Hopslam Ale
Bell's Brewery - Eccentric Café & General Store

Straight pour from a 12oz pry-off bottle to a teku glass; bottling date of January 21, 2014 printed in black ink at the bottom of the back label (“12634 PKGD 01/21/14 A”), making this bottle one month old exactly at the time of consumption. It only hit stores here maybe three days ago, so it could hardly get any fresher.

Appearance (4.25): Two fingers of off-white foam come off of the pour, dissipating at an average pace to leave a broken collar at the top, wide patches of froth all the way around the glass, and a light film on the surface of a glowing, slightly hazy, orange-hued honey-amber body. In the end, it shows excellent lacing, though the head could stick around a little long and leave more evidence after it dies down.

Smell (4.25): A beauuutiful mix of dank resin, some pine needles, pungent candied citrus peel, and then some surprisingly light-handed floral and fresh, almost sweet grassy character comes out to represent the hops profile. The malt is simple, pale, and moderately sweet, showing simple syrup, just a tiny bit of caramel, and fresh-baked bread to support the hops.

Taste (4.5): Now this is really outstanding—really great stuff. A moderately stiff bitterness comes out immediately, with some grapefruit zest tempered by the light simple syrup flavor of the malt hinted at in the nose. It transitions, though, quickly into minty, biting but not astringently resinous hops that blur the boundaries of the noticeable booze hiding behind it all. If you hold onto it, that strongly resinous character downshifts into earthy, herbal, and spicy notes that are even slightly tobacco-like, which also blend into that solid booziness. The malt, I dunno . . . the malt’s in there somewhere. It melds well with the hops, being lightly sweet and bready, flavors that fall in line behind the citrus and floral notes easily. Hopslam finishes with grapefruit peel and spicy booze to scrub everything clean.

Mouthfeel (5.0): A bit over medium-weight in feel with a slick, oily feel that washes out easily with almost astringent hop bitterness, lending the beer an incredibly dry finish for its size and thickness. The bubbles are classically Bell’s: even, moderately tingly carbonation covers all surfaces before letting the hops oils scrub everything else away cleanly. This is, in fact, perfect for the style.

Overall (4.5): It actually is that good. It’s not on the level of Heady, in my opinion, or even a couple of others I’ve had that don’t get quite so much hype (looking at you, Double Dose), but man oh man is this beer well done. One of the things I look out for in these big DIPAs is whether or not the line between booze and hops is blurred—the good ones make it hard to tell where one ends and the other begins, and this is one of them. Big, yes. Boozy, yes. Hoppy as hell and executed cleanly, absolutely yes. This is a great beer.

Pours a light golden amber color with a small head. Aroma is floral, fruity & malty with some sweetness. Taste is light for a 10% beer, but it hits stronger. Really good and easy drinking. BB 3-10-2026

 

 

 

The quintessential imperial IPA. There really isn’t anything not to like, in my opinion. Citrusy, rindey, piney. With a beautiful kiss of honey sweetness to smooth it out. Be careful… the 10% will catch up to you.

Pours a beautiful copper color with a thick fluffy head. Surprisingly very little hop aroma. The hops are definitely robust and forward on the taste. Piney resinous flavor with grapefruit rind. Moderate mouthfeel with subtle carbonation and a dry finish. Overall, a PNW hops lovers dream!

(reviews from 2017 & years later) You better LOVE hops & bitterness! Excellently balanced for a 10%er & at only 70 ibus you'd think it would be a lot more! Eat some cones!!!!

 

 

RB transfer

 

 

 

 

 

honey

Exceptional. Delicious, beautiful, more than sum of parts. Honey brings that muddy sweet presence for me. Not my fav part. The hops and grain bones are stupendous. Only bells can really nail this. Pretty cool.

 

Poured from can to pint glass...not an aggressive pour but holy smokes the amount of foam/carbonation. Was like the can was shaken! After 3 finger head dissipation, a very nice darker golden hue (honey hue?) perhaps a bit darker than most doubles. Brewed with honey but I didn't get much honey on the nose. But there is certainly honey in the profile. Strong hops and definite honey notes, and the 10% ABV is hidden well. This will fool you...goes down very smooth for a 10%er. Smooth and almost velvety mouth feel for such a hoppy brew, lingers a bit on the back of the tongue but finishes nicely. A very fine brew.