ass. Hoppy as hell, incredibly vacuous and worthy of its own praise. Crazy good. Flavor is delectable: spicy hops and pleasant citrus interwoven with honey and ginger. Thick and syrupy, but with a nice watery and easy finish. Way too drinkable at 10%, but I feel overall it’s not as striking of an IPA as Bells own Two Hearted Ale.

01/26/2008 re-rate

On draft at Melllow Mushroom Brandon. Tannish amber. Opaque. Lots of lacing, small white head. Smells like tangy piney hops and citrus. Flavor is piney hops, with grapefruit and oranges. Lacks bitterness from ultra-hoppy IPA’s. Very drinkable.

Pours a golden color under a small off white head that settles down to a good film over the top. Aroma is interesting. A lot of grapefruit smell with a slightly sweet note that is really good. The obligatory hops piney notes, but mainly a good sweet/sour grapefruit that I really like. Taste is surprisingly mild, not the assault of hops that you come to expect from a West Coast IPA which is a definate change. Very sweet, grapefruity notes with a sweet almost sugary backing to it. A faint alcohol taste to remember it by, but mainly I get a very piney aftertaste that sits on the back of your tongue. Very good, definately deserves it’s billing.

Pours a nice amber color and the glass I poured has a little hop haze effect. Smells like citrus or grapefruit. Laces the glass well. Tastes like a double IPA with the upfront hop blast and has a nice malt backbone to it to balance it out. Overall one of the best double IPA’s I’ve had.

Poured a golden amber color with a nice foamy head. There was some carbination bubbles rising in the glass. The head left some lacing all through the glass of beer. The aroma was strong and of hops and grapefruit. The initial taste was of a crisp tart grapefruit, followed immediately by the strong hop bite. The hops bite rolled on the tongue for a long time. A subtle sweetness came through after the initial bitter bite. The sweetness tended to build a little stronger the longer I was drinking making a nice mix between the hoppy bitterness and the honey sweetness. Excellant!!

Pours orange with some haze and a thin white head. Nose of tons of fresh hops, citrus, honey, flowers. Flavor is the same with a great balance and finish.

Just able to get this in IL again. First bottle. Pours bright orange. The aroma blew me away. Big fruity hops with a little pine. Mouth feel is medium, which is just about perfect for a double ipa. A bit sweeter and not as bitter as I expected, but it is incredible! Well worth the wait.

Bottle. Pours amber/orange with only a slight head. Aroma is of hops obviously, very floral, citrus with underlying malt. Taste is extremely citrusy as one would expect from an imperial. Finishes bitter and clean. Alcohol is moderately well hidden even though it is detectable. A very nice beer from Bells, one which I’d drink as often as I could.

Fair head medium carbonation in a golden honey coloured ale very clear,cover is now mild froth and bubble,aroma fruity peach citrus some spice and malt.Flavours bitter hops citrus could be peel mango, malt is nice some good peach flavour,sweet taste the malt gentle spices alspice and nutmeg honey richness and bite you can get, yes it has some slam alright and a lovely feeling on the tongue and back palate at the finish,soothing to the stomach great hop flavours top bitter very goodIPA.