Hopslam Clone...

The pineapple you taste is from the Simcoe/Amarillo combo IMO.

I agree with that statement "Simcoe/Amarillo combo"

Steelers77 said:

I agree with that statement "Simcoe/Amarillo combo"

Click to expand...

So what do you think of the recipe/hop schedule, it sounds like you were looking at coming up with something similar?

Well according to the email I received from the, there should be a nice late kettle addition of Amarillo and generous dry hopping with Simcoe to get the signature aroma of Hopslam.
As far as the other additions, Centennial would definitely be in there and maybe just go with Crystal, and Glacier in the kettle MAybe stack them Centennial for bittering, Crystal/Glacier for flavor, and Amarillo @ knockout, followed by Simcoe dry hopping. Also, they say the use caramel/crystal "MALTS" implying multiple so I would use a combination of 20 and 40.
This is just what I think, too many hops may muddy the flavor profile maybe keep it simple at first then adjust as you go.

So what kind of flavor profile do yo get from crystal and glacier? I couldn't find a lot of info for those hops ....

Sleepyemt said:

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

Click to expand...

This recipe looks great! I'm still a beginner all grain brewer so please excuse me if this is a dumb question, the boil time is 90 min.. I'm trying to follow the hop schedule and wondering when exactly you add the various hops. Do you add the Amarillo Gold and Simcoe with 40 minutes remaining in the boil and then add the Glacier and Cascades with 20 minutes left? etc.? Or do you add the amarillo and simcoe at two different times?

If it says 40 min then you add the with 40 min left in the boil. Dry hops happens after primary fermentation is complete.

Sleepyemp

I have a concern about the 2.5 lbs of Honey in your recipe.. So today when I racked my 8.9% abv with 68 IBU, I added 1/2 lb to 2 gallons. I pulled a pint off the bottom of the car boy, warmed it slightly, I also stirred it hard before I racked it to pick up some extra yeast and added the honey to it. will compare with a hopslam in about 3 weeks to 4. I did some bottle testing with IPA's I am drinking from bottles, and a 1/4 teaspoon of honey added was better than higher. Your post from Bells said a dollop of honey which I take to mean a very small amount. I am thinking 1 pound of honey which means your grain bill is going to be higher to get to 1087.

Ameadrat,

I look forward to hearing what your results would be .... I formulated my recipe from the jamil show's brewing classic style podcast regardingImperial IPA's. He mentions the adding simple sugars and keeping it at ~10% to help lighten and dry out the beer a little. There's also some mention of it in a Zymurgy issue I have where Vinnie C talks of it's benefits .... either way, we'll see.

Wth your IPA's that you added honey to, Did you add them during boil? at flame out? secondary? at time of pour?

This is going to be an experiment to get in the ball park and then adjust. I'll have a yeast starter of pacman going today in place of the american ale, and I'm thinking I'll end up brewing a second batch with a different hop schedule based off of reccomendations on here ....

sleepyemt,
I added it to secondary fermantation. I also thieved a little when I got home. I would have preferred the last ten minutes of the boil to kill bacteria but It's only 2 gallons.
At one day, I could taste very lite honey. My guess at this point would be Im at 5% and the brains are saying 10%,so your probably save in that range. It'll be 3-4 weeks before my next IPA, which mean this IPA will be bottled. At that point i hope you have the hops where you think they should be but that one definetly will be the one I try to clone. As a point of reference a guy named Tall Dave got me to brewing beer, even though his wife would take my bottle of mead off to the corner, This got me to thinking of him. He was a great guy. Cheers TD

honey experiment. The 1/2lb is still fermenting slowly after 10 days. The non-honey 3 gals is showing no fermentation and is clearing. While I did this to see if it was to sweet at 1 lb/2 gal. with continued fermentation I think the final gravity is going to be lower than the control. Which is going to give more conversion to alcohol and therefore a dryer taste. I am expecting 1016 on the control which is my target body which gives me 8.3% alcohol. since I did this in secondary, I have to calculate the effect of the honey whiih i fiqure will raise my orginal gravity to 1082. If my final gravity hits 1014, bingo I'm at 10%, which is hopslams apv. Hopslam with an og of 1087 needs to drop to 1020 fg for 10% . My recipe for this was 14lbs4oz of MO and 1lb carapils. I did 30 minutes at 148 and 30 at 158 in feb in unheated attached garage. sleep I think Im right about the honey but aleast til monday in secondary, then 2 to bottle ferment.

Honey experiment racked. final gravity on control ipa 1020 giving me 7.7% apv Honey sample finished at 1016. using wine guys 1/2 lb sugar to add 20 points. that makes the honey sample 1082 og and 1016 fg for 10% apv. In the interest of science I have sacrificed myself and forced myself to drink about 3 glasses. Sowhat are my thoughts.
This ipa is an english ipa with 3 oz goldens at 4.5 added at 60 min 2 ozgoldens at 4.9added at 30 min an 2 oz goldens at 4.9 added at 10 min. which gets me 69.8 ibu. The result is a very light honey taste and a lessening of the hops bite over the control ipa.

My bias is I'm a malt guy. Therefore I found it desireable. The guy earlier in this post in a reply to me will not like it. Since my knowledge of hops is limited, the hops guys are have to give some input. I think my orginal assumption is correct 2.5 lbs might be to much. Second thing that may change my result, is this was done in secondary fermentation not in the last 10 minutes of the boil. you could tell which secondary car boy had the honey it had visibly more sediment. In 2 weeks bottles should be charged and we will taste a hop slam against these 2 of mine. I will add honey at 1.25 lbs in the last 10 minutes of boil. but that is weeks away to know the result.

Sleepyemt,
Could not wait another week. So what's new about that. LOL broke open a bottle of my control and a bottle of the honey. I also went back to rooftops IBU calculator and found I had hit 117.9 ibu. I knew which was which so I/m trying to be honest.(and me a rat) The honey lowered the hop bite on the begging taste and kept it low throughout. Even in the finish. because the control finished at 1020 and the honey took it to 1016. Both had a malt taste. The honey was barely discernable and I could be contributing honey to the lower ending gravity but still a sweet taste. As a malt guy I liked the ending finish of a lighter hop bite. Also the same reason, I eliminated Northern brewers Hops from my recipe so put that in your decision of my results. My drinking buddy has saved some hop slam so we can compare but the recipes won't be the same but what the heck he's bring the hopslam. Since my efficiency is 3.98 a six pack an he's paying 16+ I'm ahead of the game. My definition of efficiency cost of making a six pack + cost of equipment divided by 120 all divided by the lowest cost of the commercial beer you drink per six pack. so 3.98 divided by 8.51 is 47% efficient. Since I have not bought any equipment in the last 10 years except glass hydromters and thermoniter, I have no equipment costs.

I have 5 gallons in the secondary right now (dry hopping), I should have better input for all in the recipe I used. I changed again from what I originally posted. I'm still a few weeks away from it being ready ( I bottle condition). But the Hydro sample shows to be promising ....

Any chance of posting the new recipe for us in case we want to throw caution to the wind and go for it?

Sure, why not? I have to give credit to everyone in this thread for helping me read between the lines on the info from bells. Again I've only had the hydro sample ....

BeerSmith Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Hopslam?
Brewer: Jonathan
Asst Brewer:
Style: Imperial IPA
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 6.50 gal
Boil Size: 8.71 gal
OG: 1.087 SG
Estimated Color: 7.2 SRM
Estimated IBU: 66.5 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 76.00 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
16 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 81.67 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 2.55 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 2.55 % -
1.50 oz Centennial [6.00 %] (60 min) (First Wort Hops) 32.8 IBU
1.00 oz Vanguard [4.40 %] (20 min) Hops 4.9 IBU
2.00 oz Glacier [6.50 %] (20 min) Hops 14.5 IBU
3.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.60 %] (5 min) Hops 14.3 IBU
1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.60 %] (0 min) Hops
4.00 oz Simcoe [17.70 %] (Dry Hop 7 days) Hops
1.00 tsp Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Boil 60.0 min) Misc
2 lbs 9.4 oz Honey (1.0 SRM) Sugar 13.22 % Added at Flameout
1 Pkgs Rogue Pacman Yeast (Wyeast #1764-PC) A step up from a 1 L starter to a 2L Started fermentation @64 ramped up to 68 after bulk of fermentation.

Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, No Mash Out
Total Grain Weight: 17.00 lb
----------------------------
Single Infusion, Medium Body, No Mash Out
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Mash In Add 21.25 qt of water at 165.9 F 154.0 F


Notes:
------
4/18/10 Racked to secondary, added 4oz of simcoe to dry hop.


The honey should be around 2.5lbs, It was a little too easy to measure and then squeeze out and give a little too much ...
Let me know thoughts and suggestions ... I'm looking forward to this one being ready ...

Also as a side note, because the honey was added at flameout the IBU's should be about 10pts higher due to better hop utilization ...

Sleepyemt,
I am encouraged that there are still people who bottle fement. Last night my drinking and his other halve were over for dinner. Afterwards I took the bottle of I brought out my 2 bottles and the hop slam. He picked out the one with the honey even at a 1/4lb of honey per gallon. The amazing thing was he thought the honey taste was the same intensity then told me he liked my
English IPA with honey better than hop slam.

I think you could probably use less honey and you would not find much difference. As for making hop slam, i just hit a home run and I don't have all those hop additions. Just 7 oz of goldenings in a 60, 30 and 10 add. Please post how yours compared when the bottles have reach carbonation. Been fun

Sleepyemt,
Final post, I just racked to secondary a repeat of my english IPA, I followed your note only I added a 1lb and 1/4 to flame out. had the same resulting taste as the add to secondary. Also had my IPA adicted client over he said mine had an apricot taste but the honey flavor was similar. One other thing Honey is expensive to add, business decision lower cost with same quality is more profitable. My conclusion 1.24 lbs honey.

For the record If anyone even cares, Try adding honey to your next ipa it mellows the hops and just does something wonderful to the taste. However if bitter is better don't do it.

Sleepy, I am awaiting your final post after your beer has headed. I figured my final cost per 6 pack at 4.03 per six pack. God I LOVE being a rat

So here are a few pics .... very close and very happy with the results, I think a few minor tweaks and it will be there ....
First, No first Wort Hopping, you'll need that bitterness to come through ...
Second, Mash a little lower than the 154, I get a little more sweetness coming through ... although it may be from FWHing ...
I get a little more mango from the mine, and a little more peach from hopslam .... maybe up the glacier and lower the Amarillo at the end ...
Last the carbonation isn't where I'd like it, I'd ad some at bottling to help at the end, I finished @ 9.83%

On a side note it scored a 38 in a recent competition, Tastes great, a lot of complements, My wife said the best yet .... Thanks to all that have played along ....I love what it is and look forward to some tweaking ....

recipe is ....
BeerSmith Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Hopslam (v.1)
Brewer: Jonathan
Asst Brewer:
Style: Imperial IPA
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (38.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 6.50 gal
Boil Size: 8.71 gal
Estimated OG: 1.086 SG
Estimated Color: 7.2 SRM
Estimated IBU: 66.5 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 76.00 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
16 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 81.67 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 2.55 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 2.55 %
1.50 oz Centennial [6.00 %] (90 min) (First Wort Hops 32.8 IBU
4.00 oz Simcoe [17.70 %] (Dry Hop 7 days) Hops -
1.00 oz Vanguard [4.40 %] (20 min) Hops 4.9 IBU
2.00 oz Glacier [6.50 %] (20 min) Hops 14.5 IBU
3.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.60 %] (5 min) Hops 14.3 IBU
1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.60 %] (0 min) Hops -
1.00 tsp Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Boil 60.0 min) Misc
2 lbs 9.4 oz Honey (1.0 SRM) Sugar 13.22 %
1 Pkgs Rogue Pacman Yeast (Wyeast #1764-PC) [StarYeast-Ale


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, No Mash Out
Total Grain Weight: 17.00 lb
----------------------------
Single Infusion, Medium Body, No Mash Out
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Mash In Add 21.25 qt of water at 165.9 F 154.0 F

Rick500, did you every try this .... ?

I hate to resurrect the dead, but I plan to brew this soon.

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 6.00 gal
Boil Size: 7.97 gal
Estimated OG: 1.087 SG
Estimated Color: 8.0 SRM
Estimated IBU: 61.2 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
15.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 81.08 %
1.50 lb Honey Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 8.11 %
1.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] (60 min) Hops 34.6 IBU
3.00 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] (Dry Hop 7 days) Hops -
1.00 oz Glacier [5.60 %] (30 min) Hops 9.9 IBU
1.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] (20 min) Hops 11.6 IBU
1.00 oz Glacier [5.60 %] (15 min) Hops 5.2 IBU
2.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (0 min) Hops -
2.00 lb Honey (1.0 SRM) Sugar 10.81 %

Looks good, I'm interested to hear how your variation turns out with the honey malt in place of the crystals I used. What yeast are you using?

this years batch is on the shelves

When it gets warm out again in the Midwest, this'll be one of the first brews I do!

I will brew this.

Sleepyemt said:

So here are a few pics .... very close and very happy with the results, I think a few minor tweaks and it will be there ....
First, No first Wort Hopping, you'll need that bitterness to come through ...
Second, Mash a little lower than the 154, I get a little more sweetness coming through ... although it may be from FWHing ...
I get a little more mango from the mine, and a little more peach from hopslam .... maybe up the glacier and lower the Amarillo at the end ...
Last the carbonation isn't where I'd like it, I'd ad some at bottling to help at the end, I finished @ 9.83%

On a side note it scored a 38 in a recent competition, Tastes great, a lot of complements, My wife said the best yet .... Thanks to all that have played along ....I love what it is and look forward to some tweaking ....

recipe is ....
BeerSmith Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Hopslam (v.1)
Brewer: Jonathan
Asst Brewer:
Style: Imperial IPA
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (38.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 6.50 gal
Boil Size: 8.71 gal
Estimated OG: 1.086 SG
Estimated Color: 7.2 SRM
Estimated IBU: 66.5 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 76.00 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
16 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 81.67 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 2.55 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 2.55 %
1.50 oz Centennial [6.00 %] (90 min) (First Wort Hops 32.8 IBU
4.00 oz Simcoe [17.70 %] (Dry Hop 7 days) Hops -
1.00 oz Vanguard [4.40 %] (20 min) Hops 4.9 IBU
2.00 oz Glacier [6.50 %] (20 min) Hops 14.5 IBU
3.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.60 %] (5 min) Hops 14.3 IBU
1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.60 %] (0 min) Hops -
1.00 tsp Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Boil 60.0 min) Misc
2 lbs 9.4 oz Honey (1.0 SRM) Sugar 13.22 %
1 Pkgs Rogue Pacman Yeast (Wyeast #1764-PC) [StarYeast-Ale


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, No Mash Out
Total Grain Weight: 17.00 lb
----------------------------
Single Infusion, Medium Body, No Mash Out
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Mash In Add 21.25 qt of water at 165.9 F 154.0 F

Click to expand...

Which one's which? Also, Sweetwater Happy Ending's is my absolute favorite. Sweetwater rocks. :rockin:

bh10 said:

Which one's which? Also, Sweetwater Happy Ending's is my absolute favorite. Sweetwater rocks. :rockin:

Click to expand...

The one on the right is mine, came out a little darker, this has been one of my favorites to brew, as well as a favorite of everyone else to drink! And yes Happy Ending rocks!

BrookdaleBrew said:

I hate to resurrect the dead, but I plan to brew this soon.

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 6.00 gal
Boil Size: 7.97 gal
Estimated OG: 1.087 SG
Estimated Color: 8.0 SRM
Estimated IBU: 61.2 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
15.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 81.08 %
1.50 lb Honey Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 8.11 %
1.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] (60 min) Hops 34.6 IBU
3.00 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] (Dry Hop 7 days) Hops -
1.00 oz Glacier [5.60 %] (30 min) Hops 9.9 IBU
1.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] (20 min) Hops 11.6 IBU
1.00 oz Glacier [5.60 %] (15 min) Hops 5.2 IBU
2.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (0 min) Hops -
2.00 lb Honey (1.0 SRM) Sugar 10.81 %

Click to expand...

Looks good. My initial in trying this beer was also to add some honey malt. Although, I was thinking .75lbs and then .75lbs of crystal 10. Let us know how it turns out.

Glad you're all having good luck with this. My brother in law just told me about hopslam so I was hoping to find a thread like this one to give it a shot. Question/favor for anyone with Beersmith - can you scale this down a bit (volume)? My AG setup is a 5gallon MLT and 7.5gallon kettle. It gets me through a lot of batches but nothing this big. I do have a 3-burner setup with keggles but can't use it until I can brew in the garage/outdoors again.

Anyway, my max for mashing is typically 12.25-12.5lbs of grain which lets me mash in around 3.75gallons water. Just wondering if someone would be kind enough use their software to scale this appropriately for me since I don't have MLT space for all the malt or kettle room for an 8 gallon boil.

Thanks!

Guys:

Here is what is bothering me about these recipes. I'll highlight items that seem important in Bells' info:

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.

So, based on that I am concerned that some of the recipes put forth missed a couple of points. Bell's gave the grain bill away. Use Pale Malt with some Crystal for color. Based on my color estimate I think 7% or so of the grist should be a 20L Crystal. The "healthy dollop of honey" does not sound like a few pounds to me. Moderate fermentability sounds like mashing at about 154 F. We could probably argue till the cows come home about the hop profile but no doubt the dry hop is a couple of ounces of Simcoe and about a half ounce of Amarillo. The yeast choice seems to be easiest with The WLP001. If it makes sense to Bells it makes sense to me.

So, here is my recipe based on all this.

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 6.00 gal
Boil Size: 7.00 gal (or slightly more to end up at 6 g at end of boil)
Estimated OG: 1.084 SG
Estimated ABV: 8.56%
Estimated Color: 7.1 SRM
Estimated IBU: 67.1 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
16 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 87.67%
1.25 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 6.85%
1.20 oz Centennial [10.00 %] (60 min) Hops 29.6 IBU
1.00 oz Hallertauer Hersbrucker [4.00 %] (60 min) Hops 9.9 IBU
1.20 oz Glacier [5.60 %] (30 min) Hops 12.7 IBU
1.20 oz Vanguard [5.50 %] (20 min) Hops 9.8 IBU
1.20 oz Crystal [3.50 %] (15 min) Hops 5.1 IBU
2.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (0 min) Hops
1 lb. Honey (1.0 SRM) Sugar 5.48% (2 min)
0.30 tsp Irish Moss Misc. (15 min)
2.50 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] (Dry Hop 7 days) Hops -
0.50 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (Dry Hop 7 days) Hops -
1 Pkgs California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) Yeast-Ale

Single infusion mash at 154 F.


I plan to brew this soon and see what I get. Feel free to critique. I've made alot of beer in my time and I've made some colossal pieces of crap. You won't hurt my feelings.

By the way, you Sweetwater IPA fans - I posted my Sweetwater IPA recipe (still tweaking) on a thread in here.

Brew well.

Nice to see Bell's weighing in... I missed reading some of that info directly from Bell's earlier, somehow.

Looks nice. But Hopslam is about 10%. I built using this recipe but having to sub a few hops for what I have on hand, and adding some more base malt and crystal to reach 10%.

I think it will be close, but unfortunately, I HAVE to get some simcoe. I think it's one of the defining hops in this recipe.

I wonder if 1 lbs. of honey is enough to consider it a "healthy dollop of honey"?

(Although I have 4 batches of Mead going right now so to me 1 lbs. seems very small.)

Elsmth said:

Guys:

Here is what is bothering me about these recipes. I'll highlight items that seem important in Bells' info:

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:

modern American high-alpha aroma hops. A generous dry hop addition of Simcoe with a touch of Amarillo provides the signature aromatic punch

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.

So, based on that I am concerned that some of the recipes put forth missed a couple of points. Bell's gave the grain bill away. Use Pale Malt with some Crystal for color. Based on my color estimate I think 7% or so of the grist should be a 20L Crystal. The "healthy dollop of honey" does not sound like a few pounds to me. Moderate fermentability sounds like mashing at about 154 F. We could probably argue till the cows come home about the hop profile but no doubt the dry hop is a couple of ounces of Simcoe and about a half ounce of Amarillo. The yeast choice seems to be easiest with The WLP001. If it makes sense to Bells it makes sense to me.

Brew well.

Click to expand...

Elsmth, glad to hear you weight in; look forward to hearing how your recipe turns out. I'm curious as to what your problem was with earlier recipes? I based my honey weight on the 10% that cilurzo wrote about to aim for on DIPA's, secondly you'll need that to dry out the beer to reach your FG of 1.012, just from my experience especiallly if your mashing at 154, personally I'd go a little lower based off of my last attempt. I missed the amarillo at the end ... my second would have it. Crystal is supposed to be along the line of Hallertau, so I Subbed for my recipe. Bells reports crystal Malts, which is why I think the addition of honey malt might be the right way to go with the crystal 10.

I'm glad there is a healthy discussion though, I look forward to be proven wrong if it will get the correct recipe. Cheers!
Brew well
Jp

Hey guys. Thanks for the feedback. I was torn in which way to go with this recipe. Using BeerSmith doesn't help when substituting sugar for grain. It doesn't increase your attenuation, but I agree that going with more honey would get you closer to 10%. Of course, I'm trying to interpret what a "healthy dollop" is. My wife, the master chef, says it isn't 3 lbs. More like a large ladel. That sounds like a pound or so to me. That has me confused. The other is mashing at a lower temp and that much honey would dry it out alot, not sure what that will taste like. I am trying to hit the taste first and the ABV second. I can live with 8.5% ABV if it tastes great. I guess we can try several recipes and the first one to succeed can educate the rest of us.

Sleepyemt, what honey did you use? The more I think about it I might bump the honey to 2 lbs. as a compromise between our recipes. In addition, tomorrow I'm visiting a brewer with some experience successfully cloning Bells' beers. I'll show him our ideas and see if I can get some direction.

I brewed this a week ago.

Came out a tad high on volume and a little low on gravity with 1.080 OG, but otherwise everything went well. I had a huge amount of blowoff with this one so beware of that if you brew this one!

Elsmth said:

Hey guys. Thanks for the feedback. I was torn in which way to go with this recipe. Using BeerSmith doesn't help when substituting sugar for grain. It doesn't increase your attenuation, but I agree that going with more honey would get you closer to 10%. Of course, I'm trying to interpret what a "healthy dollop" is. My wife, the master chef, says it isn't 3 lbs. More like a large ladel. That sounds like a pound or so to me. That has me confused. The other is mashing at a lower temp and that much honey would dry it out alot, not sure what that will taste like. I am trying to hit the taste first and the ABV second. I can live with 8.5% ABV if it tastes great. I guess we can try several recipes and the first one to succeed can educate the rest of us.

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Agree, mash high. Hopslam is super malty for a 10% beer using simple sugars to help dry it out.

Ok guys I have the recipe I'm going to make in two weeks. I met with a Master Brewer and a Brew Shop owner (who is familiar with the brewers at Bells) who both make me feel inadequate when discussing brewing science. It helps that I live in Michigan to get some secrets from people who know Bells.

Anyway, here is their logic. First, the healthy dollop of honey is about a pound. 3 lbs. will affect flavor too much and doesn't make sense if it truly is a dollop. Second, it makes sense from an economics standpoint that Bell's uses Simcoe outside of the dry hopping, plus its a soft bittering hop so it is most likely used as the bittering hop. In addition, since they use Centennial in Two-Hearted and Hersbrucker in Oberon they must use those here as well. Centennial as the flavor and Hersbrucker for complexity. They liked the idea of Amarillo at flameout and of course dry hopping was a no-brainer based upon the Bells direction. They felt very strongly Bells does not use Vanguard, Glacier or Crystal in this beer for two reasons. First, Bells mentions high alpha aroma hops. Simco makes sense there. Vanguard, Crystal and Glacier are all relatively low alpha. Plus Bells would use hops they buy in quantity for this beer, thus the hops proposed.

We all agreed that Hopslam is light in color and my malt profile is correct based on directions from Bells and the color being about 7 SRM.

Finally, we all agreed that mashing at 150-152 would increase attenuation and coupled with the honey would push it towards 10%. BeerSmith doesn't compensate for substituting sugar and lower mash temp so my ABV is a very rough estimate).

So, based on all that here is the recipe we devised. I admit I have one question mark in my mind. I would have gone with about 50 IBU at 60 min and the rest at 15 and 10. Maybe someone here, if they agree with that sentiment, could modify the recipe that way and let us know the results. I'll be brewing this exactly this way.

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 6.00 gal
Boil Size: 7.00 gal (or slightly more to end up at 6 g at end of boil)
Estimated OG: 1.084 SG
Estimated ABV: 9.5% - 10%
Estimated Color: 7.1 SRM
Estimated IBU: 67.1 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
16 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 87.67%
1.25 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 6.85%
1.50 oz Simcoe [12.2%] (60 min) Hops 60.1 IBU
0.50 oz Centennial [9.1%] (15 min) Hops 5.6 IBU
0.50 oz Hallertauer Hersbrucker [3.1%] (10 min) Hops 1.4 IBU
1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (0 min) Hops
1 lb. Honey (1.0 SRM) Sugar 5.48% (0 min)
0.30 tsp Irish Moss Misc. (15 min)
1.50 oz Simcoe [12.2%] (Dry Hop 7 days) Hops -
0.50 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (Dry Hop 7 days) Hops -
1 Pkgs California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) Yeast-Ale

Single infusion mash at 152 F.

There it is guys. Let the debate and subsequent brewing begin.