So I've been searching all over as well and have copy and pasted a few notes that seem legit ....
Response from Bell's:
We don’t have any specific recipes scaled to the homebrew size, but I can offer a bit of guidance. The malt bill is relatively straightforward: stick with 2-row base malt and just a bit of caramel malts for color. Add a healthy dollop of honey. Aim for an OG of 21 Plato. You’ll want to set up your mash rests for moderate fermentability: the sugars from the honey will be largely consumed, so you need malt dextrins around to keep the beer from getting too dry.
Hopping is trickier, but I can tell you that we use a blend of modern American high-alpha aroma hops. A generous dry hop addition of Simcoe with a touch of Amarillo provides the signature aromatic punch. Bitterness is less than most people think, in the mid-to-upper 60 IBU range. Hopslam is all about hop flavor, not unrestrained bitterness.
You can culture yeast out of one of our bottles if you’re comfortable with that; it’s certainly the preferred option for a solid flavor match. The yeast in the Hopslam bottle is the yeast used for fermentation, but at 10% abv, the yeast that isn’t dead will be severely stressed. I would recommend culturing from a lower gravity beer such as Amber Ale, Best Brown Ale, etc.: the yeast is the same & likely to be in superior condition. Winter White Ale is a completely different strain, so don’t use that. Otherwise, the local homebrew supply shops have found that most people looking to clone one of our recipes lean towards the WLP001 strain from White Labs. From what I’ve seen of it, that seems like a reasonable selection, but anything with a straightforward ester profile & good attenuation will work.
I hope this answers your questions. Good luck with the brewing!
Sincerely,
Gary S. Nicholas
Quality Assurance & Control
Bell's Brewery, Inc.
Per Bells: We use Hersbrucker, Centennial, Glacier, Vanguard, & Crystal in the kettle, and then dry hop with Simcoe. Hopslam has an unusually high degree of fermentation, so you also encounter a fermentation profile that you wouldn’t find in many of our other beers. Lets figure out a clone recipe for this one now that we have the type of hops. I have no experience with Glacier, Vanguard, or Crystal so I will not be of any assistance. Here is one more hint Our internal taste panels regularly identify a peach aroma that is unique among our brands to Hopslam. That, in concert with the various hops, may be the tropical flavor you asked about.
So with that said, here's what I put together, I haven't brewed it yet, waiting on some hops recently ordered and I need to pick up some honey .... I'd figure as well that you'd need to pitch a huge starter ....
BeerSmith Recipe Printout -
http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: IIPA (HOPSLAM?)
Brewer: Jonathan
Asst Brewer:
Style: Imperial IPA
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0)
Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 6.00 gal
Boil Size: 8.08 gal
Estimated OG: 1.085 SG
Estimated Color: 5.6 SRM
Estimated IBU: 72.4 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes
Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
14 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 80.56 %
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 5.56 %
3.00 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] (Dry Hop 3 days) Hops -
1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (Dry Hop 3 days) Hops -
1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (40 min) Hops 20.2 IBU
1.00 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] (40 min) Hops 30.9 IBU
0.50 oz Glacier [5.60 %] (20 min) Hops 4.6 IBU
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (20 min) Hops 9.0 IBU
0.50 oz Vanguard [5.50 %] (15 min) Hops 3.7 IBU
1.00 oz Glacier [5.60 %] (1 min) Hops 0.7 IBU
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (1 min) Hops 0.6 IBU
1.00 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] (1 min) Hops 1.5 IBU
1.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] (1 min) Hops 1.2 IBU
2 lbs 8.0 oz Honey (1.0 SRM) Sugar 13.89 %
1 Pkgs California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) Yeast-Ale
Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, No Mash Out
Total Grain Weight: 15.50 lb
----------------------------
Single Infusion, Medium Body, No Mash Out
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Mash In Add 19.38 qt of water at 170.1 F 154.0 F
Anyone with more experience please speak up as I'm looking for some info as well ....
Edit: I just noticed I posted some of the same as others with my copy and paste, and I'm not 100% sure about the Crystal 10, or maybe add some carapils? The SG looks about right, the I'd aim for FG of 1.012, IBU's are close, maybe decrease slightly?