Bells Hopslam

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

Serve in Snifter, Tulip

UPDATED: JAN 20, 2012 Wow, on tap at Mad Mex. What a double IPA should be, fragrant but just on the edge of too much. Nice head some lacing, huge floralsand lingering iodine bitterness. Jan 2012 again at mad Mex. just Great!

I am not really hophead but damn this is a nice beer. It does not disappoint its reputation. On draft at Vulcan beverage. Aroma is fresh hops, citrus, and caramel. Taste of grapefruit and caramel. Suprisingly light for such a big beer. Color is a pale orange.

Light amber liquid. Good white head with lots of lacing. Wow. It’s a tangerine-grapefruit explosion, sweet and spicy. There’s a very slight alcoholic hit in the end, but beer is an alcoholic drink and I don’t think the alcohol always needs to be completely hidden. The caramel malt really shines. This one is definitely hop nectar. Delicious caramel malt and honey flavors provide an excellent backdrop for the huge hop flavor. The sweetness is there, and there’s very, very little alcohol in the flavor for a 10% abv beer. The hop flavors are tangerine, grapefruit and a bit of wildflowers. The mouthfeel is excellent. It’s smooth and syrupy in a good way. It has that great hop oiliness of big DIPAs. It’s an easy to drink 10% abv, but it’s still a big beer and you feel that to some extent. On the other hand, it has a wonderful and complex flavor that makes you want to keep coming back for more.

Pours an amber color with some life and a white soapy head. Has an aroma of grapefruit with subtle hints of pine with the honey coming through on the nose. Sweet and spicy up front, malty and bitter on the back end. You can taste the honey. Has a decent carbonation level. I think the honey on the finish puts this off a touch for me. But very good DIPA nonetheless.

12oz bottle. Pours a glowing apricot-colored body topped with bubbly off-white head that is very sticky and leaves nice lacing. I noticed the aroma the instant the cap came off. Juicy, abundant and lush citrus (grapefruit and tangerines) hops are the first things that hit. Then a caramel and passionfruit/melon sweetness shows up. Lightly floral towards the end. Flavor is similar citrus hops (with an orange zest), medium bready/caramel sweet, floral and finishes with a very smooth, medium-length bitter finish. Fine carbonation and a medium to full mouthfeel that borders on chewy (for a DIPA!). Completely hidden alcohol gives you the (false) impression this beer is sessionable. It will be very hard to stop at just one.

Nectar of the GODS. What else can you say about Larry’s Wonderful Reciepe, except I think he may have had to sell his soul to the Devil for this!

The only description that comes close to describing this brew is Angel’s Tears!!! Which would explain why so pricey.

Bought a growler filled with this nectar of the gods at Roof Brother’s Spirits in Paducah, Kentucky. We promptly finished the entire growler in one evening. :P A: Appearance isn’t this brew’s strong suit but that’s not to say that it doesn’t look great. Pours a classic amber with some heavier hints of oranges and reds. Carbonation is pretty spot on and active but this was predictable as we just had it bottled from the tap only hours earlier. Head was small with decent retention and lacing but I believe the head only suffered due to the pour from the growler itself. S: The smell is of grassy, piney and DEFINITELY grapefruit/citrus hops. This is a grapefruit bomb in the nose. The scent is clean and to the point with carbonation showing off and pushing this hop perfume into your nostrils. Very nice! T: One of the crispest beers I’ve ever had... It’s clean and the malt backbone is in place just enough for the hops not to overwhelm. Low on the side of bittering hops, the taste is as if one squeezed the fresh juices of a just ripened hop cone into their mouth: Truly a blessing for a hophead! On tap (like in this growler), the honey is not as present which I attribute to the honey (sugar) not being allowed to ferment as much as it would during the bottle-conditioning of shipping... It’s there, it’s just not overstaying it’s welcome. All in all, this is a fantastic tasting beer that every beer geek should drink whenever possible. MF: Again, this is a clean and crisp beer with spot on carbonation. Smooth is the word of the day but "Nectar of the Gods" is the phrase of the day. :P D: Not sessionable, unfortunately. If this thing was 7% ABV and not 10%, I would drink this non-stop... One of these on tap, though, already had given me a nice buzz... By three in I was floating and rearranging my entire livingroom. The "drinkability" of one of these bad boys minus the limitations of sessionability is phenomenal.