Does anyone still have a stash of Hopslam?

Like I do? I purchased two cases this winter and have a 12 pack plus left over. Had one last night and I noticed a considerable change in flavor which left me a bit concerned. Is this to be expected with double IPA's? Its sitting in a dark place at about 72 degrees.

How old is it now? IPAs are meant to be drank fresh. That's not a beer you want to hold on to. Hops die out over time, sometimes pretty fast.

It was issued in Jan, in fact the bottle stamp is 1/18/10. I had one about 4 weeks ago and it still had that wonderful grapefruit taste and aroma. the one Last night, not as much.

I have two bottles left. Might drink them this weekend.

Yeah. That's not surprising at all to me. IPAs just don't last. They are really not meant for aging.

You should drink hoppy beers as fresh as possible. And it's always been my understanding that hoppy beers should be stored cold to slow the fading of the hops. Also, Hopslam supposedly fades relatively fast, so it's not surprising.

The party store in town has at least 4-5 6ers. I grabbed another one on pay day last week and have it in the fridge. The party store has all of their beer in cold storage too, so they're probably not that bad. I'd have a few more 6ers if they weren't nearly $18 apiece.

The hops will fall out considerable in an IPA over time. The stores around here that still have hopslam all have it on sale. I've thought about grabbing some. I bought a bottle for a friend who is expanding his beer tastes, and he just drank it this past week and loved it. I bought that bottle out of a refrigerator and he promptly put it into his refrigerator as soon as I gave it to him, so it probably held up better. I put a couple of my homebrew IPAs in my fridge as soon as they were carbonated (~2 months ago now), but I can't fit them all, and I recently compared one of the long term refrigerated ones to one that I had put in the fridge just a few days before and there was a huge difference.


Some people like the taste of an aged IIPA, but if you don't like it so much then now you know not to get more than you can drink fresh.

It's still on tap around here... I tend to have one every few days.

Storing it in the 70s won't do it any good! Either drink it, or store it at cellar temperatures or lower. In the fridge would be best. Beer still ages at cold temperatures, but it ages rapidly at room temperature.

Actually found one in my closet that I forgot I had. I know it won't be as good as it was fresh but hey, it's Hopslam, it'll still be good.

I have never had it but I have ONE bottle. A friend of a friend had a party last weekend and apparently all of their friends are Pro brewers or home brewers. one of the guys I met gave me a Hop Slam to take home. I plan on sharing it with SWMBO on Friday

Mmm...hoppy....

I got mine mostly because I plan to try to clone it, and of course I need to drink it so I know what flavors to add.

Truth be told, this was the first year I've had it, and I wasn't a big fan of it. It tasted off to me. The sixer I bought got drank, but if it tasted like it did back in February, I don't have much hope for it 2-3 months later.

Funny though, I'm a big fan of IPAs, and this one just didn't sit right with me. I guess there's no accouting for taste.

I will be enjoying it with SWMBO is about 30 min.

DRoyLenz said:

Truth be told, this was the first year I've had it, and I wasn't a big fan of it. It tasted off to me. The sixer I bought got drank, but if it tasted like it did back in February, I don't have much hope for it 2-3 months later.

Funny though, I'm a big fan of IPAs, and this one just didn't sit right with me. I guess there's no accouting for taste.

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What was it lacking that you'd have like to seen?

I had a stash of it and am now down to a couple bottles. I can get more easily if anyone needs some or wants to know where to go in West MI. Fresh its really good, aged 6 months at 68 degrees its still awesome, just lost some of the hoppiness and the balance went to the maltier side. The few bottles that I had stored in the fridge the whole time held up MUCH better. Either way, its still worth drinking/buying to me.