Bell's Hopslam will be bottled this year

These "old school" beers seem to resonate more than ever. Did not disappoint. Nostalgia?--perhaps, but I enjoy the "finished" taste, robust hop presence and firm malt backbone. Honey did seem a little more subtle than prior ones.

Hard to remember what 2006 was truly like but still love this one.

 

Everywhere in CLT

 

I'm really enjoying it this year. I think last year I was a little more into NE IPAs at the time, but the herbal / resiny notes on this beer this year are fantastic. I'll be buying another pack or two tonight.

 

I’ll check again, I’m not up for a 60 mile round trip to Bestway today.

 

Pretty much sold out in the Raleigh - Durham area

 

I’ve been through two six packs, and about to start on a third. I am really liking this year’s batch. Had one on Thursday and noticed that the hops had faded a little bit, and the sweetness was more pronounced. I am definitely not complaining, just noticed a flavor change. The bottles I have were filled on 12/30, so they are about 5 1/2 weeks old.

 

Not a fan of DIPAs albeit, but this one disappointed me yet again. Maybe I'm missing the point, but this one seems overly sweet. Malts upfront and through the end. Overpowers the hops. Too malty, too sweet, and too much. Maybe I'm the only one with that viewpoint. Anyway, maybe I should have kept my mouth shut with this opinion, but I didn't.

 

Still havent seen it in my area

 

Sold out in Greensboro. Never saw it.

 

No, you are not alone here. The sweetness aspect is more that I would prefer.

I bought one six-pack this year since so many folks seem to love this beer so I figured I would try it again but...

This year's six-pack will be my last purchase of Hopslam. It would seem that lots of folks love this beer but that is not me.

In all fairness it is not an awful beer but considering the price this is just not a worthwhile purchase for me. More for other folks to buy?

Cheers!

 

You're definitely not alone there. That's a common complaint about hopslam. To me they dialed this years batch back to a balance that I like more than the last few batches I've had. But its definitely a beer that isn't for everyone.

It probably helps that mine are usually gifts from family in Michigan. Free beer is always better

 

I was leery when I saw it in NV and 30 days old, so I only grabbed one. Consumed during the Superbowl and was not disappointed. Not hyper dry like when I've had it fresh long ago, but I really enjoyed it and didn't find any overly sweet aspects. Wish I'd grabbed a couple more bottles.

 

Ya I often wonder during. Hopslam season how much of the perceived uptick of sweetness over the years is due to freshness, due to my palate.shifting, due to changes in the market context it exists in, or due to actual recipe change. Either way, it's a seasonal treat I enjoy and I did think.this year was a return to form after two years in a row that were kinda iffy in my opinion

 

If you're interested in getting some, keep looking. I'm pretty sure that Bell's brews Hopslam thru February and a second round of deliveries might still occur in your neck of the woods.
http://www.bellsbeer.com/beer/availability

 

Total Wine went thru 40 cases 3 weeks ago, Bestway handed out bracelets for a 5:30 release yesterday. I don’t care to do that, if I come across it fine, if not fine too.

 

Short answer: not really.

Longer answer: there seems to discussion every year about the level of sweetness of this beer. This discussion is complicated by the fact that as the beer ages it is likely that the sweetness aspect will become more prominent as the hop aspects fade. So, for a given year is one person reporting that the beer is 'extra' sweet because the beer is 'old' while another person reports that this year's version is not so sweet since the beer is just a few weeks from packaging? Is there variability in past years between bottled vs. canned versions (e.g., less oxidation in the canned beers?)? Perhaps some folks are more sensitive to sweetness (e.g., me) vs. other folks who do not find this sweetness aspect to be distracting?

Lots of variables here.

Oh, and then some people seem to subscribe to "palate shift" which is not something I personally buy into; my personal palate has remained consistent over decades of drinking beers of all kinds.

Cheers!

P.S. FWIW my six-pack has information of: "PKG 01/08/2021 Shelf Life - 3 Months".

 

Hopslam is not my favorite beer, but I like it well enough, will have only 1 a day at most, and like a marker in time, I like that it's a seasonal. Doesn't bother me at all that the malt-honey-hops aspect can shift in dominance.
It's not the best DIPA out there, and it doesn't bother me. I like it because it's different from the other DIPA (actually, more of an imperial honey DIPA) offerings out there. Enjoy if you like it...

 

It sounds like your drinking habits (regularly drinking a wide variety of styles) protect against palate shift. I've always understood the term to refer to the effect.of drinking a bunch of a single intensely flavored style (usually super hoppy) and its impact on your perception of flavors. I know that when I used to drink essentially nothing but IPA I had a lot harder time appreciating the less intense flavors found in other styles