Bells Hopslam

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

Serve in Snifter, Tulip

Bottle. I just love hoppy beers, and this one is hoppy in the best way. Pours hazy orange with a white head. The aroma is very floral, peach and grape, and the taste is sweet malty, alot of grape, maybe chinook hops, a bit peach that gives some freshness. Medium body with a sweet light alcoholic, dry, hop finish. Another good beer from Bell´s, more please!!!

Pours a cloudy orange with sparse white bubbles. Smells of oranges, sweet malt, some dught and pepper. Tastes of pepper, citrus and malt. This hop profile would translate well to a Belgian beer.

Bottle shared by MikeTD - thanks! (ZBF2008) (sip)
Gold, thin head. Citrus and apricot aroma, some peach. Sweet body. The taste is very hoppy, but they are very well balanced hops, and the rich malty body melds very well. I’m not normally a hop bomb kind of person, but this worked very well. The finish was quite peppery. Very pleasant.

Considering the style, Scores ranging from 1 to 5, 5 being the most intense
Appearance:
Body:   Clear(1)->Murky(5) : 2     Pale Yellow(1)->Dark brown(5) : 2     Still(1)->Sparkling(5) : 3
Head:   None(1)->Large(5) : 3   White(1)->Tan(5) : 1   Lasting: 2   Lacing : XX
Aroma:
Intensity : 4  
Yeast : 1   Bread : 2   Apple : XX   Tropical Fruits : XX   Soap : XX   DMS : XX   Diacetyl : XX Sulfur : XX  
Malt : 3   Biscuity : 2   Hay : 1   Toasty : XX   Caramel : XX   Nuts : XX   Honey : 2   Cereals : XX   Grainy : XX
Hops : 5   Noble(1)->American(5) : 4   Leafy : XX   Spicy : 2   Floral : XX   Lemon/Lime : XX   Grapefruit : 1   Orange : 3   Herbal : 3   Grassy : 3   Pine/Spruce/Resin : 3  
Notes :   Peach/Apricot : XX   Earth : XX   Mint : XX   Butterscotch : XX   Smoke : XX
Flavor:
Initial Flavor : Dry(1)->Sweet(5) : 3   Finish Dry(1)->Sweet(5) : 4   Sourness : 1   Bitterness : 3   Complex : 2   Length : XX
Palate:
Light(1)->Full(5) : 3   Flat(1)->Fizzy(5) : 3   Clean : XX   Sharp : XX   Watery : XX   Oily : 3   Chalk : XX   Astringent : XX   Alcohol : 3   Mineral : XX   Oxidation : XX   Metallic : XX

Comments: A rather confusing offering from Bells. Dynamic hop aromas range from the herbal character from noble hops while direct, punchy mandarine/tangerine nuances strongly hint at Amarillo Americanised hops. All the while, the body remains kinda smallish, a bit oily and leaving room for residual sugars – a bit like I would expect an Stone IPA and kinda failing to provide the usual roundness and nourishment I associate with a Bells. Perhaps this might be explained by the absolutely clear appearance? Larry Bell wouldn’t filter, would he?

lots of initial head on pour on orangey brown. I grabbed this as an IPA, and then I find out quickly its a double hophead and higher alcohol than I expected. Its a bitter, sucking the leaf sucking the lime hop delivery that works and is satisfying aftertaste, not in your face or substantial malting as in other DIPA. My tongue was frozen later on. Good carbonation. Good but overated.

Bottle from the Beer Yard. Pours turbid dark straw with floaties. Aroma is huge tropical fruit, resiny hops, mango, black pepper, tangerine, honeydew, peach, guava. The flavor is tropical fruity, very hoppy, balanced well by caramel malt, with the mango, tangerine, honeydew, even watermelon hints, plus pineapple and papaya. Very complex aroma and flavor. Toward the finish, it gets a bit dry and a tad astringent. Take 2 parts Stone 10th, add 1part Weyerbacher 11, a dash of Dreadnaught, and a syringe full of Hop Whompus, and you have this beer. Just marvelous!

Bottled, Batch 7690. Poured a chunky medium orange with a couple minutes’ worth of white head. The aroma is where this one really shines!... huge juicy fruit and floral hop candy just lures you in... grapefruit bitters and meat, sweet caramel, and pears all come into play.
The flavor was ever-so-slightly skewed toward malty sweetness... caramel and grapefruit at the core were just decadent... heavy pine, grapefruit, and juicy pears provide an ideal higher level of bitterness... alcohol is present only to accent the bitterness, provide warmth, and give you that tingly feeling on the backside of your gums... long, drawn-out sweet caramel and bitter grapefruit finish. "Succulent" is an ideal descriptor for this one.

Bottle massive huge thanks to badgerben. Aroma is pine grapefruit, lychee tangarine, orange character, peach and apricot, bursting with tasty hops. Taste is similar the honey is evedent reall hoppy fruity charcater but balanced and super tasty. I can easy nderstand how all you american chaps get a 6 pack of this and find yourself in a bad way. Iv got another 5 to get me going, yee haaaaaaa!!!!!!!