Bell's Hopslam (2014)

I had an Enjoy by yesterday, a Sucks the day before that, and i"m drinking Hop Slam right now. Never had a Sculpin but my list would be HS, Sucks, Enjoy By. Sucks was very good, but the finish is too dry for me. When I drink HS I don't get that same dry quality which puts it over the top out of those two. I'll have to see about trying Sculpin, I'm in Michigan so not sure if we get that here.

Also it's 10% ABV, I'm not a lightweight drinker but usually all I need is one or two of these and I'm pretty good. And for the alco content to be so high, you taste almost no alcohol in the drink itself. That is fine craftsmanship there and should not be discounted as "nothing special"

 

Pushed back another week to next Tuesday. At least for Charlottesville..

 

Tomorrow should be the day for NCers in GSO and Raleigh. Start your engines.

 

Where in FL did you find it if you mind me asking?

 

Pensacola... Well, I drove to Pace to actually buy mine, but both Pace and Pensacola have it now.

 

It has arrived in Columbia, SC. It's at Total Wine for a hefty price and should be at Greens tomorrow for much more reasonable.

 

What's the price at Total Wine?

 

Good grief!!! I will definitely not be getting any. Seems like the prices jacks up every year. I thought $10 for a four pack was expensive!

 

I'd be interested in knowing what widely available year-round DIPAs you believe to be 'far better' than Hopslam - I don't doubt you, but I'm very curious...

 

With your criteria, FW Double Jack comes to mind, but that's mostly just personal taste - I've never been a huge Hopslam fan, even though Two-Heated is probably my favorite IPA.

 

Two Hearted is fantastic. For me the charm of Hopslam is the honey that I can't get from other beers, and the huge and invisible ABV is a huge bonus. I'm enjoying it while it's here. I'm in a rural area that gets very few brands (Can't get double jack) so I grabs what I can gets

 

Then you are loving this years. All I tasted was honey on the one i cracked yesterday. Will try again tonight.

 

You didn't care for it? Is that why I'm getting the finger?

 

Where at?

 

Long Island?

 

Wegmans in carrying it in NY. Just got a sixer for $17.49 + tax/dep. Never tried this one. Really anxious to see how it is.

 

The word was put forth from my local bottle shop last Friday morning that the glorious Hopslam had arrived, one six pack per customer. Last year I waited until after work and missed out on it. This year I sent my wife at lunch, but alas the Hopslam had been sold. <sigh> Oh well I think I had a Sculpin on Friday night.

Then on the next day my son and I got out to go by the comic book store and we also stopped by World Market mainly to buy a few singles of stuff like Samuel Adams Cold Snap which would be a one and done for me. <Tickers gotta tick you know.> I had resigned myself that once again Hopslam would elude me, you see. But my son with his ever observant ten year old eyes nudged me and pointed. And there it sat at such an unlikely place as World Market, four six packs of that rare beverage. Like Gollum after the One Ring, I pounced upon it and tightly held a six pack looking at my son and looking at the beer and saying in a raspy growling voice, "MY PRECIOUS."

And so it was that six magnificent bottles of Hopslam came to my house. What happened to the three remaining six packs you might ask. Well I don't know. See I only bought one of them. Noblesse Oblige demanded that I leave it behind for the next unsuspecting soul. That and I was afraid I could not have convinced my wife that one case of beer was worth $80. Harmony in the home is ultimately worth more than beer.

 

I'm definitely enjoying the 2014 batch here in St. Louis. Less syrupy and sweet than the last 2 or 3 years.

 

I stopped at wegmans before tracking down enjoy by, and found and empty slot with the shelf tag. I guess it's ok cuz i saw 6 cases and about 30 six packs of hopslam. So far it's pretty tasty.

 

I've never heard anyone say Sucks was dry.. If sucks is dry you to, AVOID Sculpin. Sucks has one of the highest finishing gravities of probably any IPA off the top of my head.

Not saying you can't taste it and that it could come across that way, but I haven't heard anyone say that before about Sucks.

Hopslam isn't that special though. It's special because it's a limited release beer done once a year. Thats about as far as the special goes. The hype stays with it because it's a damn good beer, but IPA's have come leaps and bounds in the time Hopslam has come out and it actually has to fight to stay near the top end.