Decanted into a Bell’s goblet from a 12oz bottle.

Aroma: In a word: Huge. There is _so_ much going on in this beer. Fruitiness all over this mother. Strawberry, pineapple, orange zest, mango. Enormous resiny hops. Tons of sugary sweetness,  almost no graininess comes through. Some hints of baby powder. Just enough alcohol in the nose to make things a bit prickly.

Appearance: Poured with barely any head. A thin ring of big white bubbles rings the glass, sticking around for quite a while. Soft tangerine in color, good clarity for such a hoppy beer. Leaves gorgeous lacing, possibly the nicest I’ve ever seen. (Here’s a picture I took last year)

Flavor: Largely the same as the aroma but the resiny hop character is much more pronounced. Alcohol flavor is conspicuous but not overwhelming or out of place. This is a remarkably balanced beer. Finish is delicious bitterness perfectly tempered by silky, sugary, honey malt sweetness.

Mouthfeel: Heavy mouthfeel. Almost no carbonation. Alcohol provides just enough warmth to let you know that this is a high ABV beer. Bitterness provides slight tingling around the edges of the tongue.

Overall Impression: Absolutely world class. A Bell’s rep told me once that there are enough hops in one bottle of Hopslam to make seven cases of Miller Lite. Now I’m not sure that it’s true but I sure like to think about it while drinking this beer.