Review of Bell's Hopslam Ale
Posted By Ken Monday, 17 January 2011 20:10
It's that time of year again, where Bell's Brewing releases it's anticipated Hopslam Ale. I vaguely remember (probably at no fault of the drink itself) trying this last year, but didn't get a good enough taste to review it. Last Friday night I decided to stop and grab some to try before everyone else bought it all up. Read on to see if that was a good move...or a bad one.
Ken's Review
Taste: A- I wasn't too sure on this front at the beginning. The initial swigs had a little too much bite for my liking, but it didn't take long for this to start smoothing out on taste and bring about its true taste. Hopslam coats your tongue as it goes down, leaving a brief wave of hop flavor surfing across it, with hints of the honey faintly in the background. I don't normally dig honey beers, but this one had just enough to get the taste without it being overwhelming. And being a fan of hoppy beers, this one was pretty much right on the money for me.
Packaging: B+ Hopslam has a kind of pea-green label color, with the main focal point being a giant hop that has arms and legs coming out of it, obviously indicative of someone being crushed by the hops. Clever packaging, in my opinion, as it does have that strong hop flavor. It is, after all, called Hopslam.
Value: B This grade was a bit of a struggle in deciding. The sixer I bought cost me $18.99. Yeah, that wasn't a misprint. So I averaged it out, which came out to about $3.17 per bottle. Worth that much? If you are a fan of hops, then yes you can probably justify the cost, especially being a limited release beer. But if you don't dig IPAs, then you will probably think this is way too much. I personally am kind of more towards it being worth it for what you get, but this area is definitely a to-each-his-own style situation.
Drunkeness: A- What Hopslam delivers in hops, it also brings it in alcohol content. Ranking in at a nice 10% content, it is definitely not one to have as your sole source of drinking for a night, but it doesn't take long to get you feeling its buzz creeping over you either. This isn't one to slam (get it?) but instead one to take your time with and enjoy, so please don't try this as a lights-out source of drinking. I'm sure you will regret it.
Overall: A- Hopslam was surprising, and not quite what I expected. For the price, however, I'm kind of glad that the money only needs to be thrown down once a year for this stuff. And I'm sure that the remaining five bottles I have will last me quite awhile, as this is one that you can definitely age and not worry too much about going bad. If you have a chance to try it, I would recommend getting a pint or sampling someone else's prior to buying your own like I did, just to make sure you like it. Overall, well done, Bell's!