Bell's Brewery (2020)

I'm as intrigued by the lo-cal aspect of it as the 'sessionable' abv. I don't know if the session IPAs of yesteryear were of a significantly lower calorie count beyond the lower alcohol content, but these days I could use something easier on the waistband. I've seen the lo-cal/abv Goose Island IPA around but want to hold out for Light Hearted since the original it's based on is so tried and true.

HopWhat? Gotta say I'm over 10%abv IPAs. It's an okay beer, just can't do it anymore.

 

I'd love a lower cal option, we'll see. Seems Hopslam has become a dinosaur for most, so many new breweries and flavor profiles...that's why I appreciate it when Hopslam shows up, it's a good change of pace style.

 

I missed Light Hearted as a general store beer so I'm interested in trying it even though I generally abhor session IPAs

 

I’ve had a couple 2020 Hopslams so far and I still think it’s a great beer. Sure there are many more similarly great beer choices than years ago but Hopslam has stood the test of time. And I always have a bias for such beers.

 

I completely agree. That said, over time my palate has evolved, and these days I prefer drier, less sweetened, beers in general. So I don’t think I love it quite as much as I used to. But I still really enjoy it and look forward to its release.

 

I’m doing a dry January this year so no Hopslam for me. I look forward to having it in 2021.

Looking forward to Light Hearted though.

 

Oh, c'mon. How about on Feb. 1st?

 

I am too (dry Jan), but I made an exception and had a Hopslam on draft last Friday night which I enjoyed.
Made another exception last night for an ON Pils (excellent btw).
Hope I make it through the next 2 weeks

 

That's how it starts...

 

Sort of dry January??

 

By then the hops have completely faded and it's already turned into barleywine.

 

Does it still count if I gave you one of my Hopslam's from last year that's buried in the back of the fridge?

 

See, the trick is, you just don't start Dryuary at all. Works every time!

 

An arid January.

 

My January has been quite moist.

 

Sopping wet over here.

 

I loved Hopslam the first couple years I had it but the years and years in between I just thought "meh?" When I got my usual 6er... Just got done in western Wisconsin dated 6 days ago and after all these hazy beers this is blowing my mind.

 

I saw somewhere on social media that Bell's is going to be introducing a canned hazy double IPA in 2020. I can find the post now to remember the name of it, but it definitely has me intrigued. I think they did a good job with Official as a mass produced version of a hazy IPA, so I will definitely want to check out the DIPA once it comes out.

 

I'm thinking the same thing. It must be the freshness, so it will be interesting to see if it falls off. We can only hope that Bell's has somehow conquered the rapid 'freshness-to-barleywine' issue that we all complain about.

 

2020...the year Hopslam became a "shelf turd". The wife and I did a lot of shopping over the weekend and I was shocked to see stacks of it at every place we stopped at that sold beer. One place by my house had KBS by the front door, bottles of CBS on the counter right across from a healthy stack of Hopslam. In 2017 my head would have exploded.....