 riversideAK (1570), Shoreline, Washington, USA
Mar 3, 2008 Updated: Apr 17, 2008
Bottle from ucusty. Pours a hazy off orange color with a thin head and decent lacing. Aroma of big citrus and pine with an underlying touch of honey and malt. Hops upfront with citrus (grapefruit, orange, tangerine) and pine. Secondary flavors include honey, and some caramel malts. This is almost insanely drinkable. After the hops come a little lingering honey chewiness. Pretty good, almost great, but I would rather have a Pliny.
Second bottle I had was oxidized. Hops were flat and dull and the flavor was actually unpleasant. Because I tasted it up against Uber Hoppy and Pliny and it didn’t stand up, I am lowering the score.
jeremyd365 (81), Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Aug 27, 2008 I’ve had this a few times before without yet reviewing it, but I finally popped open my last one from past January ’08 (Batch 8283). This is the holy grail of beer! Poured a dark amber-golden with medium clarity and medium to heavy carbonation with a slight white head. The hops are apparent at quite a distance, and once you actually put your nose in it, you’ve reached the motherland. On the tip of the tongue, the bitter hops are already being absorbed, and upon swallowing, the piney flavor melds with the monster hops to the most pleasurable blend imaginable. It’s medium to heavy bodied and a true hop-SLAM, yet goes down smooth and remains extremely drinkable. This seasonal is one to definitely one to stock up on to enjoy sparingly at special moments throughout the year! Thank you, Bell’s!
TOSG55 (24), Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Aug 24, 2008 Bottle. Pours an orangeish amber, with a thick white head. Aroma of honey and assertive hops. The flavor is a delicious blend of citrusy hops (very strong; the name "Hopslam" is well deserved), with a honey sweetness unlike the typical maltiness of many imperial IPAs. The 10% alcohol is also prominent, but not in a bad way. This is my favorite beer - highly recommended that you snatch a couple six-packs of it during the brief part of the year that it’s available (though not if you shop at any of the stores that I will be going to!).
lordeche (330), Bridgewater, Massachusetts, USA
Aug 21, 2008 Nice golden-copper pour with off-white head. Aroma is sweet and citrusy with tons of bitterness smoothed over with caramel malt and honey. Some light fruitiness in there as well, maybe cherry and peach, and a slight alcohol astringency. I have an inkling that the hoppiness would be damn near overpowering were it not for the abundance of honey, which brings out some sweet fruitiness and light herbal tea undertones without sacrificing the huge pine and citrus hops. Finish just lasts and lasts; you can taste it on your tongue for minutes after your last sip. Outstanding.
ortenzil13 (4), USA
does not count  Aug 21, 2008 This is for the hopheads. The little bite of honey makes it manageable when you consider the alcohol and serious hop flavor and aroma. I dig it.
Juancho (190), New York, New York, USA
Aug 19, 2008 12 Oz thanks to ToddB.... Truly outstanding. I’ll steal what Two_Dudes said... A perfect beer.
’NUFF SAID.
Perfect.
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