Not sure how long I've been able to buy Bell's Hop Slam. It's been many years, but the first purchase happened this year. It's a DIPA that has a well deserved controversial reputation.
At first, I was disappointed. Then I found something to appreciate.
I can see why many people drink it for the first time and decide it's over hyped and over rated. As far as modern DIPAs go, it's not very hoppy. It has less hop flavor and aroma than Two Hearted which is a good IPA, but not definitely not a hop bomb.
Does an IPA or DIPA need to be super hoppy in terms of flavor and aroma to be considered very good? Many would say yes. I prefer these styles to be more hoppy than not.
My initial disappointment of lack of anticipated hoppyness was resolved by appreciating the super clean 10% abv and the flavor of the malt and honey balanced by the relatively conservative use of hops for the style.
I've had plenty of hyped California DIPAs that were hop and fusel bombs. I like a lot of hops, but harsh booze ruins beer for me. Especially big beers.
Hopslam is about as smooth as 10% gets. The same beer with more hops would be outstanding for the style.