Bell's Hopslam Ale

A fresh bottle of 2011 Hopslam recently found its way into my hands.  This will be the first time I've had a Hopslam and I'm fairly excited since this is a highly hyped beer and this continues my recent kick of highly hopped beer. "A biting, bitter, tongue bruiser of an ale. With a name like Hopslam, what did you expect?" I have high expectations and I hope I don't end up disappointed.

Here is the description from the Bell's website:
Starting with six different hop varietals added to the brew kettle & culminating with a massive dry-hop addition of Simcoe hops, Bell's Hopslam Ale possesses the most complex hopping schedule in the Bell's repetoire. Selected specifically because of their aromatic qualities, these Pacific Northwest varieties contribute a pungent blend of grapefruit, stone fruit, and floral notes. A generous malt bill and a solid dollop of honey provide just enough body to keep the balance in check, resulting in a remarkably drinkable rendition of the Double India Pale Ale style.

After recently using some honey in a batch of homebrew. I'm pretty intrigued to find out how well honey works in a big beer like this. 


Hopslam is a deep golden-orange with a slight bit of haze. The bright white head laces down the glass with every sip. 


The aroma is filled with citrus hops from the dry-hopping. Lots of apricot, grapefruit, tangerine. I have a really soft spot for beers that are heavy on citrus aroma. There is a subtle caramel sweetness that hangs around as well. The aroma is huge and I can smell it across the room. For a hop dominated aroma it is really complex. 


The hop bitterness and flavors are thrown right at your tongue when you take a sip. Lots of grapefruit, pine, and some grassiness. Like the complex hop aroma there is a nice complex hop taste as well. The hop bitterness is biting, but not overwhelming since there is plenty of sweetness to balance it all out. The honey works really well to add sweetness and overall balance. This is a beer of bigness. The huge hop bitterness is balanced by a huge malt/honey sweetness, but the balance is there. The 10% ABV stays hidden under all of it, which is a pleasant surprise. 


I was secretly hoping that I would be disappointed by this beer so I could be the contrarian, but it is really an excellent example of how a big hoppy beer should be. Lots of bitterness, lots of hop flavor, and a balancing sweetness that adds to hops instead of masking them. I really need to get more of this and next year I'll be timing a trip back to PA around the release of Hopslam hopefully. I'm officially on the Hopslam bandwagon. One of the best DIPAs around.