Bells Hopslam

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

Serve in Snifter, Tulip

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355 ml bottle. Pours a lightly cloudy golden orange with large white head. Aroma is big citric hops, caramel and some pine. Flavour has piney and citrusy hops, strong caramel malt, with a little honeyish sweetness. High ABV really not apparent in the taste. Big bitterness in finish. A really nice beer.

12 oz bottle. Pours orange with a light head. Heavenly hop aroma. The flavor reminds me of fruit loops, orange, grapefruit and tangerine with light pine and sweet malt notes in just the right proportions. Medium body with the perfect level of carbonation. I must say…This stuff is a knock out success!

UPDATED: JAN 25, 2009 The last of my first six-pack. Good stuff, easy to drink, too easy for a $13 sixer that weighs in at 9.5%. Tulip glass. Gold tinted orange body with a persistent head. Tropical aroma, almost pineapply with orange, pine, and wildflower honey. Lots of malt and malt sweetness at first, you actually think for a second that this is a malt bomb, but the hops are there, though restrained for an imperial IPA. Reminds me of the DFH90 but with a slightly more harsh bitterness (Centennials?). The flavor is very fruity along with lots of floral, and to a lesser extent, piney flavors. There is a bracing, but not overdone, bitterness at the finish along with tons of residual flavors and some semi-aggressive alcohol, especially as the beer warms. Well done Bells, this is a great beer. 4.2

[b}RE-RATE 2009 edition @ 10%. This is the last of the 2x6packs I have purchased over the last week. One from the initial six pack and the entire second six pack was finished today. Aroma is wildflower honey and piney and spicy hops. Taste varies, depending on the temp. Right now I am drinking a bottle in the mid 50’s° and noticing a little heat, this was not something I have noticed before. Mostly there is a nice pine flavor, strong but not overwhelming, as well as some coconut & pineapple, blood orange and grapefruit, and some strong herbal notes. A very, very tasty beer. 4.4

12oz bottle big thanks to daknole. Golden color with a small amount of white head. Huge hop aroma - lots of grapefruit and some floral as well. Just incredible! Good malt backbone and the honey gives a slight sweetness which helps stand up to the lingering bitterness. This is a great brew that I’m very glad to have gotten to try.

yellow, clear w. occassional bubbles dry, nettle hops and passion fruit on the nose med body and faintly fizzy and creamy absolutely gorgeous! well balanced, lovely IPA. hops aren’t cascade (or at least cascade isn’t the dominant/only hop noticeable) but a nice passion fruit hop. they also aren’t ridiculous. just nice and worthwhile. nothing extreme here, just a perfect IPA.

Bottle: Cloudy flat gold with a small white head. The hop aroma is like burying your head in a sack of fresh hops. Abundant are grapefruit, oranges and junipers in every sniff. The strong juniper taste along with grapefruit and ripe apricots is extremely palatable. It shows a great bitter aftertaste. This beer is quite well-built! Thanks BuckeyeBoy for hooking this brother up.

Pours a hazy golden orange with a white head. The aroma is full of hoppish qualities of grapefruit and pine. The flavor is excellent with citrus and pine and the finish is sharp and pronounced.

12oz. bottle to snifter. First thing is hops and then more hops. Very strong grapefurit smell. Appearance is yellow and maybe a faint orange hue. Very little head and nice lacing. Taste is rich hops with alittle honey in there as well. Full flavor with slick to creamy texture in mouth, and lively in the mouth. Overall a top five for IPA’s.

UPDATED: MAY 5, 2007 Big, huge, grapefruit and pine aroma and flavor. Not much malt, but that’s characteristic of the style. I liken it to a turbo charged two hearted ale and very similar to great divide hercules. Bells never ceases to amaze me. Dind’t notice any of the 9.5% either. BTW, there’s all this talk of "tropical." It’s definitely citrusy but tropical? maybe as an extreme form of citrus. i’m done with this rating. RERATE, this is way more fruity than i remember. Lots of vegeteble aromas and flavors, kind of that that earthy fart stuff. if you drink with pretzels you can notice the alcohol. Rerate, about 5 months old and there is noticeable decline in hops. and more obvious alcohol.

Thanks to my bud Matt. Light amber color, pretty, with a fluffy orange-tinted head. Smells like a fruit bomb—I mean that in the best way—with sweet mandarine, pineapple, pear syrup, flowers and more. Initially quite sweet and rolling quickly into a tongue-coating bitterness, Long bitter aftertaste with fruity edge. Not quaffable but at 10% it could be a fine cap to a long summer night.