Where's the Bell's Hopslam 2019 love?

Ah, great names, I totally remember Mean Manalishi, another one. I totally blew it with forgetting the OG Runiation, awesome beer.

 

I'll just throw my thoughts on this years Hopslam into the thread: I love it! Honestly, I do not remember enjoying this beer as much as I have this year. I am already almost through my second six-pack. That will probably be enough for me given the price-point I am paying here in SEPA ($21.99/6-pk) but they did a great job with it this year!

 

So, what exactly makes Hopslam 2019 'better' than previous year's versions?

Cheers!

 

I can usually pick up a single can pretty easily around here (Hopslam sits around due to price in my area). I love old school IPAs, but I've never really liked Hopslam much. We'll see if my tastes have changed this year; I know the beer really hasn't.

 

From my recollection of prior years, I usually found that the honey sweetness stood out too much. I think this "batch" is really clean, quite bitter with a light sweetness that is more complementary to the beer than it is an overwhelming characteristic.

 

My perception of the difference in this years batch was that the malt back bone was somehow 'brighter' or 'lighter'. I perceive it as being a sweetness more akin to honey vs malt. I also felt like the hop bill included some of the fruitier new school strains that contributed a more nuanced hop flavor. It could be that this is the freshest I've gotten it in a couple years (about 2 weeks from canning) but it was a pretty distinctive difference in a positive direction for me

 

Several years back it seemed to peak taste wise for me, the last several have gotten progressively worse tasting for me. This year's is not as good as last year's, and so on. I think 2015 or 16 was the last year that tasted amazing. I bought a 6er, but quite honestly I would rather drink my own brews (I hardly ever buy anything these days); they are now turning out as good or better than anything I can buy.

 

People say it's better/worse every year. Some people say it's maltier/sweeter, some say it's less malty/sweet. I'll argue that it's exactly the same this year as last year, as it was the year before, going back five years since I first had it.

 

Unlike you I have indeed noticed differences in past batches from year to year. Some years the beers were too cloying for my palate and in other years it was not so sweet that I enjoyed drinking it. Not 'trend' that I have personally noticed, just a year to year thing.

Cheers!

 

First time having it was at Jak's Tap in Chicago back in 2009. absolutely memorable and transformative experience. Liked it for several years and eventually faded from my interest.

How many beers from 8-10 years ago are you still drinking regularly. Certainly no ipa's. Probably just a few German hefe's and Aventinus.

edit: had a fresh can last week, it was decent. might get a sixer. but not 2 cases like 7-8 years ago.

 

Too numerous to mention (or even to contemplate making a list).

Off-hand...(no particular order):

Victory Hop-Devil (since the late '90s)
Long Trail IPA (late 90s)
Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale (?- late 80s, or whenever it hit NJ)
Anchor Liberty Ale (mid-'80s)
SN Torpedo Ale (upon release circa 2008)
Bell's Two Hearted (2001, business trip to Detroit)
Stone IPA
Lagunitas IPA
DFH 60 Minute Ale
Ithaca Flower Power (well, if I could again find it fresh...)
Ballantine India Pale Ale (1970s until discontinued - twice! )

 

Drinking one right now. It's a shame because it truly is a great beer. I guess Bell's needs to jump on the Orange Julius train. It truly is funny how the IPA market is totally saturated right now with these types of beer, yet a beer like Hopslam, which actually takes some thought, time and process is just totally overlooked.

 

Yeah, there's only been 7 pages about it so far. Imagine if it was a hyped beer like Sixpoint Alpenflo...we'd have 18 pages by now!

 

That was beautiful. Haha. Thank you. PREACH!

Same. With a lot of honey IPAs I can't taste any honey at all, but with this year's Hopslam it's noticeable to me almost immediately, and is a large part of the flavor profile. But, as much as I appreciate the more pronounced honey taste, I have to say that I don't think this year's is my favorite batch of Hopslam. I liked the previous two years' better. The reason being that this year's seemed more restrained on the hops, at least to my palate. It's still good in that it's crisp and dangerously drinkable, but I think the past two years' had much more prominent Simcoe hopping/dry-hopping goodness, and bitterness.

 

Beers like Hopslam had their day(s). Will anything stay enormously popular forever?

I was happy to see a Lager get that much attention, gave me some hope.

 

HopSlam and Black Note have been the only 2 beer I have thoroughly enjoyed by the brewery. But they are awesome. Two Hearted I always found good but underwhelming.

 

Dont forget Flower Power. Took my IPA v card.

 

Yeah but FP has changed over the years many times over, and not always for the best.