Bell's Hopslam 2016

It's in St Pete, had some from my father in law ( came from MI) a couple weeks ago, then like an answered prayer it shows up here. Good flavor this year. 22.99 in st Pete FL. Good job Bells.

 

Gone... in SE PA, Lancaster county. Hope y'all got some!

Though we have yet to see Hi Res yet and I am more excited for that!

 

This was released at K/L Wines Redwood City today. Sold out in 4 hours on a 2 can limit. They had 4 cases.

This'll probably show up at whole foods, but is this worth the hype?

 

Found it in Stone Mountain

 

There is still a lot of it in SW Florida. I had my 6 for the year and it was very enjoyable. My neighbor loved his 6. It surely tastes better as it warms. I enjoyed it but it's not as good as last year's bottling to me, and really nothing like several years ago when I had it directly from Bell's. That was epic. I think it's simply too expensive for most and unfortunately those that know the beer know it needs to be fresh and when you see a stack of 30 sixers at the store it's sad. The longer it sits, the less likely it is to sell and at 22.99 down here it may make future years of Hopslam harder to get as retailers decide to possibly buy less. It may or may not live up to the hype, but it is a great beer and I look forward to it each year and I always will. I echo others who prefer this year's Hi-Res. No, not the same beer but similar surely.

 

"$15 for sixer of Sculpin is ridiculous, $18 for a sixer of Hopslam is fair. Sculpin isn't in the same ballpark as Hopslam, it's not even the same sport!"

Think you might be over rating hopslam a bit. Picked up a 6 pack yesterday and it's a great beer but many comparable less expensive options. Enjoy by, double jack, pizza port kook, hop concept, maharaja, etc.

 

It's getting a little prohibitive at 20.00 per sixer, so I only bought one this year and bought an extra 4 pack of Hop Ranch which I actually enjoy a little more.

 

Absolutely. BCBS is one that comes to mind. Or Heady Topper, which remains unchanged and always amazing.

 

So I bought 2 cans the other day, both canned 2/3/2016. The first one I had was spectacular, much better than last year's imho. The second one, the very next day, was a shell of the one the day before - malt presence way more forward and a lot of the hop profile just gone.

I'm not saying that one day made all that difference but has anyone else experienced this with this beer? Any beer for that matter where it seems to clearly be the same batch, presumably stored/shipped the same way, but one can/bottle seems wildly less fresh?

 

I've noticed that Hopslam tends to be a volatile beer. I had it 10 days after canning and it lacked the balance and was too heavy on the bitterness, but after another 5 or 6 days, it was sweeter, more interesting, and overall tastier. Don't wait too long, but I would call this an IPA that's better when it isn't super duper fresh.

As for my 2 cents regarding hype and quality, the days when Hopslam was the best DIPA out there are obviously long gone, mainly because everyone is trying to beat the bar they set. But as I told some of my friends, seeing the new Star Wars opening night doesn't change the movie, only the experience of seeing it - it's going to be the same movie a month later. Similarly, Hopslam isn't the best beer, but it's not bad or even mediocre by any stretch, as some here have said, but getting my one sixer every year is fun and exciting and if I don't have to work too hard to get it (I work in a beer store), it's the same to me as getting any of the other similar beers as far as quality goes.

 

"The hype?" It's listed on BeerAdvocate's Beers of Fame list at #15- that means it's been on BA for 10+ years! I'd say the word hype here is grossly misused. Very easy to trade for if you can't get one, sure there are probably better honey infused IPAs out there, but this one is appreciated annually by the masses.

 

I had my first one last night. Two actually, from the tap at a NYC bar. Delicious! A tad sweet but definitely worthy of a top 20 ranking as far as my personal IPA list goes.

 

found some canned 318 15 still bought it and it's good but clearly lacking. hopefully find fresher

 

A buddy mine in Charlotte grabbed & shared a sixer (1/29/16, I believe).. Super tasty! Less $3 a can is a fantastic deal.

Not sure what the big difference is year to year with Hop Slam, but 2016 is excellent.

 

On tap at Galway Arms in Lincoln Park Chicago. Had my first one there - delicious!

 

Bell's does not use Julian dating for packaging date. You posted the batch number I believe which corresponds to January 27th 2016. You should see 01/27/16 both on the side of the box as well as on the bottom of each can. Cheers.

 

I bought a 6er for $22 at Total Wine. Couple days later I was shopping at Kroger and they had inadvertently listed the price at $9.49 (instead of $19.49) so I ended up buying 2 more 6ers. I think it's a very good beer and I'm glad I was able to score some extra Hopslam thanks to a generous mistake by Kroger (hopefully no one lost his/her job, haha).

 

I did see that, I assumed it was Best by. that makes more sense. I tried it in the middle of Vday drinking with my gf so wasn't a fresh pallete. thanks

 

Right time, right place, stopped in local grocery store , they had 2, yes 2 mini keg's of hopslam sitting on a counter behind the bar , I said , hey, are those for sale, lady said " I don't know I guess " she looks them over and goes yep, here is the UPC barcode , I said ok I'll take them , she said both?? I said yes please. I already had 2 cases of fresh Hop Ju Ju in my cart. She says ok , your our best customer !! Lol..........Wut a day!!!!!! O yea, picked up some Big Bad Baptist while I was there also......

 

By the way , Hop Ju Ju blows Hopsam out of the water this year........ Not even close.