Where's the Bell's Hopslam 2019 love?

My comment was more directed toward the grocery store beer buyers who bitch about price. Poor wording on my part, sorry about that. If I was out there buying up grocery store beer I'd be bitching about price too, the quality you get for what you pay for that crap is outrageous. At $20 a pop I would expect greater quality than that offered by something in the vein of Hopslam. Hell, the bud light drinkers of the world should be pissed about the cost of that swill water. As far as the hazebros that bitch are concerned, they should pick a cheaper hobby. Hops are expensive and the amount used to produce those beers is pretty high. Especially if vanilla is an ingredient being used, its going for over $300 a lb.

 

IMHO.... Two Hearted > Hopslam > ~98.36% of all NEIPAs sold

 

You sir did this correctly Stating such a thing as an opinion. Wonderful thing about craft beer or beer in general, its just as subjective as anything else in the world. Different strokes for different folks as they say. At least it keeps conversation interesting at the very least. I love that there are just as many people standing in line for hours for the latest haze drop as there are shaking their heads at such people while they are on the way to the closet Costco to grab some Two Hearted. West Coast vs East Coast without the hip hop! I'm happy there are people in the world who would rather drop a $20 on Hopslam, less people in line when I'm there for 4pks and the Hopslammers don't have to worry about me clearing the shelf at the grocery store. Everyone wins!

 

Got some on Monday for my birthday and it’s tasting great. 1/2 bottle date, $13.99 at Costco and $15.99 at Meijer. This is always a nostalgic favorite but I agree with those saying it’s not worth $20 a six pack. Not sure if it’s the stores or consumers paying that price who are to blame.

 

Maybe. However, I don't feel any personal need to build "cred" and I generally find reviewing beers to be drudgery apart from special cases. Nor do I get any satisfaction from arguing about which beer is better than another with random people online, which are usually overloaded with biases that no one is aware of or will admit to themselves (not excluding my own biases, which makes things really tricky! ), that, according to you, a personal log of beer reviews would support. *deep breath because that was a terrible run-on sentence*

I know full well I was [mildly] stirring the pot, but I don't lie just rile people up either. It was honest, FWIW.

 

Hopslam was probably the biggest disappointment of by beer drinking "career" (perhaps tied with Brooklyn Black Ops). It is, in my opinion, not even close to being worthy of the 4.46/5 that it is at currently.

"More for you guys", though and all that good stuff

@Ranbot I think it comes with being an "legacy" user here. Tastes change so much over a decade plus, I look back on a lot of my reviews and laugh hysterically. Personal preferences change much more frequently than many of us realize so, in my opinion, beer reviews mean very little to me...especially when it comes to evaluating other users "credibility" (whatever the fuck that means)

 

I didn't take it that way... I was just providing a footnote, in case it mattered.

Agreed many of us "legacy" users [i.e. old farts] have seen our own tastes change, others tastes change, public opinion change, trends come and go, and learned a lot facts about beer that often flies in the face of popularly held opinions/beliefs. It makes the discussions of beer X is better than beer Y, quite boring and when I engage it's only in a minimal way that is fun for me.

You know that @jesskidden dude who's always running is mouth? He doesn't have a single beer review! WTF does he know?!?!?

@jesskidden

 

Guess I'm in the minority. I still like it. Will buy it. Don't find the price to be too outrageous for a 6-pk of 10% beer, I mean Cafe Deth was flying off the shelves in my area at $35 for a 4-pk, Hopslam is basically a steal. I find every year to be quite delicious, and notice only very minor variances from year to year, certainly nothing that would turn me off of the beer. And I find it funny people around here still call it "hype"slam despite there being virtually no hype surrounding the beer, at least amongst beer geeks.

 

Same goes for you @JackHorzempa! Get with the beer review program! And, no, your thoughtful and thoroughly researched regular NBS contributions don't count!

 

I just picked up a couple 6 packs from my local Kroger. I am stoked. Love this beer...but, nowadays if you don't get lucky. Too many stores just over price all the limited release stuff out of control.

 

Why not!?!

Every NBS post is compliant to the BA format of Appearance, Aroma, Taste, Mouthfeel and Overall.

Spoiler Alert: This Sunday I will be discussing the new (and improved?) Victory Hop Wallop.

Cheers!

 

This is an absolute lie!

(Sure my lips move when I type but that's not really "running" is it? Sure, "idling" maybe, but...
And maybe I do mutter under my breath sometimes, too...)

People review beers? Here? On the BeerAdvocate website? No shit! Damn, I gotta look around the site more, that sounds like it could be interesting...

Ya know, back when I stopped lurking and "joined" this website, my feelings were:

"Read a review of a beer? Sure, I can see reading a review of a $10 film, a $12 cd or $20 dvd, a $25 book, a $200 air conditioner or a $20k automobile --- but a $1 $2 $3 $4 bottle/can of beer? Why don't I just buy one and try it for myself?"

 

And then there are those that understand that good beer is available in grocery stores... and that price doesn't necessarily equal quality with beer.

 

Bought a six pack of Jackie O’s Mystic Mama IPA at Giant Eagle (local grocery store chain) today. Canned two weeks ago, and cost $10.99. If that was the only beer option I had, I would rejoice!

 

It's really just a format issue. If NEIPAs were everywhere 5 years ago, they'd be in $10 bombers instead of 16oz cans... and they'd therefore be much more money per ounce compared to Hopslam. The reason that so many people complain about Hopslam's price is because it's packaged as a 6 pack of 12oz cans... and they mainly compare it to beers packaged the same way. Put it in a $6 bomber and it's suddenly a steal in the eyes of many. We should feel lucky that breweries actually package beers the way that Hopslam is packaged while knowing the market.

(yeah, I'm using lots of speculation, but it's safe )

 

Price aside, the last time I had Hopslam if taken blind I would have guessed it to be a 4-5 month old IPA. Obviously is was fresh as it was on tap too. Certinly not the beer that turned me to the dark side so many years ago.

 

Because it tasted malty sweet to you?

Cheers!

 

Kinda weirdly so if that’s an answer. It tasted like DFH 90 that was old as a parallel. It wasn’t bright fresh or fruity at all, I definitely didn’t like it a bit. Palates change but thats one hell of a change in a few years.