Bell's Hopslam Ale 2011

HopSlam
Bell's Brewery, Inc.
Kalamazoo, Michigan
10.00% ABV
Style: Imperial IPA

C: Clear
H: Golden Yellow/Light Amber in Color
N: TONS of Hop Citrus Notes, Hints of Honey, Very Faint Pineapple?

The Ferm: Well I think I struck gold! I have a six pack of this beer in South Florida! WOW!
Can you sense my sarcasm?
I just visited a local liquor store to see if they received their shipment as I would like to have some more of this fine beer, and I was laughed at. Yes, a customer laughed at by a manager of a very large liquor store chain.

OK, lets get one thing down....this is a VERY GOOD IIPA, in fact a GREAT IIPA. Last year I think I even threw a 5/5 to this beer. Is it that good....well pretty damn close. This years version seems to have a stronger honey/malt backing to it. The hop aroma is strong and present but is not as potent as last years batch.

What really gets me is that people in South Florida and all over the US are going crazy over this beer. Really?!? OK, this is a good beer again, but this is not Pliney the Younger....this beer is nationally distributed (or atleast close to it), and is just hard to get. Once good thing to the "craze" of this beer is that people will hopefully drink this limited release fresh, as it does not do well with age.

Overall, welcome to really the first edition of "Beer Hype" in South Florida. It's a DAMN good beer, grab it while you can, if you can. But please don't get into a fight with someone in a local store over a six pack. There are many other Imperial IPA's that you can pick up year round that are as good if not better. And remember DRINK IT FRESH!!!

Score: 4.956

Beer Valley Black Flag Imperial Stout (Hop Harvest Edition)

Black Flag Imperial Stout (Hop Harvest Edition)
Beer Valley Brewing Company
Ontario, Oregon
11% ABV

C: To Dark to Tell
H: Dark
N: Burnt Grain, Hoppy Floral, Sweet Fruit

Beer Drinker; We're ending with Black Flag Imperial Stout. The label said this is the 2009 Fresh Hop Edition. Before this beer, I always associated Black Flag with the band and the wannabe anarchist skaters from my home town that listened to them. So it was a bit negative. We called one of the kids Ollie, mockingly, as none of them could ever come close to pulling off that trick!

But this beer has provided a new memory. Very hoppy with harsh alcohol, which I guess you might expect considering it's 11%. There are solid chocolate flavors with a touch of vanilla, too. Good beer, and since it's always tough to be #30 in a lineup, I'd drink it again for sure. Final score... 3.4567

The Ferm; Well we end the week on a good note. A hopped up Imperial Stout, sounds like Heaven to me. This Imperial Stout is brewed once a year and then slammed with 200 lbs of fresh hops. I expected a Hop bomb followed by coffee. Well I was sort-a right. This beer was sort of a Cluster F*%! of flavors. The beer itself was very good but the hops took away from the stout or maybe the stout took away from the hops. Well personally I would prefer you to take 200 lbs of hops and slam it into an IPA or something. Overall a great idea just not what I expected.
Score; 3.425

Overall: 3.44085 (once again we don't discuss scores till after both are done with their reviews!)