Bell's Hopslam will be bottled this year

Put each bottle in a just-big-enough plastic cup, or 2bl/3pled up plastic bag.

Was $17.99/6pk here, last year.

 

Got my Hopslam yesterday in St. Louis. Every year this beer is amazing and this year is no different. But every year I hear it's not that great from people who love NEIPAs. I also hear complaints about price from people who love to pay more for NEIPAs. I get it, many people want fruit juice flavor, but for those who like malt flavor and complexity, this is a great beer.

 

Bring back the old "bar bottles"!!!

 

I look forward to Hop Slam and it truly has gone full circle. Was super ground breaking then a "has been" by many on these boards to getting some love back from old timers and some new love alike.

It still holds a place in my heart. Folks can argue how close it was to that magic I experienced for the first time 13 or so yrs ago in NC when it was really hard to come by but still really excited to get some. Old school, well made non-hazebomb.

 

I agree with you my first Hopslam was like having my first experience... well, ya know. It opened my eyes to tropical fruits and explosive flavors I hadn't experienced in any beer prior. Maybe it’s me, maybe it’s the beer, I don’t now, but I think it’s drifted away a bit from that tropical fruity kinda beer. Ya, I’m one of those, where I truly believe it was better 10 years ago, a few years ago I had it on tap and if you told blind what beer it was I wouldn’t have believed you. Could have been dirty lines don’t know, but it was just a shell.

 

Grab a 6! I can't wait. Last year it seemed a little more in line from days of old when I had it on tap last year. Funny how we remember things, but I always felt the "older years" were even more on the piney side. Aroma just bursted from the bottle after popping that iconic cap. ( No cap for now, what, 5 years?)

I love the gentle honey finish. IMO the shift to more astringent, murky beer is making some of the old schoolers resonate more than ever.

And I love the idea of it coming back in bottles for 2021--finally some good news!!!

 

I remember the mini barrels of HopSlam. Sooo dangerous!

 

Always worth a buy.

 

Man, everyone is making me excited to go buy a six. This used to be close to $30?but last years I saw HS for around $18. It’s odd that I will grab expedition at $18?no issue but will really gave a tough time doing that with HS.

Enjoy

 

Dangerous indeed. I drank one last year and tried to make a day out of it and it ended up being two days.

 

Always gotta go with Hopslam bottles, just can't seem to get the chords right on the cans!

 

Nice post + profile pic combo

 

Whether it’s actually different or its my palate shift makes it almost irrelevant, because the ones I’ve been drinking the last few years does not taste the same. And let me add that IPAs are my favorite style, but probably the least bought style for me. I’m very picky about my IPAs and I refuse known mediocre beers. So I’d say I protect my palate pretty well which then leaves the obvious. It used to be a fruit bomb not a dark piney earthy ipa. My palate isn’t trained but you could smell the difference let alone taste it.
@John_M

 

I had fresh Abrasive a few weeks ago, it’s not what it was when Todd was there, where did that explosive fruit go? I won’t buy it again, way over priced too.

 

John, do you recall how fresh those beers were? I have read several folks opine that Hop Slam 'falls off a cliff' pretty rapidly.

In the recent past (3-5 years ago) I had several draft glasses of Hop Slam and all of those draft glasses tasted exactly how you detailed above: "sweet and malty with hardly any noticeable hop presence," In contrast I have had a few packaged (bottled?) Hop Slam beers and in contrast they had a notable hop presence and not nearly as sweet. My guess is that for those draft beers the keg was past its prime (too old and/or abused during transport).

I wonder what is a reasonable window/duration for how long Hop Slam holds up before it becomes a malt-bomb?

Cheers!

 

Bell's claims that Two Hearted is 'good' for 6 months from packaging. I have never had a 5+ month old Two Hearted so I don't know if this is a 'valid' claim.

In contrast:

"Hopslam along with all of our double IPAs are best enjoyed as fresh as possible."

https://help.bellsbeer.com/hc/en-us/articles/360012580853-Shelf-life-packaging-date-batch-number-

Cheers!

 

I have seen others state similar thoughts.

Well, since we are 'naming names' my draft Hopslam experiences in the recent past were at Capone's and all of those beers were sweet messes. I did not carefully track timeframes then but in retrospect I am of the opinion that Matt just held onto (or received?) those kegs with too much age on them. In contrast I have enjoyed the few drinking experiences of Hopslam in bottles/cans much better and I can relate those beers were not too old (likely around a month from bottling/canning).

Cheers!

 

Saw they have them again this year. Dangerous indeed.

 

It will never be the same experience as your/our first time because whether or not Hopslam is different, we are different & the industry is different. NEIPAs, which I love, have changed our perception of what a tropical IPA is. When Hopslam came out it was the only beer of its kind but now there are tons of IPAs that are fruity, tropical, made w/honey, etc so it will never be able to re-ascend to that throne that it once had. It is one of the few old school IPAs that I still make sure to get my hands on because despite everything I said I still love Hopslam & have to get some yearly

They just hit Bell's General Store yesterday & shipping to distro started this week

 

Just got some here in Central WI. Bottled 1/4/21. Freshest beer I have seen in these parts! Also price went down this year. $15.99 so I grabbed 2 six packs. Glad they reduced the price a little. It's a great beer at now what I consider a fair price.

 

No, it was several years ago and I do not specifically remember if it was for an event but I would not be surprised if this was indeed the case.

Cheers!

 

Funny I 've been a beer drinking forager who has spent countless days in the woods for over forty years, and never realized that I was supposed to be having problems carrying bottles into and out of the woods. I guess ignorance really is bliss.

 

If I see HS at $18 or less I think I will grab some for this weekend.

Enjoy

 

It was so bad at one point, even Coors Light in cans was impossible to get for about two weeks.


Obligatory "hey bros, what is the optimal amount of time to age hopslam thanks" post.

 

Just walked by it at Wegmans in Wilkes-Barre at $22.99! That can't be right, it was like $18 last year. if so, they can keep it.

 

It’s hilarious when people say it’s overpriced but have no problem dropping $25+ on 4 haze cans

 

And they say it's not that great a beer because it doesn't taste like fruit juice.

 

I believe the claim. Took an early May trip to upper Michigan a few years ago. Always grab some two hearted on the way thru the LP. Lots of other beer brought to camp so some of the two hearted wasn’t consumed. So it rested in the cellar until I returned in mid October. Consumed them for science and didn’t perceive much drop-off. Had some upper hand double ringer left up there as well and didn’t fare as well. Tasted like a slightly hoppy barleywine. I assume Hopslam after 9 months should be similar.

Similar to what others have said, Hopslam was special over 15 years ago when I had to travel to Michigan to get some and it shouldn’t stick around long. Bought it by the case back then. Not as special now since so many other options but revisiting more the past few years as a change up from less hoppy offerings.

 

So they were not stored at room temperature (e.g., 70 degrees F)?

How vibrant was the hop aroma?

Cheers!

 

My first bottle of Hopslam was going on 14 years ago compliments of @Wasatch

I had some draught at Frontier Brewing close to a year ago. I am hoping that the bottles make an appearance in Casper.

 

The first time I tried a Westy around the same time, maybe even sooner, was from you.

Cheers!

 

I am out of the loop now, but I and everyone I know had problems with that price for 64 oz. of IPA, even when we paid it. Around here it was only the hype breweries able to thrive at that price. I was able to drink quality IPA of all kinds for 18.00 all the time. I love Hopslam but it would be just another beer I love that's priced above what I would pay. A few others I ended up feeling the same about are Decadent, Foreign Objects, Equilibrium, Hudson Valley.