Bells Hopslam Clone

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Gear101

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 24, 2010
Messages
2,053
Reaction score
54
Location
USA
Bells Hopslam Clone
Imperial India Pale Ale

Recipe Type:
All Grain
Yeast:
White Labs California Ale WLP001
Yeast Starter:
1400ml
Batch Size (Gallons):
5.5
Original Gravity:
1.087 OG (1.077 to 1.090)
Final Gravity:
1.022 FG (1.019 to 1.023)
Alcohol
10% ABV 8% ABW
Calories
313 per 12 oz.
Mash Efficiency
80%
Color:
8 Gold to Copper
IBU:
149.1
Boiling Time (Minutes):
60 mins
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp):
66 for 14 day
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp):
68 for 14 days

Lbs. oz.
13 0 American Two-row Pale
2 0 American Vienna
0 8 Caramel/ Crystal Malt 20L
0 8 Honey Malt
0 8 Cara-Pils/Dextrine
1 0 Cane Sugar
0 8 Honey

60mins 1 Amarillo
60mins 1 Glacier
45mins 1 Cascade
30mins 1 Centennial
15mins 1 Amarillo
10mins 1 Whirfloc Tablet
10mins 1 Citra
10mins 1 Simcoe
00mins 2 Cascade
00mins 1 Amarillo
00mins 2 Simcoe
Dry hop 5 oz of Simcoe for 14 days


With this beer being released here in the next month or so, I thought that I would work up a clone. By the time the beer is done I should have a fair amount of Bells original version to compare it against. I have had this beer a couple times in the past, so I worked this clone off memory, some online resources and the hops that I currently have. Think this is going to be pretty close to the Bells, but might make some adjustments after the end of January.

Take a look and tell me what you think? Thanks

Bell's Hopslam - Hersbrucker, Centennial, Glacier, Vanguard, and Crystal in the kettle, and then dry hopped with Simcoe.

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/287/17112
 
So, your gravities are a bit off. Starting at that gravity and finishing at 1.025 your beer would be a mess. On Bells website they list a starting gravity of 1.087, so you are looking at about 1.01 FG.

California ale yeast will work well, but if you have access to Bells beers, its pretty easy to culture their yeast from the bottle.

your recipe is about 16% honey which is a lot. Maybe bump up your base malt a bit and reduce the honey to about 10%. Also maybe reduce the crystal malt a bit. To finish that dry you don't want much.

If you want the actual hops they use I believe there is a thread kicking around with an email from bells stating all the hops they use.

The dry hop is all Simcoe too if I remember correctly, and it needs to be big. 6 to 8 oz should do it.
 
Citra is all tropical fruit. Mango, passion fruit, etc. there's a pinch of citrus in there, but it's mostly all tropical.

Simcoe is pretty complex in the aroma, but to simplify it = pine + grapefruit.

Anyway, that looks better, but as bob said, you need to adjust your gravities. 1.087 for OG and finish around 1.010. Fermentation is probably the most important part of this beer. Get it to finish dry.
 
Thanks I might drop Vanguard in the 15min spot.

Still working on that, most of the info that I have seen, calls for 3# of sugar or 4# of honey (and some the combination of the two), which it would make it really dry. Using a mash efficiency of 72%, that is what it took to get an ABV to 10%.
 
1-2 pounds of simple sugar is more than enough. Hopslam uses honey. It ferments out completely. Mash low (148-149), and with 1-2# of sugar you'll get there
 
I really am thinking that even a lb of honey will make it too dry, the reason for the honey malt. I'll rework it again inthe morning.
 
Don't worry about it being too dry. You are going to have to nail everything to get it down to 1.010 - 1.012 where it needs to be.

That being said a pound of simple sugar is probably a good amount.

and I still think you should double your dry hop. Probably doesn't need to be 14 days though. Maybe 7-10.
 
So, your gravities are a bit off. Starting at that gravity and finishing at 1.025 your beer would be a mess. On Bells website they list a starting gravity of 1.087, so you are looking at about 1.01 FG.

California ale yeast will work well, but if you have access to Bells beers, its pretty easy to culture their yeast from the bottle.

your recipe is about 16% honey which is a lot. Maybe bump up your base malt a bit and reduce the honey to about 10%. Also maybe reduce the crystal malt a bit. To finish that dry you don't want much.

If you want the actual hops they use I believe there is a thread kicking around with an email from bells stating all the hops they use.

The dry hop is all Simcoe too if I remember correctly, and it needs to be big. 6 to 8 oz should do it.

Something like that or should I had 8oz of honey back? It has to be getting close.
 
Monday I made the starter for this and on Christmas got a 250usd gift card to the LHBS, that should cover the bills over a couple brew days. I already have all the hops for this 3F’s Z Dust and Pliny the Elder to make all three a couple times over this next year. So this has to be pretty close, after it is made I have two different places that are going to call my when Bell’s Hopslam comes in.
 
First brew day got an 20 brix and got about 2.25 gallons into the ferm, will dry hop when brix is under 5ish.
 
Email from Bell's GSM
.................

Hello Thomas. You're off to a pretty good start. Here are a couple tips:




You want this beer to finish very dry. I'd lose the Vienna malt and replace it with pale ale malt or 2-row.




While there is honey in Hopslam, you don't want honey flavor, so ditch the honey malt as well.




Beyond that, your malt bill looks pretty good.




We don't use Citra hops in Hopslam. Your recipe would make a delicious beer, but they are not part of the recipe. This recipe was developed before Citra was around.




I'd cut back on your Amarillo usage and up your Glacier amounts a bit.




While the Simcoe steals the show with the dry hop, 5 oz. seems a bit much to me. I think about half that would be good.




Finally, while the California Ale is a great go to for ipa styles, if you have access to any Bell's bottles I'd try to culture up our yeast for your clone. I believe that our yeast has a very distinct character that defines most of our beers.




I hope that's helpful. Looks like a tasty beer. Please let me know how it turns out.

Cheers,



David Curtis
Bell's Brewery, Inc.

General Store Manager
 
Gear101 said:
Email from Bell's GSM
.................

Hello Thomas. You're off to a pretty good start. Here are a couple tips:

You want this beer to finish very dry. I'd lose the Vienna malt and replace it with pale ale malt or 2-row.

While there is honey in Hopslam, you don't want honey flavor, so ditch the honey malt as well.

Beyond that, your malt bill looks pretty good.

We don't use Citra hops in Hopslam. Your recipe would make a delicious beer, but they are not part of the recipe. This recipe was developed before Citra was around.

I'd cut back on your Amarillo usage and up your Glacier amounts a bit.

While the Simcoe steals the show with the dry hop, 5 oz. seems a bit much to me. I think about half that would be good.

Finally, while the California Ale is a great go to for ipa styles, if you have access to any Bell's bottles I'd try to culture up our yeast for your clone. I believe that our yeast has a very distinct character that defines most of our beers.

I hope that's helpful. Looks like a tasty beer. Please let me know how it turns out.

Cheers,

David Curtis
Bell's Brewery, Inc.

General Store Manager

There's another Hopslam thread on here from a while back, I've done several versions with the recipes posted. I'd add a little Amarillo with the simcoe for the dry hops, those together give you that pineapple and citrus nose...

I wouldn't waste Amarillo for the bittering addition, just a thought...
 
Working on the bill this morning

13# Two Row
1/2# Caramel 20L
1/2# Cara-Pils/Dextrine
1# Cane Sugar
1# Glover Honey

That is a 1.087 @ 75% but in order to get the 10% ABV it would have to finish under 1.016. Have to work on this some more after coffee this morning.
 
Drop the Cane sugar, and replace with 2-row. 1# of simple sugar should be enough.

Also throw in some Pale Ale malt(1-2lbs). It's similar to Marris Otter (sort of), and around 3-3.5L. Mash at like 146-147 for 90 minutes. Make sure to pitch a TON of yeast (3-4QT starter), and aerate the wort well.

Your target FG needs to be 1.011. So I'd do:

14lbs 2-row
3lbs Pale Ale Malt
8oz Carapils
8oz Crystal 20L
1# Honey
Mash at 146-147 for 90min.
 
I have a clone-ish that I did awhile back that I thought was pretty close. I don't remember the exact proportions but it was simply 2-row, C20 and honey. Color and abv were spot on, flavor was really close. I'll post more details after I check my beersmith data. I loved the way it came out.
 
Here's a picture of my Hopslam-inspired brew. It shows the color comparison fairly well. Mine did turn out just a smidgen darker, but pretty darn close. I didn't use the exact same hops with the exception of Simcoe, Amarillo and Centennial, but it still came out surprisingly close.

My grain bill was as follows:
13# 2-row (81.25%)
1# C20 (6.25%)
2# Honey (12.5%)

I think with your current grain bill you'll be pretty close. If you pitch a lot of yeast and aerate well, you should be able to get it pretty dry with the honey/sugar. I mashed at 152 and fermented on a US-05 yeastcake and got the FG down pretty well.

I ended up a little below 10% but still respectable (1.080-1.010).

2012-03-02_19-28-33_165.jpg


2012-03-02_19-29-50_966.jpg
 
Here is attempt number one, should be good beer but not an exact clone of hopslam. Thinking I might get the dreads from a bottle and making another two and a half gallons for the yeast cake.


Lbs. oz.
13 0 American Two-row Pale
2 0 American Vienna
0 8 Caramel/ Crystal Malt 20L
0 8 Honey Malt
0 8 Cara-Pils/Dextrine
1 0 Cane Sugar
0 8 Honey

60mins 1 Amarillo
60mins 1 Glacier
45mins 1 Cascade
30mins 1 Centennial
15mins 1 Amarillo
10mins 1 Whirfloc Tablet
10mins 1 Citra
10mins 1 Simcoe
00mins 2 Cascade
00mins 1 Amarillo
00mins 2 Simcoe
Dry hop 5 oz of Simcoe for 14 days

2013-01-24 11.03.59.jpg
 
It had been awhile sense I had one, there is definitely not any honey malt in this beer or citra.

and the yeast does make the beer.

314729_2721408291351_272041116_n.jpg
 
As I sit here drinking this unbelievable beer, the magical ingredient has most certainly got to be the honey. I wonder what kind Bell's uses. It must be of very high quality.

Hopslam is so incredible that it's almost depressing!

What I would give to replicate this masterpiece on my own...
 
Back
Top