All About Beer Magazine

Beer Talk

Bell’s Hopslam

Published March 2007, Volume 28, Number 1

• Roger Protz

  As a Londoner raised on Cockney beers bursting with hop character from the Kentish fields, this ale is manna from heaven. The fruit notes come from the hop and it would be good to know the varieties used. It has a pale copper color with a massive aroma of hop resins, spices and bitter oranges. Tart fruit, juicy malt and bitter hops fill the mouth, while the finish is finely balanced between orange fruit, spices, hops and rich malt. Magnificent!

• Fred Eckhardt

  This beer sports a beautiful, friendly, really quiet, but sociable head. The wonderfully hoppy aromatics entice me to enjoy the even better taste that overwhelms my waiting palate. Oh my! The dramatic hop presence here is balanced perfectly by the magnificent and assertive malt background. The label says “tongue bruiser,” but this is a genuine “tongue pleaser!” Everything you ever wanted in a beer.

• John Hansell

  Fresh, clean aroma, with subtle fragrant hop notes and a hint of malty sweetness. The same goes for the palate, with its initial delicate sweetness ultimately becoming dry, evolving into a crisp, pleasantly bitter hop finish. If this beer is a steam whistle, it’s a distant one — the pleasant sound of a steam train gliding off into the sunset.