Review: Bell's Hopslam Ale

Alright, time for another review, this time the Bell's Hopslam Ale... a beer I really wish was available in Baton Rouge but no such luck.  Sometimes I try to avoid writing too much about beers we can't get in the Red Stick, but this one stuck out so much that I felt compelled to let everyone just how awesome this beer is.  There, that's a little foreshadowing for you all, this is a good one so if you see it, buy it!

Bell's Brewery (facebook - twitter) is probably best known for their Two-Hearted Ale, a superbly balanced IPA that is released year round and typically easy to find for those traveling to the Alabama or Florida beaches, or places like Atlanta for say, and SEC sporting event.  The Hopslam is their double IPA, is released seasonally, and is much harder to track down unfortunately.  Brenton of TheAleRunner was kind enough to hook me up with one, so here goes!

I decided to go with a Delirium tulip glass for this one, which fit the 12 ounces of beer perfectly!  It's a deep amber color with a finger so of white head. It has some really nice lacing as well as the head fades away.  This beer looks exactly like what a DIPA should look like, not too dark, not too light, and well carbonated.

The aroma is all hops... a bouquet of hoppiness with just a subtle hint of sweet malt and honey. It's definitely an IPA though, no hiding anything about that with the malt.  The sweetness is a little more present at the front of each sip, before it gives way to a hop assault. It's still very balanced and absolutely delicious.

It's slightly thin, but nothing bad there... good carbonation, hoppy bitter aftertaste but what else would you expect? Honestly... it's world class. There's a reason it's a 99 (or was at the time!) on BeerAdvocate... awesome DIPA.  If you're traveling around in the Midwest or East coast and see some of these in bottles or on tap, try it.  You won't regret it one bit... well, unless you don't like hops.

Cheers everyone!