Bells Hopslam

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

Serve in Snifter, Tulip

send corrections   |   shelftag   |   edit barcodes   |   add pic

UPDATED: JAN 12, 2011 From a December 2009 bottle; drank in June 2010. Will have to come back next year to rate this fresh.

Pours a gorgeous gold tone. Ample head and moderate sudsy lacing. Nose of honey and hops, very citrusy and floral. Lovely mouthfeel, medium body, wonderful and sweet with a substantial but not overwhelming bitter finish. Wonderful hop character and a great malt and sugar backbone to support it. Great DIPA. 9/5/9/4/17 - 4.4

Batch 10073 (Dec 29, 2010!) bottle on 1/12/2011

Not much more to report here, but I’m not getting the level of aromatics that I remembered from last year’s bottle. The nose is pleasant, fits how I described it last year, but is fairly subdued, it’s more like Hopkiss or a Hophint. Mouthfeel, carbonation, sweetness and bitterness are all spot on with this batch, great mildly bittersweet finish. I’m a little let down, honestly. Have I just had better beers (Pure Hoppiness, Broo doo) in the meantime?

8/5/9/4/16 - 4.2

12oz bottle to pint glass. Pour is clear amber with thin finger of dense lacing head. Nose is hops - floral and piny. Tastes of hops, again - what you’d expect: florals, pine, and resin. Medium, flat body that finishes warm, bitter and slightly dry. A really good IPA, perfect representation of the style. You get exactly what you’d expect.

UPDATED: FEB 13, 2011 Fresh Batch Poured 1/29/10. A-the color pours a slightly hazy golden color with a pure white head that leaves a big lacing on the glass S-the nose is big hops and huge grapefruit with a touch of citrus T-huge hops, awesome flavor. some piney resign, tons of bitter grapefruit and a touch of honey and citrus at the finish M-medium body and slightly syrupy, coats the mouth slightly, very smooth and the perfect carbonation D-I love this beer! this is so smooth and creamy with huge flavor and a fantastic taste, give me one, two, three, floor! *** A-nice hazzy ambered copper color with strong 2 fingers of slightly off white head that lingers for quite some time leaving a decent lacing on the glass S-sweet caramel malt dominates the smell accompanied by pine resign and a hint of citrus T-a little sweet malt and hint of carmamel hits first followed by an onslaught of hops, pine, grass clippings, hint of citrus and some grapefruit with a hit of bitter hops towards the back of the mouth M-smooth and slick, slightly syrupy in a very nice way. medium bodied and low amount of carbonation D-so tastey and delicious. I am biased towards hoppy beers, but the smoothness and slick syrupy texture accompanied by all the hops make me want more! January batch properly cared for by the distributor and drinkin in November. Some of the hops have fades and the sweet malt is slightly more pronounced. Still Awesome and actually holds up better than most DIPA’s!

Bottle @ RBESG, Rome. Pours unclear golden with a creamy white head on top. Lots of resiny hops. Pine and grape. Floral, stikcy, dry and crips. Lasting bitter end. Nice

12oz bottle pours a nice, one-finger head that dissipates slowly and leaves lots of sticky lacing. The aroma is hops, hops, and hops. Very natural. The taste is also very hoppy, but is incredibly well-balanced by the sweetness from the malt. The alcohol certainly noticeable, but is not overwhelming, especially for this high an ABV. All in all, this is an outstanding beer.

pours deep golden colour with moderate carbonation. Citrus, floral with some pine on the nose. Taste of citrus and pine comes through in the taste also. I find this beer to be very well balanced with some sweetness battling the hoppy bite. Medium body with minimal lingering aftertaste. Amoungst my favorite double ipa’s.

It pours a clear orangey copper with a frothy ivory head. Lots of fine spiderweb lacing. Beautiful smell. Floral and sweet citrusy hops. Hints of tangerine and apricot, orange rind and a hint of alcohol. In the mouth, the alcohol is quite apparent. Quite hot actually. It is quite sweet but the malt provides very little body to offset the copious amounts of bitingly bitter hops. The hops are pretty unpleasant actually without the malt to offset the spice. It comes off exceedingly harsh. And thin! Long hoppy aftertaste. Wow, really lacking as a double IPA. It’s kind of a mess. Horrendously overrated. A fantastic brewery (the best brewer of stouts in America in my estimation) but this is a beer that is surprisingly lacking in craftmanship and taste. Miss it.

I was sure I rated this, I drank enough of it but I’m over a year behind transferring my tasting notes to this rating site. For some reason this didn’t taste as good as it did the first time I tried it, but it’s still pretty good. Boittle: Puts an unfiltered orange amber ale in the glass with a sturdy cap that leaves curtains of sticky lace on the glass. Aroma is intense with exotic fruits-citrus-pine over rich caramel malty sweetness. Pungent fruitiness. Thick body, slick mouth feel, deeply balanced character between hop acids and malt sugars. Front side is a lush chew on caramalts, peaches, pine and citrus. Mid palate some complexity builds then a slow balanced finish with a hop bite at the end and alpha after sting left in your throat. A beautiful big, hoppy ale with fantastic balance and depth...great malt mix and obviously hops added at boil, hopback infusion and dry hopping stages. One of a few big US Micro DIPAs with balance, depth of character and drinkability.

UPDATED: JAN 24, 2011 Had out of the bottle. Aroma hits you with a great sweet, grapefruit smell. Hoppy and Citriusy also. Good looking beer with a goldish hue and medium head. Extremely tasting beer like the name refers to with piney, citrus aftertaste. Warms the mouth after drink and has medium thickness. Very good feeling in the mouth. This was a very enjoyable beer for me to drink.

Thanks to Chalsk for the bottle. Pours a cloudy gold with nice white head. Thin film of head leaves nice lacing. Aroma is florals, citrus, pine and a little alcohol. Taste is sweet with a nice bitter finish. The alcohol leads to a warm finish, but it is still well hidden with the bitterness. Enjoyed this very much.