Bells Kalamazoo Hopsoulution Ale

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

Serve in Snifter, Tulip

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Tap at Churchkey. Pours a clear red with a sticky, off-white head. Nice retention and rings of webby lace. Nose is seedy strawberry smoothies and whipped cream....smells like strawberry shortcake. Taste is spicy, bitter with sweet strawberry shortcake. Nutty, mildly astringent bitterness. Very sticky and moderately cheesy. Interesting. Very strange beer coming from Bell’s.

Draft at GTMW pre party at Maduro. Murky orange-browbn, frothy off-white head. Pleasant resinous hop aroma. Somewhat watery body, but full of citrus melon hop tones. Orange, pine, rather mellow in some respects...oily and brutally resinous in others. An awesome IIPA, rather subdued.

From notes. First reviewed 11/23/2010. Poured from a 12 oz. bottle into a pint glass. Hopsolution pours a deep hazy amber color with a 3 cm off-white head. Pretty good retention and some nice lace sticking on the glass. Full caramelized malt aroma, backed with a strong punch of juicy grapefruit, resiny pine, and some earthy / floral notes. The taste starts out with the full caramel malt, with some bready notes as well. The flavor transitions to some lightly herbal notes, following through with a full floral hoppiness, a splash of juicy grapefruit, and finishing with sticky pine hops. Finishes a bit astringent with a touch of alcohol. The smooth creamy mouthfeel here is almost more noticeable than any of the flavors. Sticky and juicy from the hops, with above average carbonation wrapped in a fuller than medium body. Although I found this quite pleasant and drinkable, it really did not differentiate itself from some DIPA’s made in the same mold - caramel malt with juicy hops.

A really nice DIPA here. Bready, biscuit, and caramel backbone mixed in with some sharp citrus notes, spices, and some other fruits thrown in there. . You can pick up the German Influences. It’s definitely a different tasting IPA and it was nice to try something other than an American IPA hop bomb.

Dark orange amber with a thin white head. Lots of grassy herbal and orange citrus with hints of resin and caramel malt. Medium body with good carbonation and a sappy resinous finish. Yummy!

tap - Pours hazy orange and has an aroma of resinous hops with a little citrus. There’s a big, bitter hops flavor as expected with some sweet malt to support it. Medium to full bodied, the choice of hops makes for an interesting take on the style. Works very well!

UPDATED: JAN 11, 2012 I think the first time I had it we got old skunky bottles. On tap at RFD it was great. Very similar to two hearted but with a little more malt and body. Great nose, sticky, hoppy bitter body and a refreshing finish. Previous rating..3.0...Had this when it came out and visiting a friend in chicago, just never entered the data...Was a lot more malt than hop, I guess that’s the German Style, but not really a DIPA as we know them. Huge malty base, and finishes well enough, but I think I’d categorize it some other way. Not really my style.

on tap at Bell’s. Quite good - however still consider Two hearted, exp hop and hopslam the better IPAs. Still very good and better than most

On tap at the Shark Club in Howell. Poured a deeper amberish color with a smaller sized off white head. Earth, floral, caramel, some citrus, and some bread.

A mild version of Hopslam. Nice golden color and hoppy taste. Would be nice on a summer day.

Big time IIPA. Served on tap at Maduro during GTMW. The sweet citrus notes and other sweet fruits dominated the aroma and the flavor. The palate was full and rich and well coated. The bitterness was well balanced in the flavor by a sweet backbone. This was simply delicious!