Big Head San Diego Style Ale
Bell's Brewery - Eccentric Café & General Store

Big Head San Diego Style AleBig Head San Diego Style Ale
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From:
Bell's Brewery - Eccentric Café & General Store
 
Michigan, United States
Style:
Imperial IPA
ABV:
11%
Score:
94
Avg:
4.28 | pDev: 6.54%
Reviews:
78
Ratings:
82
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Feb 01, 2024
Added:
Apr 12, 2008
Wants:
  38
Gots:
  1
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by Risser09:
Photo of Risser09
Reviewed by Risser09 from Pennsylvania

4.65/5  rDev +8.6%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
12 oz bottle poured into a big wine glass - 2008 Bottling - Cellar temp

Appearance: Pours a golden orange color with a nice 2.5" light yellow head. Retention is outstanding and lace coats the glass all the way to the bottom of the beer. A beautiful sight,

Smell: Lots of resinous hop oil. A bouquet of heavy grapefruit and lingering pine. Apple, orange, lavender and sweet honeysuckle are subsidiary aromas. Excellent.

Taste: Heavily bittered and hop infused beer. Lots of hot grapefruit and pine blend together to blast my taste buds. I like how quenching this beer is. Honeysuckle and cherry blossom provide and underlying fruitiness.

Mouthfeel: More smooth than chewy like other DIPAs. Hot alcohol and lots of bitterness. Plenty of juicy hop bite.

Drinkability: Very good for a DIPA. Excellent floral aroma and fruity flavors do it good. Plenty of IBUs to satisfy and hop craving.
May 05, 2008
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 4.25 by emerge077 from Illinois

Feb 01, 2024
 
Rated: 4.27 by Muss42 from Michigan

Sep 27, 2017
 
Rated: 4.5 by imperialking from Illinois

Mar 23, 2012
Photo of Beertracker
Reviewed by Beertracker from Oklahoma

4.43/5  rDev +3.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5
Bell's Big Head (San Diego Style Ale) Batch #K8369 pours up with a moderate beigish-tan head that neatly crowns the bright, deep ochre-burnt auburn body. Extremely tight lacing with great head retention. The sweet malty aroma is overlapped by a powerful ripe citrus fruitiness (grapefruit, pommelo, tangerine) from the dry hops with a touch of peppery spiciness overlaying a lovely toasted (biscuit) maltiness. Alcohol is noticeable, but layered with the other characters. Maybe a hint of oxidation is just starting to creep in? The flavor starts off with an incredible toasted caramel sweetness that carries to a defined, marked hop bitterness that delivers a bold, but surprisingly well-balanced finish with a stealthy warmth. This medium-full bodied DIPA has a lovely creaminess with just the perfect amount of carbonation. This one has lost most of its fresh hoppiness in the aroma, but its now layered with malt complexity and drinks like a fine stock ale or barleywine. This is Hopslam taken up a notch!

CHEERS! Beertracker
Jan 18, 2012
 
Rated: 4.5 by brandoman63 from Illinois

Nov 27, 2011
Photo of mikereaser
Reviewed by mikereaser from Pennsylvania

4.44/5  rDev +3.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
A - Pours a murky rust color with a 1/4 inch of foam that quickly dissipated to just a layer of fine bubbles

S - strong grapefruit aroma with hints of pine and sweet malt in the background

T - strong grapefruit flavor with a nice peppery pine finish

M/D - wow, this is quite a unique tasting beer. Nice mouthfeel and carbonation. The peppery finish was unsuspected but a nice twist and the hops were very present but not overly bitter.

I wish I could get this one again.
Jul 02, 2010
Photo of koopa
Reviewed by koopa from New Jersey

4.4/5  rDev +2.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
12oz bottle received in a trade with FlandersNed thanks!

Appearance: Pours a dark orange to brownish crimson with a nice 1.5 finger khaki crown that shows good retention and loads of lace!

Smell: HOP BOMB! Wow this one is the definitive edge btw super hoppy double ipa and a barleywine in my humble opinion. Tiny soap note as well.

Taste: Nice malt that isn't too sweet and doesn't come off very caramel like. Loads of herbal hops with a good zing of bitterness.

Mouthfeel: Just right...fairly crisp due to good carbonation, medium bodied, with a lush mouthfeel from the crown.

Drinkability: This one has a high abv but you wouldn't notice by the flavor profile because it has no alcohol presence at all!
Nov 06, 2009
Photo of mothman
Reviewed by mothman from Minnesota

3.9/5  rDev -8.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 4
A big thanks goes out to Mikesgroove for this one!

Poured into Sierra Nevada Tulip Pint Glass

Color is a very hazy over lighter shaded caramel brown. Pours a 1/2 finger beige head. Fairly good retention. Leaves some splattered lace. A little darker colored than most ipas.

Aroma: From the smell, I can definitely notice that it is a Bell's beer that is imitating the west coast. SO far so good. Big hop aroma. Dulled down floral hops mixed with a lot of caramel. The citrus is there, but it hides behind the caramel too much. It kind of has a musky smell to it. 4

Taste: Wow, just like I'd expect from a west coast IPA... BIG hops going on. However, the main difference is that caramel. I have been having a lot of west coast ipas lately and I haven't noticed this much caramel in any of them. Big floral and earthy taste up front. At the end is really where the citrus kicks in. Too much caramel for me.

Mouthfeel: bitter, bitter, and more bitter. A little boozey. Medium bodied, as well as medium level of carbonation. Leaves a sticky hoppy aftertaste. I really want to like the mouthfeel here, but I just can't enjoy it at all. Something went wrong here I think.

Overall, I really enjoyed this beer for the most part. It was a good experiment by bell's and I think they did a good job. I would only drink 1 bottle of this at a time, as the hops really get to you! Thanks Mike for letting me try this one. It was a fun beer!
Jul 21, 2009
Photo of russpowell
Reviewed by russpowell from Arkansas

4.15/5  rDev -3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3.5
Got this from Beertracker, cheers Jeff!

Batch K8369 pours a copper hued amber with 1+ finger of tan head. Above average lacing, all over the opposite of the glass & above average head retention

S: Rindy & citric hops, plus cakeyness

T: Oranges, tangerines & grapefruit up front, with some serious herbal bitterness & a kiss of booze up front. Leafy hops, toffee sweetness, pineapple & along with booze warmth as this warms, I also get some candi sugar dryness, weird. Finishes warming with earthy & leafy hops, plus grapefruit & orange slices

MF: Chewy with fairly vigirous carbonation

Drinks a touch slow, due the boozeyness & complexity. Would love to try this fresh to compare this, but this has held up pretty well
Jun 11, 2009
Photo of GbVDave
Reviewed by GbVDave from Illinois

4.1/5  rDev -4.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
Poured from a 12oz bottle into a DT tulip. Special thanks to FlandersNed for the last minute DLD trade!

Batch # K8369

A: Pours a lively carbonated bright rusty-orange color with a creamy light orange head. Plentiful lace stuck to the glass and some suspended sediment was visible.

S: Big boozy nose of sweet caramel, rum blasted dark fruit, over-ripe tropical fruit, sweet oranges, vanilla frosting, and piney hops.

T: Sweet caramel, alcohol, and citrus dominate while getting a helping hand from piney hops, sweet mushy pineapple, and still more alcohol.

M: Big, sticky, slick, and sweet with a very nice rawness brought on by the plentiful alcohol. The booze and massive hops did a spicy little tapdance all over my mouth!

D: Surprisingly pretty awesome, considering the heft. I didn't want it to end!
May 22, 2009
Photo of Sammy
Reviewed by Sammy from Canada (ON)

3.75/5  rDev -12.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
I didn't realize it was the equivalent of 4 beers until I finished the last drop. Starts as an English bitter and subtly delivers, I don't know 245 international bitterness units. DIPA in a small 330 ml bottle, what a novelty. Reasonable carbonation, DIPA smell. Full reddish yellow, with lots of white lace.
Mar 13, 2009
Photo of hellbilly
Reviewed by hellbilly from Arizona

3.7/5  rDev -13.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
k8369 bottle by way of ucusty...
hazy burnt orange colored pour capped by a soft light tan head which leaves lots of fluffy spotty lace as it retreats.

holy flower shop aroma!... loads of floral hops, grapefruit, grass, cooked orange skin, caramel, light resinous pine and spice with a bit of a boozy burn.

the palate is sweet and buttery to start but turns mean and bitter as it finishes... there's a noticeable ashiness in the flavor combined with notes of spice, rich caramel, pine, grapefruit skin, wood and an earthy sweetness similar to agave or pine sap honey. it finishes really floral and full of alcoholic vapors. there's a long lingering aftertaste of bitter citrus pith which helps to maintain some sort of balance.

the body is certainly full with a smooth luxurious mouth feel before the onslaught of dryness. it's a bit too sticky for me to give it a five rating (but that's far too common for the style) and i'd be hard pressed to drink any more than this... 8/4/7/4/14/3.7
Feb 09, 2009
Photo of rayjay
Reviewed by rayjay from Hawaii

3.85/5  rDev -10%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Thanks to imstillthegman for the Secret Santa gift. San Diego style? We shall see; I'm either going to love this beer or it will let me down due to high hopes from the name. I'm hoping for a Frank or Sculpin-like experience...

Bottle conditioning is evident from the cloud of fine haze the last bit of beer made, and the foam rises to a thick, pillowy, fluffy white structure that collapses on itself. A deep and hazy pale beer, resembles Racer 5. I'm sure the generous hopping is to thank for the great head retention and thick lacing.

Definitely tons of hops in the aroma; malt aroma suggests high density wort and lots of carmel malt (but too pale for lots of carmel). Hop aroma is big and pine-like, almost solvent-like.

Tasting it....first, huge bitterness hits like a truck, followed by sweet and thick pale malt first runnings; maybe a bit too thick. More like a Hop 15 style beer with the bit chewy malt body.

The hops win in the end, but I prefer a little less competition from the sugars. Fortunately, big bitterness and aroma finish out the beer for a lingering aftertaste, and the sweetness recedes.

In the end, it's basically 90 Minute IPA with about 4 times the aroma, and probably double the perceived bitterness (hey, that's still pretty damn good).

I drank this beer at about 55°F, but I think it would be better at 40°F to help hide the malt and bump up the drinkability and the refreshment aspect. I'm confident that the hop aroma would still carry through at lower temps.

Great bottle-conditioned mouthfeel, but the sweet sticky sugars take the rating down a half notch or so. Thickness drags down the drinkability a little bit too; whoa, 11% abv?? I though it was like 8 or 9%. No wonder I'm noticing the malt so much!

On one hand, it's not quite as great and refined as the usual San Diego crowd-pleaser, but on the other hand, many barleywines with a lower gravity bog you down with heaviness more than this brew.

A noble effort, and a great and unique beer; can't fool me though, I can tell it's not from CA! Drink it cold (40°F) and you're in for a treat. Cheers!
Jan 12, 2009
Photo of waltonc
Reviewed by waltonc from California

4.19/5  rDev -2.1%
look: 5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
A: Very nice golden orange color with a touch of haze. Pours with a big white head, as advertised. One of the cooler looking pours I can remember, so I give this a 5 for appearance.

S: Maybe my nose isn't operating very well tonight, but I'm not getting a strong smell. Could be the Subway Spicy Italian I just had interfering with my olfactories. I just get piney hops.

T: Strong pine and grapefruit hop bomb mania, but like Hop Slam, this is well balanced with strong, sweet malt goodness. I guess I'm having this many months after it was brewed. So the aging and oxidation probably cured it of some of its hop imbalance. I say that deliberately, knowing that hop lovers will not agree with that characterization.

M: Thick body and very well carbonated, sticky and resinous.

D: Pretty good for a high ABV IPA. The name of this beer is not fitting - this is one of my favorite IPAs, and certainly better than any I've had from San Diego.

Thanks to JDV for trading this one to me.
Jan 07, 2009
Photo of ryrust5301
Reviewed by ryrust5301 from Louisiana

4.08/5  rDev -4.7%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
Appearance - Everything i'd expect out of a double IPA. Dark caramel colored with a head that's a showstopper, as it foamed up to a good size with a pure white color. Thick coating hangs around throughout with a heavy lace.

Smell - Rich rich caramel malts, backed up by grapefruit, orange, and piney hops.

Taste & Mouthfeel - I like my DIPA's on the hoppier side of things. While this one does have its hops, it's definitely on the ubber malty side. It has more of a barleywine feeling than anything. Caramel malts and a sneaky alcohol take it's toll in the mouthfeel, leaving a very bitter tongue in their wake. Orange is present as well, but almost in a candied sort of way. This one has a very large, sweet, sticky, bitter feel to it. Coating and numbing your palate will not be a problem with this one.

Drinkability - This was one I have heard nothing but good things about, and have sought it out for awhile. It didn't quite give me everything I hoped for, but it's pretty damn good. I dropped the drinkability a bit just because I like my DIPA's more on the hop bomb side than the sweet barleywine side. A great brew to sip on this cold new years night while I kick back and watch some bowl games.
Jan 02, 2009
Photo of ShrLSU
Reviewed by ShrLSU from Louisiana

4.55/5  rDev +6.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5
The appearence is deep amber color with white sticky lacing. The nose is of piney hops and citrus fruits. There is a slightly sweet and caramel scent as well. The taste is well balanced. It has the nice bitter hop taste but a touch of maltiness in the end. Its slightly syrupy as well. The mouthfeel is medium bodied and medium cabonated. It feels slightly slick on the tongue. Overall drinkability is high. For a beer with such a high ABV it's not as pungent as you'd think. Another winner from Bells!
Jan 02, 2009
Photo of badbeer
Reviewed by badbeer from Iowa

4.06/5  rDev -5.1%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Nice amber color with a white head that retains very well and leaves tons of sticky lacing. Aroma has grapefruit, tangerines, pine cones, and sap. Very piney flavors, resinous, but lacks some of the other flavors noticed in the nose. A rather bitter beer, but still quite good. Higher carbonation and medium body with a sticky hop finish. An enjoyable beer for sure, and I'm glad to have tried it, but I like HopSlam better. Thanks to hoppymeal for the bottle!
Dec 28, 2008
Photo of Goliath
Reviewed by Goliath from Illinois

4.26/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Pours a beautiful slightly hazy amber color with a large two inch off white head. Excellent retention and some great lacing.

The aroma is great. A big hop profile with some nice citrus notes and a touch of spicey hops.

The taste is excellent. A great hop profile with some nice pine notes and a great bitterness on the finish. A slight bit of caramel comes through on the end as well. Very nice.

Mouthfeel is medium to full bodied with a low level of carbonation, though it's quite perfect. Slightly syrupy feel as well.

Drinkability is insanely high. For an 11% beer, it's very well hidden. The flavor profile is right on and I'm just really pleased.
Dec 23, 2008
Photo of MasterSki
Reviewed by MasterSki from Canada (ON)

4.52/5  rDev +5.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
Thanks to Monsone for trading a bottle of this to me. It's batch K8369 which is apparently from April 2008.

A - Deep golden color, almost like apple juice. Thick white creamy head that dissipates relatively quickly to a nice bubbly lace.

S - Wow - complex. Really sweet citrus; more mandarin orange than grapefruit. There's some other fruit here too - pineapple for sure, maybe cherries too? Hops galore too, of course.

T - Sweet - almost candy-like. Caramel mixed with hop bitterness, plus all the fruit flavors. This is up there with Pliny the Elder in my opinion - why did Bell's discontinue this?

M - Nice alcohol burn - it reminds you that this is one serious brew. Starts out prickly then smooths out on the back palate. Nice consistency, but could have been a little bit more viscous.

D - Doesn't taste like 11%, but probably isn't all that sessionable either. More of a special occasion brew for a nice spicy meal.

Bell's, please bring this back! Offer this one in the summer and Hopslam in the winter or something...
Nov 22, 2008
Big Head San Diego Style Ale from Bell's Brewery - Eccentric Café & General Store
Beer rating: 94 out of 100 with 82 ratings