Bell's Big Head San Diego Style Ale
What is San Diego Style Ale? It is an ale that’s made with more attitude than hops. And boy are there a lot of hops.
3.9
151 reviews
Comstock, United States
Community reviews
Bottle courtesy of dukefan. Light orange pour. Some aged hops. Wood and spice. Spicy taste. Some hops and dry bitter on the finish. Not bad; a decent balance. Reading my notes later, I am surprised to find this was a Double.
WHoa. Thanks to zathrus13 for this. pours a hazy amber with a beige head. Big juicy, grapefruit citrusy hops. Still has a big aroma even after multiple sniffs. Some booze, some caramel sweet malts. actually really well balanced in my opinion. Potent. Big time aroma, flavor. A keeper.
Bottled. Thanks Greg Koch for this treat. An amber beer with an orangey head. The aroma is sweet with strong notes of grass and hops. The flavor has notes of grapefruit, bread, and grass, leading to a dry and bitter finish.
12oz bottle. Golden color. Aroma of the skunkiest hop/ bag-o’-weed kind of smell. HUGE hop aroma. Flavor is a big hop bitterness, Huge IBUs. Nice malt backbone. Don’t be scared of the hops. Just be afraid of the style-type-name diversion. 03 may 08
12oz bottle thanks to northernbrews. Pours hazy orangish copper with white head. Aroma is heavy with sweet malt with citrus, hops and some booze. Flavor is a lot like a 4 week old hop slam. Lots of sweet malt with citrus and hops with light booze. Huge amount of sweet malts brings great balance for such a huge beer. Not huge fan of DIPA’s with tons of sweet malt but this one is very good. Would have love to try super fresh.
Bottle. Apricot color pour with a nice whtie head. Christmas trees, grapefruit and caramel malt jump out uickly. Flavor is really delicious. Sharp citrus tones, resinous hops and a great malt bill combine to make a beer worth savoring. Great effort by a great brewery!
12oz bottle, batch K8369, courtesy of FlandersNed (thanks, steve). pours a bright, hazy orange/amber with a thin, clingy, off white head and solid lacing. aroma is very nice with big citrus notes of orange, lemon, and grapefruit, floral hops, a touch of spice, alcohol, and light toffee malt sweetness. flavor is certainly big and quite delicious. citrus flavors of orange peel and lemon dominate with a big, toasty, earthy malt presence adding balance and notes of wood and caramel. palate is full bodied but smooth with a strong alcohol presence and a long, bitter, very dry finish. this one has aged nicely and while it still has many DIPA qualities, it’s drinking like a big barley wine and a good one at that.
Pours orange, little head. Citrusy and sweet aroma. Malty sweetness and hoppy sweetness compliment each other well. Very floral and citrusy.
Bottle shared with Mrbunn and my brother. Pours a dirty orange. Strong scent of grapefruit, caramel and pine trees. Has the caramel malt of Third Coast, the piney hops of Hopslam and the floral notes of Two Hearted. And like Hopslam, it does’nt quite blend well, but is nonetheless an outstanding beer, not to be taken lightly.
Bottle with special thanks to goldtwins. Pours an orangish amber with a pretty decent head and aromas that are straight hops. Citrus, spruce, floral, etc. with a little bit of malt peeking through. Flavor is loads of hop, loads of alcohol and loads of malt. This is great stuff, but not for the weak.
I didn’t realize it was the equivalent of 4 beers until I finished the last drop. A DIPA in a small 330 ml bottle, what a novelty. All hop, complete hop delivery. Reasonable carbonation, DIPA smell. Full reddish yellow, with lots of white lace.
Bottle: Amber pour with a finger of beige head. Sticky lacing. Mostly heavy citrus in the nose with some sweet and malty notes. Resin too. Flavor is tons of piney resin notes and citrus. Caramel and florals with heavy lingering bitters. Simply outstanding. Thanks cpferris.
k8369 bottle by way of ucusty...
hazy burnt orange colored pour capped by a soft light tan head which leaves lots of fluffy spotty lace as it retreats.
holy flower shop aroma!... loads of floral hops, grapefruit, grass, cooked orange skin, caramel, light resinous pine and spice with a bit of a boozy burn.
the palate is sweet and buttery to start but turns mean and bitter as it finishes... there’s a noticeable ashiness in the flavor combined with notes of spice, rich caramel, pine, grapefruit skin, wood and an earthy sweetness similar to agave or pine sap honey. it finishes really floral and full of alcoholic vapors. there’s a long lingering aftertaste of bitter citrus pith which helps to maintain some sort of balance.
the body is certainly full with a smooth luxurious mouth feel before the onslaught of dryness. it’s a bit too sticky for me to give it a five rating (but that’s far too common for the style) and i’d be hard pressed to drink any more than this... 8/4/7/4/14/3.7
Copper in color with a good sized off-white head. Aroma is of toffee, carmel, raisin, light hops and alcohol. Taste is moderately hoppy with some caramel and toast.
Bottle via trade with weeheavySD. Holy hops but also a strong malt backbone holding this together. Could not believe the 11 ABV. My melon felt it but I honestly could not taste it other than a little heat and astrigency. Very piney hops that were almost sticky. A little spice in the finish. IIPA is not typically more style but no complaints with this one.
Pours a dark amber, with a thin white head and medium lacing. Aroma is hops and yeast, with a good amount of malt. Flavor is much more akin to a Barleywine than a west coast DIPA. Hops are there, but with a big malt backbone. Touches of spice, yeast, and citrus fruit. Very astringent, way too much rubbing alcohol. Not too keen on this one.
12 oz bottle via trade. Ok I know this is a DIPA but boy were the hops long gone on this one. The large malt proflie that remained made this one seem more like a barley wine but it was still a solid enough beer. Poured a deep orange/amber with a super huge frothy whiteish head. Aroma and flavor had an all malt backbone....mostly caramel, toffee some grain. Suprising was that although no hops remained in the aroma or flavor this beer finished incredibly bitter. Hmm at 11.07 ABV this very well could have been a barley wine hiding as a DIPA after all.
Bottle thanks to BMan1113VR. Smell is hops, grass, malts, and caramel. Looks is golden copperish with a decent white head. Taste is malts, caramel, hops, alcohol, and flowers.
(Bottle, courtesy of BMan1113VR) Pours a clear orange body with a small white head. Aroma of toasted bread, orange, floral, light cocoa, some pine, and noticeable alcohol burn. Flavor of caramel and toasted malts, hops (orange, resiny, floral), chocolate, and alcohol with a bitter finish.
Bottle thanks to BMan1113VR. Pours a Hazy amber with nice beige head. Aroma is very hoppy, dark fruit and malty, nice. Flavor is sweet with lots of hoppy flavor, some dark fruit bitterness and alcohol spice. heavy body with med carbonation. Good stuff, is a sipper.
Bottle thanks to zathrus13. Shared with the Dallas crew at bu11zeye’s place. Beer has more attitude than hops...way more...to bad that’s not always a good thing. Pours with a largish white head (would hope so given the name), with a clear amber body. Great lacing and decent retention. Aroma of floral and spicy hops with a very sweet note and a bit of booziness. Taste is fruity with darkish malts, boozy with a very bland and unbalanced citrus hop profile. Syrupy mouthfeel. Seems like the brewer just threw everything randomly into the pot.
Trade from northernbrews. Thanks Jeff! And whoa, aroma hits on popping the cap, no pour required, lots of coniferous hops balanced by worty vanilla malts. Pours a hazy red-gold, medium creamy, off-white head, some lacing even though my snifter isn’t an easy glass to lace. Flavor is coniferous hops, and worty carmelized malts, both intense, but in balance; finish is amazingly bittersweet; alcohol is strong, but harmonzed with the hops, the warmth comes out gingery. Palate is thick, caramelly, warming, not much carbonation.
Trade from cpferris - thanks Chad.
The name of this beer appears to be a not so subtle dig at Stone, presumably--funny (point for wittiness?). Pours a beautiful clear, medium-dark copper-gold with a thin, creamy, off-white head. Aroma is filled with sweet malt and alcohol alongside dark resinous hops with some citrus notes--not a highly aromatic hops profile here. The flavor is very sweet with alcohol coupled with a thick, dense bitterness profile with flavors of lemon zest and orange peel with pine resin in the background with an edge of spice amidst a bit of a darker malt profile. The alcohol is out of balance here. The bitterness is thick and strong which helps to combat this, but without huge aromatics the finish comes across as somewhat harsh as it sticks around with some warmth. A fun, interesting beer overall that’s a real delight to try--a fun "import" but not a substitute for the genuine San Diego article.
Bottle from STFUN, thanks Josh! BIg head....(duh) suits the name. Cloudy orange/red in color. Good lacing. Good aroma of bitter/citrus hops. Thick in texture, low carbonation. Taste is nicely balanced hop bomb. I like the malty touch. Lots of citrus hops. Slight trace of the eleven percent alcohol but still a good DIPA. thanks josh
12oz Bottle
Another beer I’ve been looking forward to from hoppymeal, thanks Derek! Big Head pours fairly clear polished copper. Tiny, barely noticeable, particles are suspended throughout the body. Creating the slight haze that is there. A standard pour created a ruddy, pillowy off white head of two fingers that fell to a thick one finger cap and left big chunky lacing on its way down the glass. Big Head is a really great looking IPA.
This is a big hoppy brew with the alcohol to match. Apricot and bitter grapefruit are all surrounded by a steady pine needle hoppiness. There’s not much malt in the nose and that’s just fine with me. The alcohol isn’t very noticeable in the smell but I do get the fumes tickling my nose and can feel them in the back of the throat. The label doesn’t lie, be prepared for a lot of hops.
Flavor follows in the tracks of the nose. A quick flash of apricot upfront is taken over by both sugary sweet grapefruit and down and dirty bitter unsweetened grapefruit. The alcohol is present but only with a little heat in the back of the throat. This beer is hoppy from start to finish and had a great sweet quality on the finish that shows up just enough to let you know it’s there and keep the hops from running rampant.
This beer is incredibly silky with just a bit of stick on the backend. There is a surprising silkiness for such a big beer. The bitterness wasn’t huge at first but now that I’m half way through the glass I realize how much of a tongue wrecker this one really is. This is just the way I like it.
Good drinkability for such a huge beer. Nothing is too the point of being overbearing and it’s a joy to drink. The bitterness will take its toll over time though.
Another good beer from Bell’s and one I’m glad to have had the opportunity to try. I wouldn’t mind seeing this in their regular rotation. Thanks for the taste Derek!
5/19/08
Bottle. I wonder if these are the beers the CA hop heads calll the chronic. Amber body with a white head. Grapefruit, citrus, floral hop resin and a big etoh bite. A dam good IIPA.
Bottle courtesy of Greg Koch at our stop at the Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens on 08/03/2008 on day three of RBSG. Clear copper amber body with a small off-white head. Big citrus hop aroma. Huge citrus and resin flavor possibly simcoe. Medium body with moderate carbonation.
Thanks to hopdog for sharing this one. Pours a mostly translucent golden amber with a medium bubbly/creamy off white head that laced. Aroma of caramel malt, floral, light citrus, light alcohol, orange and kind of on the sweet malty side. Flavor was a load of American hops, yet a bunch of caramel malt, sweetness, orange peel, grapefruit, light alcohol and lots of hop bitterness.
Bottle. Copper color with ivory head. Mostly pine up front followed by grapfruit and mango sap (you know, the sticky sap that comes out of a mango when it falls ripe from the tree). A well balanced IIPA.
Bottle, thanks to cpferris. Copper color with a good sized off-white head. Piny aroma with a solid amount of rich malt in there also. Sweet rich malt flavor backed by a bunch of bittering hops. A little like fruit rind, and that lingers a pretty long time after swallowing. Nice bitterness, and another good IPA from what is, IMO, a stellar season for IPAs.