Bell's Hopslam (2018)

John, I had my first Hopslam of the season last evening: a draft glass. That beer had some hop aroma but not much. The beer was on the sweet-ish side but it was not cloying for my palate. I enjoyed drinking that one glass but when I was finished I had no desire to order a second glass. I ordered a Tired Hands IPA instead.

Cheers!

 

Just tried this year's batch. Canned 1/23/18. $3.50 a can or $18 for a six pack at my shop. Malty, bitter, hoppy. Sweet, some alcohol. It's nice to drink an old school piney, grapefruit west coast-style IPA. Really enjoyable beer. I'm kind of over the "juicy" IPAs. I just learned from the Bells web site that a 12 oz can has 294 calories. Yikes!

 

Great as always this year. One of my favorite releases every year. Honey, hops and malt impeccably balanced. What a treat. Would gladly pay the 21.99 a sixer I just paid for it all year round if it was available.

 

Wow.....I saw almost a full pallet of HS today at $80 a case. Most I ever saw and cheapest I ever saw.

I walked by as its good but not $80 good. I got two cases of otter creek for under $50.

Enjoy

 

With you on this assessment, thought it was much more malt forward. I had two last night and there wasn't much in the way of hops. One in a glass and another out of the can. Same result. Was hoping for a bit more in the hop department, but still and enjoyable beer; may be the nostalgia talking from past years.

 

Crazy to see prices even that high now. I remember paying $20 like two years ago. At my Whole Foods it was on the shelf for 16.99 originally plus my employee 20% discount so a little under 14? But that's certainly the least I've seen it on the shelf even.

 

I asked the same question last year. If you have access to COOP Aleworks try Alpha Hive. It's basically the same beer, but maybe a little softer. This year's version should hit LR next week.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/beers-like-hopslam.484831/

 

I just can't justify the price of it anymore. First year in like 4 years I skipped out.

 

Seeing the postings here regarding this year's offering, I am glad I did not buy it on HYPE factor alone and instead opted for something I had on tap the night before. If you call your beer HOPslam, you might want to make sure the hops is the predominant taste. Having one with a strong malt flavor and not enough hops would definitely upset me had I paid $22.99 for the 12 pack of cans. And for this reason is why i love perusing these forums.

 

That is the price for a 6-pack of Hopslam at my local beer retailers.

Cheers!

 

I found it for $18.99/6-Pack down in Fort Lauderdale, canned 17 Jan 2018.

I haven't had it in 3 years, so I splurged and purchased a case...although I need to do a side-by-side with Sixpoint's Hi-Res, sensory memory has them pegged really close (nearly identical price point as well...~$3/can)

As for me, it is pretty damn tasty and not at all disappointed...I still don't know why there are so many people out to slam Hopslam. IMO, it is a great representation of the traditional DIPA style.
#hazeisnottheanswer

 

Ouch. I am pretty sure I was looking at the right sign......

 

Yup, ouch is indeed the situation.

We have a great choice of beer selection in Southeastern PA but the prices are often "ouch" for some reason (other than taxes).

Cheers!

 

And where's the honey in all that? At least last year it had a faint taste of honey.

 

I thought this year's was great, had it Sunday. Almost reminiscent of sip of sunshine.

 

So...who wins? Hop Bullet or Hopslam?

 

I had Hopslam slightly topping Hop Bullet 4.39 vs. 4.25. Really liked both IPAs, not a big sweet beer fan and Hopslam is sweeter than most beers but I really enjoyed it, especially the mouthfeel (Dogfish 120 was even more sweet but the mouthfeel was something I never experienced before)and loved the sharp hops taste. Haven't been disappointed yet with a Sierra Nevada offering, and Hop Bullet was no exception. Similar tastes, the mouth feel was the difference in this battle of the beers.

I haven't been started branching out into different beers and styles until the past fews years (BCS was my main "craft" beer until a few years ago), but really like branching out and tasting everything I can get my hands on. Overall quads are my favorite style, but American Double / Imperial IPA are among my favorite styles. My scores over 4 are as follows:

Pliny The Elder 4.53
Hopslam 4.39
The Bowie Beer 4.26 (By Piece Brewery in Wicker Park)
Hop Bullet 4.25
Crooked Moon Tattoo 4.16
Quagmire 4.16
Hop Centric 4.11
Hop De-Ranged 4.07
Enjoy By Stone Unfiltered 4.07
Founders Double Trouble 4.03
Hop Stoopid 4.01