Bells Hopslam

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

Serve in Snifter, Tulip

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I have tried this a few times, but this bottle thanks to wnoble. Clear light amber pour, small off-white head. Citrus, tropical fruit, light biscuit, bitter hops, and honey sweetness but still quite dry for being brewed with honey. Very good IIPA, but it’s very hard to beat fresh San Diego IPAs.

UPDATED: JAN 22, 2010 finally we meet. a clear orange beer under a medium sized creamy white head. aroma has floral notes with citrus notes and tropical pineapple notes. an excellent mix of floral and citrus in aroma and flavor. somehow its light bodied and really smooth for the abv. perfect palate-wise. -- re-rate-- the palate on this beer is simply stunning. must be the honey to smooth out the abv and biting hop content. soft peachy hoppiness. delicate.

UPDATED: JAN 21, 2011 Hops and Honey lace this exquisitely drinkable beer. Extra points for such a smooth drinking 10% balance out the somewhat hefty pricetag. A seasonal brew that I will look forward to every year. 2011 batch was not quite as good. Lacking the honey, and the flavor is not as good as the nose.

(3/1/08) Sample from a bottle (I think jerc brought this one - thanks!) at the RB table at Zythos Bier Festival 2008 in Sint Niklaas. Amber-colored. Big citric hoppy aroma. A very bitter flavor with tons of citrusy juicy hops and some malt and caramel. A lot of grapefruit in the finish. Really great.

UPDATED: JAN 25, 2009 Gonna go ahead and rerate this. Fresh as shit batch 8912. Pours a clean translucent honey colored brew with a two finger creamy offwhite head. The pour alone looks like this beer is a simple malt canvas on which a gorgeous work of hop is painted. The nose is punching me in the face, resinous, grapefruit, all kinds of fruit and citrus, mildly piney and spicy, almost sweet. The flavor is dominated by hops, resinous, citrusy, pink grapefruit meat, fruity, very subdued hop bitterness, all hop flavor. Palate is full and coating with a soft bitterness. Simply fantastic.

Bottle. The beer pours to a nice orange body with a creamy white head. Nice lacing. Tons of medium-slow speed carbonation rises up the body. The aroma is filled with citrus fruit galore. Notes of grapefruit, pineapple, Turkish apricots, nectarines, and Mandarin oranges. Pine trees as well. Very nice. The flavor is like I’m eating what fresh hops smell like. Oh so delicious and bitter. Oily and resiny. Oranges, pine, and malt. Full bodied with well hidden alcohol. Lots of oils.

(Bottle at Oliver Twist, Stockholm. on 2009-04-12) Amber and lightly hazy. Small white head. Lots of hops, grapefruit and grass in very strong aroma. Full bodied and dry palate with medium carbonation. Hops, grass, malts, grapefruit, fruitiness, light sweetness, bitterness and more hops in taste. Lot of hops, some bitterness and malts in aftertaste.

UPDATED: JAN 22, 2011 Bottle thanks to MrChopin. Batch 8277. Hazy dark orange pour with a finger of white foam. Butterscotch and caramel malt aromas with hints of citrus and honey, big grapefruit citrus hop aroma. Taste is sweet, honey, crystal malt and a nice bitter finish of citrus and grapefruit hops. This bottle is a year old and a bit maltier than I expect new stuff is but still fantastic. Re-rate from a fresh 2011 mini-keg. The color is a lighter shade than I remember, more of an orange-yellow with a nice whitish foam. The aroma is heavily dominated by citrusy hops and some florals that might come from the honey. The malt is subdued here in the fresh version, enough to support but not enough to describe anything except a light malt character. The taste is very nice, more floral, citrus, and lightly spicy hops make the substantial bitter finish very pleasant, again the malt is enough to support but not stand out. A very good beer, pricy, but good. Original rating 7:4:7:4:16

The aroma is great! Amazingly fresh lemon citrus/ grapefruity hops. From the aroma you would expect it to be a bit thicker in body, but the flavor is still great. There’s enough malt backbone to balance the tart, grapefruity hops. Resiny long finish. Smooth and balanced. Nice IIPA

A biting, bitter, tongue bruiser of an ale. With a name like Hopslam, what did you expect? I couldn’t put it any plainer! Terribly hoppy brew in aroma and taste, did you every chew on raw hops? Green grapefruit rinds soaked in whiskey. Did you say there was carbonation in there? Where? One sided fer sure. Soapy preservative finish. I will never get slammed again.