HopSlam--not as elusive as we thought!

How does this story start? It starts out a year ago when Ben returned from Western North Carolina after a trip to our favorite Bruisin' Ales (yup, the third rated beer retailer in the world!) with one bottle of HopSlam (yup, the 16th best beer in the world) that Ben had saved to share with me. Lucky me! He told me that one tiny little bottle of beer cost about $4. I was almost Hoppin' mad at how much a dinky beer cost, that is, til I tried it. The floweriness of it, the crispness, oh mouth delight; a Midwestern IPA at it's very best. Something to compete with those big boys on the West Coast. In sum, I loved it.

But Bell's, and the HopSlam in particular, remained totally out of grasp. That is, until Bell's came to Georgia just a few weeks ago. No longer did we have to wait to go to Minnesota, Illinois, or even NC to get us some good Bells. Bells had finally come to us. Indeed, soon we wuz sippin on Java Stout, Cherry Stout, an occasional Expedition Stout, the Winter Wheat, and the beloved 2 Hearted Ale. Change was in the air.

In fact just last week Larry Bell was at the BSP and was supposed to bring the Hopslam, but something about it got stuck in I don't know where for what no good reason. Grrr...!

One night this week at the BSP, we saw bar tenders acting a bit sneaky. They kept pouring out of a tap that had some fake-a$$ sign on it into Bell's glasses. After a delicious Founders (also new to GA, and a very welcome addition!) Double Trouble, we finally asked our favorite bar tender (Brian( what was going into those cups. I said "It's not the HopSlam, right?!" and Brian lowered his voice and leaned into me and said "yes....shhhhh....! I would have told you but I just got here."

And there you go. The story of how we got screwed at the BSP. Luckily Brian spilled the beans and we came back another night they had it on tap, but apparently they aren't advertising it at all, you have to be in the know. Well we are now considering ourselves IN THE KNOW. They are due to tap another keg of it on Monday...but you will have to ask for it!

Regardless, I found HopSlam at Green's last weekend (at a pretty penny of $15 a 6 pack) and then we had it on tap at Octane, where it also wasn't on the menu yet but very clearly being served. The HopSlam won't be around for long, so drink it while you can, and make sure you ASK at your favorite bar establishment if they are serving it! Moral of the story: where there is a will, there is a way.