Bells Hopslam

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

Serve in Snifter, Tulip

12oz Bottle – Friend brought this to me
Amber in color, clear with a thin head. Big hops aroma, floral and light spice. Nice big hops and light malt flavors. The hops take over they are huge and floral. This is a beer that will grow hair on your toe nails. This is not the beginner beer that’s for sure.

12 oz bottle, via joebrew. Pours a very cloudy dark yellow gold with alot of small chunkie floaties in suspended animation. Frothy white head one finger in height left lots of lacing. Aroma is of pungent piney and citrusy hops in mass quantities. There’s some malt there but it is in the background and slightly doughy. Flavor is a little muddled to me, the hops are a little dulled by the soft doughy malt and heavy yeast. Maybe you’d call this "balanced", but I prefer a cleaner crisper malt profile that resides behind the hops, not interwoven amongst. Mouthfeel is creamy with very fine perfect carbonation. Finishes slightly sticky and resiny. This was pretty decent, but a little disappointing. I think I wanted a little more heavier malt presence.

Bottle at Oliver Twist, Stockholm. Hazy orange with a rich white head. Big and merciless hops aroma of pine-needles and grapefruit with sweet undertones of nectarines. Full-bodied with pungent flavour of grapefrui, orange-peels, pine-needles, hot pepper and alcohol. Grapefruit and alcohol in the bitter finish. An extreme and oh, so tasty beer.

Nice slightly light coloured honey glow with a light copper body and a thin off-white head with a bunch of bubbles rising from the bottom. Aroma of fresh pineapple, honey, apple cider, pungent bitter hops and a touch of urine. Full-bodied; Pungent honey flavour with a ton of hops, a lot of bitter resin and floral notes and the ever present sweetness which just lasts and lasts. Aftertaste has a good dose of pineapple, a lot of sweetness and obviously quite a bit of hops - the alcohol is pretty noticeable on the tail end too. Overall, a nice Imperial IPA with the flavour switched more to the honey and sweetness than just the hops with a good balance, albeit the strong alcohol shows through at the end - good that this is a twelve ounce bottle though! I sampled this twelve ounce bottle purchased from Merchant’s in Dearborn, Michigan on 16-January-2011 for US$3.29 sampled at home in Washington on 31-May-2011.

12 oz bottle, batch 7690 via trade with someone---thank you mystery guest. Pour is perfectly beautifal orange with a stable fluffy one finger head. Aroma is hoppy with citrus notes and a good freshness. Big full bodied piney hop blast. Not quite a west coast DIPA, but not quite an East Coast DIPA, the midwest might have it here. This is great, and very tasty as I’d expected. The bottle has always bothered me though because the hops are so round they look like artichokes and I don’t really want artichoke beer, but Bell’s could probably make it taste good.

UPDATED: JAN 26, 2007 Bottle: Huge hop aroma with lots of citrus, grapefruit, pine, and pineapple. Pours a hazy golden-orange with a large white with orange tint head that has good retention. Very good lacing. Flavor starts pretty sweet with orange and pineapple. Big hoppy finish with lots of grapefruit, pine, and light acidity. Definitely a hop monster, but still balanced. Lingering grapefruit aftertaste. Mouthfeel is rather creamy with very mild carbonation. Glad to find out this wasn’t a "one and done". A beer that I will make sure is always around the house.

Bottle courtesy of IMtheOptimator: Poured a slightly hazy yellow color ale with a huge foamy head with great retention and lacing. Aroma of citrusy hops is well balance with sweet caramel malt – the smell of this beer is really great and I can only compare with 3F dreadnaught in term of greatness. Taste is such a well balance mix between sweet caramel malt, bitter and citrusy hops and a great floral aspect to hold it all together. This is definitely something I will want and drink some more.

UPDATED: FEB 19, 2008 Updated 2/19/07, fresh Batch 2277. This was everything I remembered and then some. When fresh, it seems less buttery, with the honey really playing a smoothing role over the intense hop profile. Great beer!

Original rating 9/6/07, over six months old. Pours a cloudy, orange-amber color with some sediment. Small, off-white head eventually settles to a thin film with a prominent rim. Excellent spider-web lacing coats the glass. The aroma is beautiful, showing intense citrus and piney, resinous hops over a buttery toffee background. It literally smells like a freshly squeezed Florida navel orange was infused with melted toffee and hops. The flavor just expands upon the world-class aroma. Citrus hops explode into the mouth like a tsunami, while ample caramel and toffee malts follow behind to quickly and carefully put the taste buds back into check. Long, pleasing, citrus hoppy finish. The body is on the heavy side of medium and is somewhat sticky, though I am more than willing to overlook this minor flaw. What an absolutely fantastic beer! One of the best IPA’s in the world, without question. I love Bells Brewery!