Where's the Bell's Hopslam 2019 love?

Really? I think tickers and other people who have to buy and review every beer they see have consumed much more bad beer than I ever have.

 

I realized this morning that I actually did review Hopslam back in 2010 [typos and all!], which even mentions Two-Hearted and why I prefer it. Since then I've had Hopslam several times and I drink Two-Hearted often, and my opinions have not changed. (At least I'm consistent there...phew!).

 

Great glad to hear that. My comment on Arkansas was just a reference to the fact that there aren't a lot of highly regarded breweries in Arkansas leading to the masses depending on distributed beer for a good quality option. I would think Hopslam would fall into this category for you folks. I could be wrong, just made sense to me. Sorry you don't get to cruise BA forums on work time, equally not sorry that I however do How does the beer scene in Arizona compare to Arkansas btw?

 

Add this to the list of assumptions made in this thread.

 

Arkansas ranked 41 out of 50 states in craft breweries per capita. Not sure how many of these breweries are highly regarded or even heard of outside the state but from the data it says they are pretty spread out and more of Arkansas is rural as opposed to urban. I would say a good percentage of the population is relying on distributed beer.

 

It doesn't have to be put in a box as NEIPA vs hopslam, I know for myself (and quite a few of my friends) we are growing tired of 10+abv sweeter ipas. There are plenty of currently popular breweries that make "triple" ne style ipas that also fall into the slightly boozier, sweet-ish category. For me, this what I get from Hopslam now.

 

So all I need to do is post a review of this overrated beer and all of a sudden my opinion is magically validated? Nice, I'll keep that in mind next time I think a beer sucks. And for the record Trillium has fallen off quite a bit, especially since the new fermentation profile. Not all NEIPA are awesome either bro, tons of breweries out there producing really crappy versions of the style, actually most honestly.

 

Yeah, that's what I was getting at earlier. I haven't had it enough to track that sort of thing (it was just 2 or 3 years ago when there were 1 can limits), but also haven't had one that matches the negative descriptions I see posted. Fortunately, I suppose.

 

I remember having a sixer that was canned on 1/6 or 1/8 of 2016. I drank a couple a few days after canning and thinking it was phenomenal. Even after two weeks it was still great. The '17 and '18 batches thereafter just did not compare to 2016 so I am hoping this year will be a good batch.

 

Once I toured the production brewery when Hopslam was being brewed. I came away with the impression that it was a difficult brew with the honey, and that it was pushing the fermentation limits of the house yeast.

 

Can't imagine having to clean the tanks after brewing this, yeesh...

 

Great, thanks for clearing that up! Cheers!

 

I was food shopping a few days ago and I grabbed a Chimay Grande Reserve while there.

Because it's possible that they aren't selling a beer like Chimay Grande Reserve.

Ahhh. "Adjuncts you can actually taste." The mark of true quality.

 

Enjoy your grocery store beer bro

 

To each their own, but I've had Hopslam 3 times and find it far too sweet and grainy. I actually wish I did because it's always pretty easy to get in my area. I'm not the biggest fan of NEIPAs, but I'd much rather have 16x4 of the two or three that I like than a six pack of Hopslam.

 

No, the difficulty is in heating and transfering the honey, from the 55 gallon drums, which weigh 600+ lbs when full.

If you ever brew with honey, you will find clean up is not a problem. Even Mead is not a problem.

 

Life is too short so I hope I do. It's a gamble in there... just like anywhere else. Without contempt, I'm wishing you the same for your beers.