Bell’s Hopslam in MA

Totally agreed, those guys are usually cheaper than the CBCs of the world.

 

Where are you shopping in Boston? Fort Point Market has great prices, much cheaper than CBC, Whole Foods, etc. Only place I know of that sells Night Shift for less than the brewery

 

Well to be fair it's 10% ABV.

How much would a triple New England style IPA be? It would probably be $22 for a 4 pack of 16 oz. cans.

 

Dialed up was $22 for a four pack, so ~34 cents per ounce. Hopslam is ~28 cents per ounce. Dialed up is, at least to me, a much better and more interesting beer. But Hopslam isn't priced outrageously. But is it twice as good as Fort Hill Jigsaw Jazz, which is almost the same ABV and about half the price? I bought a six pack of each, so I suppose that makes my effective price per ounce ~22 cents

 

Got a sixer and had my first can. It tastes balanced, relatively easy drinking, and...well those are attributes I like in a 5% beer. The hop character is buried- not what I want in a beer called "Hop slam". I don't get it. If I drink a 10% beer, it needs to be a treat and taste exciting. The honey gives it a little nice character but in the end, this is strike 3 on Bells. 1) Two Hearted is confusing (for similar reasons to Hop slam), 2) Black Note is very mediocre for the style and I don't love the licorice note in it, and 3) Hopslam is pointless. I don't see a point in drinking my remaining 5 cans fresh, might as well age them to see if I can coax some additional character out of it.

The only Bell's beer I've enjoyed was Oberon - I enjoyed it in the summer.

 

I traded for a Hopslam before Bell's was distributed to MA, & liked, but was underwhelmed. I'll give it another shot, but $20/sixer is ridonculous. I do like Two Hearted as a dependable, reasonably priced IPA. Do check those canned-on dates though.

 

Unfortunately I don’t care for anything Fort Hill does.

Loved Dialed Up though.

Bell’s unfortunately has not impressed me either.

Except Lager of the Lakes. That beer is excellent.

 

I feel like this thread already happened everywhere else about three years ago. Hopslam has always been expensive and overrated, it seems Mass distro just made more people realize it.

 

Rapid in Stoneham has some as of Saturday afternoon. Not sure of the price since I didn't buy any (I find it too sweet) but if anyone will have it for less than $20 it's probably Rapid.

 

My store in Kingston received it and gotta say not a fan especially at 18.50 a 6pack.

 

It was 16.79 at Rapid. Hard to beat them on price.