Bell's HopSlam Review

Overall 5.00 of 5 (by 1 user)

davedahl
Chicago, IL

HopSlam lives up to the hype!

brew guru

JAN

2009

Bell's HopSlam —

HopSlam definitely lives up to it's hype. I picked up a 12-pack from the Binny's in Chicago's south-loop.

Bell's Brewery in Kalamazoo, MI does an annual release of HopSlam - and the beer-geeks clamor for it. It's a massively hoppy beer, but very well balanced. Do you have to be a hop-fan to drink it....um yeah. Does it destroy your taste-buds and leave you weeping on the floor....no! It leaves you maniacally searching for more!

The bottle says "brewed with honey" and the influence is noticeable....in a very good and balancing way...more on that below.

Appearance -
Medium head, dissipates to nothing, no lacing (kinda a bummer on the head/lacing). The color is a beautiful rich gold - almost brassy. Clear as a Bell.

Nose -
Immediate aroma of sweet malt and honey, followed by an onslaught of rich piney, resinous, hop smells. When I popped the bottle open, I paused briefly (since I was in mid conversation with someone about who knows what), and the aroma engulfed my head. Yum.

Taste -
So the taste was interesting, it wasn't a taste-bud-violating-hop-explosion, but more like a heavy weight of hops was dumped into my mouth. Lots of hop citrus and pine and resin. But also nicely balanced with sweet malt and honey.

Mouthfeel -
Very full and round mouthfeel, alcohol on the finish.

Drinkability -
Huge drinkability considering it's 10% abv and a rockin hop-party.

Over all, Hopslam is amazing. Don't cellar this, be sure to drink it fresh. I'm not even through the first six-pack and I'm going to see if I can find some more before it sells out for another season.

Last edited on Mar 16, 2009