Bells The Oracle DIPA Ale

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

Serve in Snifter, Tulip

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Best DIPA I have ever tried, and better than HopSlam! Intense grapefruit hop aroma and taste. Malt added body and sweetness---but less than honey laced HopSlam. They need to make this year around!

Bottle: Pale orange pour with a small white head...good lacing and retention. Huge nose of mango, peach and pineapple with a hint of pine. Sticky, full-bodied mouth feel...flavor is massively hopped in the west-coast sense. Very clean, almost no malt background to be found...huge on the pineapple, mango and peach...finishes clean with a strong, lingering bitterness. This could very well be in tops of IIPA’s.

One wicked DIPA and Fall warmer. Picked this up on a whim while filling a mixed6. The intense hop flavor grabs my salivation glands and squeeeeeezes. The alcohol warmth is present and appreciated on a cool night on the deck. Now, where to find some more?

First bottle of the season, hell yes. Pours translucent golden copper with a fluffy off-white head that settles to about half a finger with some fantastic lacing. Aroma is piney citrus and wonderful. Taste is an explosion of resiny hops, and yet there’s substantial sweetness in there. Palate is thick, oily, powerful, luxurious. A magnificent DIPA, one of my absolute favorites. And this fresh? Unstoppable.

A: A bright golden apricot with plenty of white head and great lacing as it goes down. Plenty of carbonation visible throughout. S: It’s like smelling heaven--citrus fruits abound alongside plenty of floral notes and a tad bit of pine. Citrus notes--particularly tangerine and a bit of bitter grapefruit--completely dominate this one, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. T: Much like the nose. The bitterness slaps your palate around, but it’s one of the finest beatings you’ve ever taken. 110 IBU’s of pure bliss; Pythia prophesied greatness, and greatness was found in a little shop in Kalamazoo. I’d like to talk about the malt, but I can’t. The simple fact is that I can’t taste it, and I don’t mind at all. Larry Bell wanted deliver a West Coast DIPA, and that is exactly what happened. Hopalicious indeed. M: Moderate carbonation on a light-medium body. I’d like to know more about the mouthfeel, but I can’t help but swallow more and more. It’s a hoppy assault on every bud in my mouth, but goes down so smoothly. Fantastic. D: Phenomenal. Simply phenomenal. Pliny the Roman, meet Pythia and the Oracle of the Greeks. Which is better? It’s not my place to say, but place either on my lips and I’ll never want to stop drinking. Serving type: bottle Reviewed on: 09-05-2009

Poured from a 12 oz bottle golden almost amber color with a very frothy head. Very tasty beer. Almost has a taste of Two Hearted Ale with the extra bite. You can almost taste the 10 % of this big beer. Hopefully Bell’s keeps producing this.

Appearance: Pours golden with a creamy white head Aroma: Piney grapefruity wonderful Flavor: Grapefruit and pine Palate: Coats the palate and lingers impressively. Just the right amount of malts to balance the hops and nice bitterness. Overall: A fantastic DIPA! Wish I had another!

Bottle at the Union, in a snifter. Nice slow pour with a good white head of medium size. Aroma is outragious.....tangerines, citus slightly grassy with hints of pine. massive hop flavor...ABV is 9....not as strong as hopslam but stronger than two hearted....amazing stuff....I hope this stuff becomes commonplace. Cuase it is spectacular.

12oz bottle thanks to coyotehunter! pours a beautiful, hazy gold with a perfect, one finger, white head leaving solid lacing. aroma is simply amazing with big, zesty, grapefruit and orange citrus hop notes balanced by sweet tropical fruit notes of honeydew melon and apricot with a touch of caramel malts, floral esters, and pine. flavor is absolutely fantastic with massive, juicy citrus hop flavors of tart pink grapefruit and tangerine, tropical notes of pineapple and melon, fresh cut pine needles, and a bit of wet grass with a smooth, toasted, caramel maltiness adding excellent balance. finishes with a lingering dry, bitter hop bite. palate is medium bodied with prickly carbonation and a touch of booze. overall, this brew is the prodigal son of Hopslam and Two Hearted and one hell of a DIPA that deserves to be right up there with the best of the best.

Fresh batch on draft at Eccentric Cafe. A tastier Hopslam, with ridiculous resinous flavor that explodes onto the tongue as the beer warms. Lacks the sweetness of Hopslam, which I find to be cloying and a distraction from a solid hop bouquet. This is Bell’s wheelhouse IPA, and it’s almost perfect. This new batch must be bottled.