3.7

Appearance - 3 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 3 | Overall - 17

For me, the Bell’s Brewing Hop Slam had trouble living up to its vaunted RateBeer rating. The nose featured a classic soft malt and fruit nose. The hops were understated for a DIPA, with floral elements, pineapple and grapefruit. A nice balance but a bit thin on impact, body and follow through.

7.9

Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

Bottled from my crappy local Giant. Big surprise. Aroma was a bit funky not as good as expected after initial open but it improved. Poured a pretty ambery orange. Juicy citrus, pretty bitter, well hidden Alco. A nice iipa

7.6

Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

2006 bottles drunk on numerous occasions in November ’06
Typical bells appearance, with light sediment on the bottom, and tiny bottle conditioned bubbles producing a lightly creamy, white head that is medium in height and retained very well, leaving clumps of lacing as it recedes. High clarity leaving the sediment behind with just a slight touch of haziness. Soft peach and honey colored body has a bit of tangerine and very light strawberry tones.
Vibrantly fruity is the nose, with luscious lychee, strawberries, sweet cherries and guavas. It tapers off teasingly in a modestly bitter, grapefruity finish that calls upon light base malt sweetness and an even more reserved caramel-like hint. The aroma smells creamy, if that’s possible. Of abundant strength and just fantastically fresh and fuzzy are the hops. Tremendous care with dry-hopping is apparent. The malt sweetness and fruitiness do not come off overbearing, though they are definitely a factor in the nose. Clean as always from Bells, but still distinctly Bells. No alcohol noted. Other things that arent noted: overdone bittering, leafy/vegetal notes, obnoxious pine resin, astringent/hard crystal malts, sourish munich malts.
Malt and hop immediately vie for power at first sip. Sweet, honey-caramel malt notes are balanced by fruity, fuzzy, fresh, green, juicy hops. Bitterness through the middle is quite reserved for a double IPA. Some dry citric notes (white grapefruit, oranges, mild lemons) consider acidifying things, but a resurgence of malt sugars right before the finish wipe them out and you’re left with more succulent hop flavors of watermelon, guava, cherry and strawberry.
To be honest, my first impression was that this wasnt bitter enough, probably the first time I’ve ever said that about an DIPA. But the extra malt sugars that come through combine nicely with the hop notes to produce all of the softer, sweeter fruit notes mentioned, so it’s not so much of a bad thing in that aspect. Just maybe a touch too sweet to drink too many of them, though DIPAs are hardly a session beer. Still, I’d be intrigued to see what a little more attenuation would produce. Soft texture with a medium-low amount of carbonation that is reasonably tight. Some hop acids and light phenolic dryness do eventually build-up and linger on the palate, with just an ever-so-slight touch of alcohol warming toward the end of the bottle, giving almost a bittersweet edge to the beer.

9

RB score 4.2

9.9

Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 10 | Flavor - 10 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 9.5

thanks to mcbackus for the bottle!
Oh boy, i’ve been wanting to try this for a long time. Batch 7690.
Hazy orange color, a nice beige head, with good retention. Aroma is loaded with grapefruit, citrus, and resiny pine. There is an explosion of flavour in my mouth, all sorts of grapefruit, lemon, orange, mandarin, and a loverly piney finish to it all. This is the definition of man candy. The 10% is hidden extremely well, it’s nowhere to be found, outstanding beer!

Ok Re-rate. I just had a fresh bottle that was a gift from a dear friend.
This beer fresh is an absolute slice of heaven. The grapefruit aromas are unreal! i love citrus, and man this is the beer for me! It really was like drinking a sweet grapefruit juice, my god it was outstanding! not too bitter, and the alcohol is nowhere to be found! amazing!

8.2

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9

Notes from 7/8/2008. Nananana-nananana HopSlam! Nananana-nananana HopSlam! Nananana-nananana HopSlam! HopSlam!! HopSlam!!! hopslam... Two bottles from the same batch(8283), from two beautiful & generous traders. One man(artisanbrew), one woman(Dryzga), helping me test the limits of my gluttony... time to doublefist some HopSlam! Alright, I'll allow a little civility; two tulips. The least I can do. :P The bottles pour out an orange amber, just slightly murky, just a little irritated by all the commotion. Close to an inch of head across the board, with an uneven layer of pond scum left behind once they settle. Greasy & yeasty, rich alcoholic fumes, cracker-ish, with of course... the rindy/green/dirty hops. A tingly note of pepper skims off the top as well. The hops seem to be backloaded, as all the malt & sugar suckerpunches me first. ...& wah?, where did all the alcohol go? Oooh, I feel it in my esophagus... but not on my tongue(so much). A sharp crackermeal-ish, syrup sweetness like I said comes first. Then it gets pretty peppery in the middle. It quits toying around, & in the endgame, it just clamps down on your tongue with a weighted belt stuffed with grapefruit rind, arugula, & a seriously strong pinch of salt I didn't see coming. I came in expecting something along the lines of Double Simcoe, but the texture is totally different. Very slippery, but very well carbonated. The alcohol doesn't come into play till it's halfway down, which was amazing. Body is no where as thick as Double Simcoe. Probably the only thing they have in common now is price. :P Tasty. Who's still hoarding some? :)

9

Full meta.

7

All the meat!!

10

Happy hopslam everyone!

8.4

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8.5 | Flavor - 8.5 | Texture - 9 | Overall - 8

2024 can from Trader Joe's. Pours a clear deep gold with a finger of off-white head that dissipates. Lovely aromas of pine, grapefruit flesh, grapefruit zest and honey. Honey more prevalent on the palate with loads of pine and citrus zest. More grapefruit, honey and pine lingering on the finish. Great stuff as usual!