Bell's Hopslam (2018)

Not quite sure what people get in trash beers and the people that drink them. Will never understand that phenomenon.

 

I agree and have to say I love good low cost beer but that is hard to come by these days. I agree $17-$20 is spot on for 6pk of Hopslam. Two Hearted is usually $10-$12 @ 7.2% abv so Hopslam should cost more. Although back in the day I could get $7.99 Two Hearted 6 packs but those days are gone. Hell a 6pk of Stone Enjoy by is in same price bracket and I enjoy Hopslam more and Enjoy by had less abv. No one questions Enjoy by price but maybe Stone gets more love. For what the market is, Hopslam is priced accordingly. Now for those states charging $25 a 6pk don't buy and maybe next year they will keep it below $20. For below $20 Hopslam is a great purchase. Correct me if I'm wrong but it's approximately same price as SN Hoptimum who also uses whole cone hops. For me it's one of the greatest piney hop beers out there and you don't like then we'll that's you but hype or no hype I love this beer and was drinking it long before the hype so haters will always be haters.

 

Some of us had know of it in Michael Jackson’s writings.

 

I feel like it's definitely lost some it's luster over the last couple of years but it's still a great beer and I'll buy a six or two.

 

I didn't mean to come across that way if I did, it was genuine curiosity. When I first came to the forum it was one of the few hoppy beers that were on the top of my hit list and it seems like it doesn't get mentioned as often any more.

 

True, but in those days you couldn't tweet about finding it to all your friends who also enjoyed flavorful beers.

 

SN uses whole cone hops, no argument, I have been in the hop rooms at Chico and Mills River. Bell’s uses pellets, I have toured the production facility in Galesburg many times, and have only seen boxes of pellets.

 

I was not singling you or your post out at all actually. All good there. My curiosity was aimed at everyone as a whole.

 

I tell ya I love Stone and I love hoptimum too but one thing I forgot to add. With Enjoy by you have a week or 2 to drink before going bad. I've had Hopslam taste good months later, maybe not as good as Fresh but still good. With Enjoy by even the last week before the enjoy by date it starts to fade. So with Hopslam there's less pressure to have to drink all 6 now.

 

Are you sure Bells only uses pellets for Hopslam? They claim on bottle whole cone.

Edit: went on Bells website I don't see any mention about whole cone hops. But didn't they used to? I'll admit I didn't buy Hopslam last year for once in my life but plan on getting some tomorrow. Perhaps they did change recipe? And that's where the hate is coming from? Because didn't they used to use whole cone hops?

 

Here on BA it is after argued that a highly hopped beer is more expensive due to all of the hops. Hopslam is a highly hopped beer with a big dose of honey to help dry it out. Lots of hops and the most expensive source of fermentable sugar, shouldn’t that be more expensive?

Show me where it says that on the bottle. I didn’t see that stated in any image search. The cartoon on the label shows a guy squashed by a whole cone. Pellets wouldn’t look as pretty.

Dec. 2016 I toured the brewery, on the behind the curtain tour. Saw the hop storage room. Saw the 50 bbl system that they brew hopslam on. They were brewing Hopslam. Saw a
Big stack of drums of honey, ~600 lbs each. I saw 0 bales of whole hops. I’m 99% sure.

 

Because popular = quality, amirite?

I hear this argument a lot. So what if someone started drinking craft beer two years ago or five years ago or twenty years ago?

The truth is... a 20 year old drinker could find their tastes changing over time, so a once beloved beer is now boring or undrinkable. And a 2 year old drinker could hate a beer initially, but now love it. What does how long you have been drinking have to do with anything?

 

if i come across it, ill buy a can or a pint. but the proliferation of IPAs and IIPAs is so extreme that I would be hard pressed to find a reason to put in any effort to search for it.

 

I thought it used to say on the bottle but I might just be wrong on that. Maybe you're right I had been misled by the hop smash image and had misbelieved the beer being whole cone hops

 

No. The poster was stating as fact that the beer was terrible. The objective measure we have says it is not. I dislike plenty of 'popular' beers & love some that others don't enjoy as much. Personal opinion is welcome - stating personal opinion as fact makes zero sense.

It makes a difference. People new to 'the scene' who've just started drinking IPAs might assume that everything should taste like a NE IPA & look like orange juice. In a similar vein, I know older (even older than me) beer drinkers that will rarely stray from pilsners & pale ales. When you were introduced to craft beer, in some cases, can have a strong influence on what you learn to like, & those preferences can stick for a long time.

 

I get what you're saying, but if your issue is against haze-broz, for instance, then state it that way.

There are 2-year drinkers who love WC style IPAs, so stating "What are you, a new craft beer fan?" as if it were a pejorative only makes you look stupid. (This is not directed towards you specifically, but really, the BA community.)

The issue isn't how many years you have under your belt, even if there may be some generalities. I'm a proponent of saying what you mean.