Hopslam 2015

Just had another one of these. I sincerely don't understand how people are calling this a malt bomb. Doesn't make sense to me, this beer is not malt heavy at all.

 

This beer is at least 3x better on draft than in the bottle IMO. I think some of the variation in opinion may stem from that. Based on my experience thus far this year, I'll buy it on draft every single time I see it. Will not be buying anymore bottles though.

 

Maybe you just got an off sixer. Hopslam (like most IPAs) has some batch variability. I remember 3 years ago I got a couple sixers that were bottle dated about 10 days apart. The batches were like two completely different beers. One was the typical, incredible Hopslam I was used to. The other had muted hops, and was booze/malt heavy. Batch variation happens, and its not just a Hopslam thing. I can say the same about many IPAs that I drink frequently including some of my favorites like Westbrook IPA, Jai Alai, and Boy King. It happens.

 

this can be said about almost any brew. Still a WAY above average IPA in the bottle or out of the tap

 

I agree that it's the case for many beers, but I've never experienced so stark a difference between bottle and draft as with Hopslam. It was the case last year too. For me it's not just the difference between being a 4 and a 4.25. It's literally the difference between whether I liked it all or not.

 

This is the case for all of Bell's IPAs for me. I don't know if it's a shipping issue or what, but bottles/cans seem to lose their hop profile. I will drink 2 Hearted all day on draft. It's an amazing beer. 2 Hearted out of the bottle/can is not nearly as good. I know kegs are supposedly shipped cold and bottles/kegs often aren't, but I can't imagine it'd make a huge difference this time of year.

I'm honestly not sure if I've ever had Hopslam on draft, (which may explain why I've never understood the hysteria over it) but I have had Oracle and 2 Hearted on draft and they have always been much, much better than the bottles.

 

Upon our plane landing from our trip to Belgium got an email that Hopslam was at a local bottleshop...sold out by the time we got there straight from the airport. Later that night I got a call from my daughter in Chicago who just turned 21. She was at her local market doing some grocery shopping for the week and wanted to buy some beer just to celebrate that she finally could. Right off that bat she says " I see something called Hopslam, is that any good"?? At her little local grocery store!

 

Had some Hopslam off the keg at Kush, and it really was a let down. Too boozy with an acetone flavor that lingers in it. Had it next to a Bear Republic Apex and that blew it out of the water.

 

Like the Dead/Phish avatars I see.

I don't want to compare Hopslam to other big IPAs, but I'm curious about your thoughts comparing the 2015 Hopslam with recent years. My friends and I have been drinking this beer for many years. We used to absolutely love it. But then maybe 2 or 3 years ago we felt it was not AS good. We still liked it, but it was not the same.

This year, however, we are thinking it is better than the 2013-14 ones. Granted, it's hard to remember exactly what it was like and comparing it from memory, but that's what beer folks do.

Anyone else think it's better this year? It is slightly less syrupy, and the hop punch is back to being a bit more aggressive while still being very much NOT a West Coast style IPA. I've just had 1 bottle so far but I am back to liking it more than I was in the last couple years.

 

Total Wine in North Miami Beach said it'll be there on Monday. Kendall ran out already. Pembroke Pines got it on Tuesday and ran out of everything.

 

I'm with you on this one, last year had it 1-2x on draft and really dug it, got some bottles and wasn't quite as impressed so didn't hunt it this year for the price. If I'm somewhere and they have it on draft I'll be more than happy to ask for a glass.

 

I'm in the same boat as you. I've been drinking Hopslam for quite a long time and my distant memory of the beer is that of one that was really hoppy but still balanced. One of its signatures was the addition of honey, but I never tasted much residual sugar from the honey. In the past couple of years, I had the same experience with the beer getting very sweet. This year has backtracked on that trend, and I'm enjoying it again. Not the world's best DIPA, but something enjoyable to have once a year. I don't think it was limited enough for anyone to jump through any hoops to buy it.

Now I have heard from a friend who had a different bottling date that his was very sweet and he liked the draft a lot better. It's likely there's some batch to batch variation going on, and some of us are rightfully complaining about a sweet DIPA and some of us are defending a reasonably good beer without talking about exactly the same thing.

 

It was hyped because it was once quite good, and I personally bought a sixer this year because I hold out hope it will be again. In the case of this year, I don't know if it's the age, changing beer, or changing palette, but I had one last week and didn't care for it (an stringent, almost medicinally dry finish I can only attribute to the honey, and very little nose) and had another last night and found it even more faded. I doubt I'll buy the beer again next year; it's simply been too many mediocre batches.

It does make me chuckle that we're at something like level 5 of Internet backlash....first we mock those who buy it as newbs, then those that don't as elitists, then those that do again as buying overpriced and hype over better mainstay options, then those that don't again for missing the point on equivalent bomber price. We are almost at full self awareness!

 

If we're going to compare retail pricing to bar markup, I can tear down or justify pretty much any beer out there with selective examples.

 

I just don't understand how an ipa called "Hopslam" can literally not smell like anything at all. Bells must have some next-level brewing technology to be able to pack that many hops into a beer and yet make them completely undetectable to the human olfactory system.

 

Thanks. I'm not alone in the universe. I don't know if I'd pay over $20, but for $15.99 I will buy a 6pk of it once a year, especially if it is back to being something I like even more than the last couple of years.

 

Compared to what years? I think last years was better than this years, and perhaps the same goes for the year prior, but its pretty negligible difference in the scheme of things. It still tastes like hopslam, which I find to be a good beer. So it goes with many conversations about personal palette, there is no right or wrong answer. My further point was that these relatively negligible differences in batch, personal preference, and price are hyperbolized by the beer's hype and popularity, without question.

 

Absolutely it could be palette, and I noted so. But I remember Hopslam having just a massive nose of citrus hops years ago, and being worth seeking for several years. Drinking it now, I get a decent, workmanlike IPA with no real "pop"to set it aside although I do find that explosion of hop essence in other IPAs so I don't think my palette has just been blunted that thoroughly. I realize how passe it has become to bash Hopslam, and I'm not trying to proactively do so or be elitist and knock down those who enjoy it, but I agree with others who find it significantly lacking.

Regarding the hype, I definitely went into this year's sixer thinking "Ok, you don't have to be a master cicerone about it, just enjoy the damn beer and forget the price and debate." I didn't linger over every sip or pick it apart, I just enjoyed the nose and taste best I could. And that was frankly not that much.

 

Well now I know you're just trolling, the Hopslam nose is divine. Even the off batches I have had in the past (a couple years ago) still had great aromas.

 

I had it for the first time this year and it was extremely underwhelming, especially when considering the price point. I might be a noob but I won't be searching for it in the future.