In the realm of craft beer drinkers, it’s hard to overestimate the appeal of Bell’s Hopslam. I know people from all over the United States who await the release of this super-seasonal beer like Linus pining for the Great Pumpkin. While many excellent Midwestern beers stay ensconced in the realm of the North, hype got out on the Hopslam, and even where it retails for $25 a six-pack, it still sells out within weeks. Beer blogs gush over it. Rating sites put it at the top of the charts. My out-of-Wisconsin friends beg me to pick up extras, flabbergasted that I can get a sixer for a mere 15 bucks and that it’s still sitting on grocer’s shelves, three weeks after its release. It some ways, Hopslam is the J.D. Salinger of beers. Its greatness is self-evident, but the appeal is no doubt enhanced by its exclusivity. But like longwinded odes to the late, great Salinger, Hopslam deserves all the praise it gets. This is the work of a brewmaster on another realm. It’s not natural to cram a beer with this many hops — over 100 International Bittering Units — nor is normal to make a beer that’s 10 percent alcohol. But the real anomaly is the flavor: No other beer on the planet tastes so perfect.

After pouring a pint, the Hopslam looks surprising yellow (most imperial IPAs are orange), but it has a nice eggshell head with decent lacing and good retention. Lifting a glass to the nose — wow! This is what God’s bar must smell like! It would be a dead ringer for pineapple juice, if only citrus could be so complex. There are also mandarin orange and grapefruit notes, so whatever hop combination went into this slam was certainly prime and resin-y. It’s not nearly as bitter as the hop content and marketing would suggest. In fact, it tastes ineffably sweet — like a sugar donut or cotton candy or, I don’t know, magic fairy sprinkles. Truthfully, few beers in the world can even approach this platform. The mouthfeel is thick, chewy, full-bodied and causes crazy salivation. And it’s drinkable! Way too drinkable, actually, as two Hopslams can light up even the most seasoned booze hound. To that end, the most expensive beer in the liquor store isn’t even overpriced. That would be like scoffing at the entrance fee to heaven.