Bells Hopslam

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

Serve in Snifter, Tulip

UPDATED: MAR 15, 2008 So I’m casually checking out what my local place with 16-20 taps (Isaac Newton’s) has and I realize they have this beauty on tap - one I’ve been trying to get my hands on for awhile. So I rush out with growler in hand. I hope a case of this happens to land in my local store, but in the mean time I’m psyched to try another highly rated beer from one of my top 4 or 5 favorite breweries (albeit, only about an hour after trying a great Pizza port IPA). Sounds like a challenge/treat for my hop lovin’ palate. Nice looking copper/caramel color with medium sized foamy head. Sweet floral hop aroma with substantial sugary malt goodness in the nose. Sweet and sticky hop flavor is wonderful! Tastes from bitter to sweet roll across the tongue in a fantastic tasting brew! Sweet malts mix with wonderful hop taste. This is probably the smoothest DIIPA I’ve had and I just want more. Bells Rules!

Whoa..Damn this is a hop lovers dream! My Euro friends would laugh at this, then I would exclaim that its for an American’s taste, and they don’t understand. Cloudy orange, head is gone quickly. Sticky on the lips, hop bomb that turns into a nice grapefruit flavor. it is a Hopslam, if you’re looking fo a balanced beer this isn’t it, but for a hophead like me, its great. Thanks to Duane for the bottle!

Loved it. Got three of the last few bottles at Funky Buddha and I can see why they were selling out fast. The balance is just terrific. The aroma is hoppy and a little sweet with that honey in there. Not super bitter and it goes down very smooth. One of the best hoppy beers I’ve tried.

(bottle 6/20/10). Cloudy copper color. Medium off white head. Moderate citrus hop aroma. Flavor of the same, with light sweet malt. Avg duration. Light alcohol finish with light bitterness. Slick texture. Moderate carbonation. Good lacing.

Golden orange fizzy pour white head ... lacing a citrusy hop and honey aroma .... lots of grapefruity taste ... honey and citrusy with a spice to it ..... finishes with a spicy hop lingering finish ..... a dangerously tasty beer for 10% very well done

UPDATED: JAN 16, 2009 1-16-09. Bottle. Clear, light orange body. Next to no head. Nose of grapefruit, orange peel, resin. The flavor is moderately to heavily sweet and moderately bitter. The finish is moderatley to heavily bitter with a moderately sweet aftertaste. Chewy. Seems to get sweeter every year. If this gets any sweeter, I am going to reduce my rating. 1-20-08. Bottle. This year’s release presents a sweeter, orange citrus backbone that is much more noticeable than last year’s. The nose is still filled with juicy citrus fruit — orange, grapefruit, pineapple and tangerine. But the flavor is sweet grapefruit juice — still heavily bitter, but now moderately sweet. I like the balance better. 2-12-07. On cask at BWW, Indy. The bitterness is even more pronounced in this daft version, muting most of the edgy sweetness. 11-17-06. Bottle. When I think breweries that know their way around hops, I first think of Three Floyds and Stone and AleSmith — and Bells. So it didn’t surprise me that Hopslam was brimming with juicy citrus aroma and flavor. Cloudy golden pour with comfortable off-white head. The nose is strong and filled with sweet oranges, pineapple, grapefruit, tangerine and apricot. The flavor is 95 percent hops — bitter almost from the start and lasting well after you’ve swallowed. There is a little sweetness around the edges. Full body. Moderately thick, chewy texture with a raspy feel and resinous coating. Can’t help but think of a thicker, richer version of Two-Hearted. Nice dry finish. 9-3-8-4-17.

Hazy orange pour with white lace head that coats the glass. The aroma is absolutely enticing! Sweet chewy hops. The flavor matches wonderfully. I don’t want to write, I just want to drink more! Why or WHY can’t bells ship to NY. A phenomenally tasty beer.

Firkin! at pub in Kzoo during RBSG tour. It was hard to pick this pint up as I was holding 3 other pints. Honey, citrus, spice, melon, caramel, mandarin, sweat, biscuity aroma. Huge flavours of melon, ruby red grapefruit, some resin follows. Honey... lots of honey, mandarin, caramel and light bready notes. So fruity and wonderful tasting. Light spice and light pine. Great thick and slick mouth feel. Very good job hiding the 10%. Chugged the last half cause the bus was leaving.