Hopslam Clone...

[cantrell00]

Took awhile for my batch to settle in but it turned out really good. Strong beer. Quite tasty.

Never had Hopslam so I can't speak as to it being a clone.

Had to sub a couple of the late hops & the dry hop wasn't the same. Ended up dry hopping with 2 oz of Simcoe & 2 oz of Amarillo.

 

[dukedevil0]

Hey sleepy, have you checked out this other hopslam clone recipe (in the recipe database)? I wonder how they compare and which one is more accurate.

Has anyone brewed both and compared them?

 

[Sleepyemt]

I have not tried it. Schweaty is a very good brewer, I have no doubt that it is very good and or close... Really the flavor comes from the honey malt sweetness (both have) and the combo of marillo and simcoe at the end (both have). I'll ventually try the other one... But 10g of a hoppy high gravity beer is too much for me at home...

 

[dukedevil0]

I have not tried it. Schweaty is a very good brewer, I have no doubt that it is very good and or close... Really the flavor comes from the honey malt sweetness (both have) and the combo of marillo and simcoe at the end (both have). I'll ventually try the other one... But 10g of a hoppy high gravity beer is too much for me at home...

Maybe I'll just brew 1 gallon of each

 

[Sleepyemt]

Maybe I'll just brew 1 gallon of each

Not a bad idea..! Let us know! some of the research emails listed in the thread mention base malt, a little crystal, and the hop additions not mattering til you get to the end..... Both recipes follow those fairly close.

 

[dukedevil0]

Ended up brewing a 1 gallon batch of this as my first biab/indoor/stovetop/mini batch. Was brewing along and as I'm starting to portion out the hops I notice I completely forgot to buy centennial...oops. So I upped the Amarillo amount in its place. We'll see how it turns out!

 

[Sleepyemt]

Should still be good! I look forward to hearing your results!


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[dukedevil0]

Should still be good! I look forward to hearing your results!


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

I'll definitely let you know! OG came out at 1.082 so not bad for my first try at this equipment setup and recipe. It's been churning away in the fermenter. I can see tons of movement and activity inside the liquid with the yeasties and bubbles. First time using a blowoff tube and very glad I did.

How long do you wait or what triggers you to ramp up your fermentation temp? It has been in my basement fluctuating between 59-62 F ambient. I can move it to another area in my house that's slightly warmer when ready.

Do you think secondary is necessary? I'm thinking I may just dry hop in primary.

 

[Sleepyemt]

I'll definitely let you know! OG came out at 1.082 so not bad for my first try at this equipment setup and recipe. It's been churning away in the fermenter. I can see tons of movement and activity inside the liquid with the yeasties and bubbles. First time using a blowoff tube and very glad I did.

How long do you wait or what triggers you to ramp up your fermentation temp? It has been in my basement fluctuating between 59-62 F ambient. I can move it to another area in my house that's slightly warmer when ready.

Do you think secondary is necessary? I'm thinking I may just dry hop in primary.

Glad to hear its going so well!

My reasons are that its towards the end of fermentation, all the flavors or possibilities of off flavors occur towards the beginning of fermentation, towards the end yeast can drop out too soon or not attenuate (if the fermentation chamber kicked on to cool it) This has been shared by others, The brewing network's podcasts is where I learned it, I've had no off flavors and get great attenuation that way.

I've also read or it was a podcast where they recommend a secondary for dry hopping. Something to do with the hop oils coating yeast cells as they drop out. So you have the potential for less hop character.... Is it necessary? Probably not, I haven't done side by side, but I do like clear-ish beer and the most character I can get out of my beer, and this helps.

Just what I've learned, Not everyone will think its necessary...

 

[dukedevil0]

Glad to hear its going so well!

My reasons are that its towards the end of fermentation, all the flavors or possibilities of off flavors occur towards the beginning of fermentation, towards the end yeast can drop out too soon or not attenuate (if the fermentation chamber kicked on to cool it) This has been shared by others, The brewing network's podcasts is where I learned it, I've had no off flavors and get great attenuation that way.

I've also read or it was a podcast where they recommend a secondary for dry hopping. Something to do with the hop oils coating yeast cells as they drop out. So you have the potential for less hop character.... Is it necessary? Probably not, I haven't done side by side, but I do like clear-ish beer and the most character I can get out of my beer, and this helps.

Just what I've learned, Not everyone will think its necessary...

Thanks! At what point do you ramp up the temperature? When the bubbles slow down or after a certain amount of days of fermentation or??

 

[Sleepyemt]

Towards the end of fermentation works best, after about a week- around about the time krausen has fallen or just before, give it a few extra days at the higher temps


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[dukedevil0]

Towards the end of fermentation works best, after about a week- around about the time krausen has fallen or just before, give it a few extra days at the higher temps


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

It's been 8 days and I still see tons of activity swirling in the beer. Also, been getting a bubble through the blow off every few seconds pretty consistently. Wondering when this thing is gonna be done!

I'm hesitant to take a reading since it's such a small batch and I'll want to bottle as much as possible.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

It's been 8 days and I still see tons of activity swirling in the beer. Also, been getting a bubble through the blow off every few seconds pretty consistently. Wondering when this thing is gonna be done!

I'm hesitant to take a reading since it's such a small batch and I'll want to bottle as much as possible.

its not uncommon for hoppy beer to keep bubbling even after 10 days, sometimes the last couple of days doesn't add anything but "my saying" or practice is 7 to 10 days so doesn't hurt

 

[Sleepyemt]

It's been 8 days and I still see tons of activity swirling in the beer. Also, been getting a bubble through the blow off every few seconds pretty consistently. Wondering when this thing is gonna be done!

I'm hesitant to take a reading since it's such a small batch and I'll want to bottle as much as possible.

you'd be fine to warm it up, I'm assuming krausen has fallen?

 

[dukedevil0]

you'd be fine to warm it up, I'm assuming krausen has fallen?

Here's what it looks like

 

[Sleepyemt]

Looks good! At this late your ok to warm it up a few degrees, it'll help the yeast.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[dukedevil0]

Bottled today after 2 weeks primary fermentation, then a week of dry hopping (ended up putting them in primary at the 2 wk mark). I ended up with FG 1.014 putting me pretty much right at 9% abv.

Can't wait for the bottles to carb up and taste the end result. :rockin:

 

[NegativeCreep]

Just curious since I'm thinking about trying this. Has anyone tried adding the honey directly to the fermenter a few days after fermentation starts?

It doesn't seem like there's much of a risk of infection from the honey. It could possibly leave more of a flavor and it would require a slightly smaller starter.

 

[edroberts]

I'm going to give this a try. I enjoy Hopslam, but typically avoid Simcoe like the plague as I can't stand the pine resin flavor it imparts in the boil. However, I'm guessing that drop hopping would let the fruity aspects of Simcoe to shine through over the pine. Am I correct in that assumption?

 

[Sleepyemt]

Just curious since I'm thinking about trying this. Has anyone tried adding the honey directly to the fermenter a few days after fermentation starts?



It doesn't seem like there's much of a risk of infection from the honey. It could possibly leave more of a flavor and it would require a slightly smaller starter.

I've done it with both honey, and sugar... The honey ferments out. So to me it's cheaper to do, flavor wise is fairly negligible in the finished product

 

[Sleepyemt]

I'm going to give this a try. I enjoy Hopslam, but typically avoid Simcoe like the plague as I can't stand the pine resin flavor it imparts in the boil. However, I'm guessing that drop hopping would let the fruity aspects of Simcoe to shine through over the pine. Am I correct in that assumption?

Yes, you end up closer to the pineapple and fruity aspect.

 

[ameadrat]

Last Saturday I racked an 1051 IPA. I had a 5 and a 2.5 gallon carboys. I had also had started a sweet mead the week before, it had worked down to 1040from
1100. I thieved a sample and put it in my tasting glass and like it. So I dropped a
cup of the working mead in the 2.5. the 2.5 is still cooking a week later. Next week I will bottle the 5. looks like the 2.5 with mead will take me into late January.

I regularly put honey into my IPA as I am racking the boil into primary fermentation. If your concerned, rack some into a gallon jug and add honey.
I don't see a problem doing what you want to do.

 

[Sleepyemt]

Bottled today after 2 weeks primary fermentation, then a week of dry hopping (ended up putting them in primary at the 2 wk mark). I ended up with FG 1.014 putting me pretty much right at 9% abv.



Can't wait for the bottles to carb up and taste the end result. :rockin:

How'd this turn out for you?

 

[ameadrat]

Putting a working mead into a beer in primary caused it to cook out the sweetness of the mead. So I bottled it this weekend and added a pint of the mead to the beer
as I bottled. Tasted great with the sweetness I originally wanted. Think I'll make 2.5 gallons of sweet mead this weekend and add it to an all day IPA in August. This would give me a finished mead which should stop the bitter tasted from developing in the beer. You may have noticed that if you cellar HopSlam it
develops a bitter taste. I have noticed when I make wine and mead that each goes
through a period of bitter or bite taste before maturing. I once made a gold pinot crico from juice I bought in Canada. I pitched all of it after tasting. After four years I discovered a bottle. I was about to dump it when I remembered my rule to taste everything. I took a taste and grab a wine glass and drank one of the best wines I ever made. My new rule is if it looks good cellar it and taste at 6 months intervals. I hope this works If it doesn't I still be able to sweeten it up with mead from the bottle Which I know works.

 

[nayr14]

So here is my latest variation on the recipe. It's not far from where the other are, just playing around with hop times. Exact? no, but close enough that I'm very happy with it. Its for 6 gal., you'll lose a lot to hop material and end closer to 5 gal. Temp control is important, I like 66 then as it gets closer to finish ramp it up to 68 or a little higher to help it dry out. Oxygenate and pitch enough yeast, see mrmalty.com for amounts. I keg, its possible that you'll need to repitch? I believe there was one person that didn't get carbonation. Your taking the yeast to 10%, but others have had success...

Boil volume and efficiency is for my set up, you may need to adjust for yours. I'd reccomend gypsum depending on your water? Your 10g kettle should work great, I have the same.

Let me know how it goes and and if I can answer any questions

Recipe: Hopslam
Brewer:
Asst Brewer:
Style: Imperial IPA
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 8.74 gal
Post Boil Volume: 6.74 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 6.00 gal
Bottling Volume: 5.50 gal
Estimated OG: 1.086 SG
Estimated Color: 6.5 SRM
Estimated IBU: 85.8 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 74.0 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
16 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 85.9 %
9.6 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 2 3.1 %
9.6 oz Honey Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 3 3.1 %
1.00 oz Hallertauer Hersbrucker [4.00 %] - First Hop 4 16.2 IBUs
1 lbs 8.0 oz Corn Sugar (Dextrose) (0.0 SRM) Sugar 5 7.8 %
1.50 oz Glacier [5.60 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 6 30.9 IBUs
1.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] - Boil 20.0 min Hop 7 12.4 IBUs
0.75 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Boil 20.0 min Hop 8 7.9 IBUs
0.75 oz Glacier [5.60 %] - Boil 20.0 min Hop 9 5.2 IBUs
0.75 oz Hallertauer Hersbrucker [4.00 %] - Boil Hop 10 3.7 IBUs
1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Steep/Whirlpool Hop 11 5.7 IBUs
1.00 oz Glacier [5.60 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 15.0 Hop 12 3.7 IBUs
1.0 pkg California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) [35. Yeast 13 -
3.00 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days Hop 14 0.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Day Hop 15 0.0 IBUs


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Light Body, No Mash Out
Total Grain Weight: 19 lbs 3.2 oz
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 6.33 gal of water at 158.8 F 149.0 F 75 min

Sparge: Fly sparge with 5.33 gal water at 168.0 F
Notes:
------
Created with BeerSmith 2

I just put mine into the fermenter. With BIAB I ended up hitting 1.081 after a lot of squeezing so I'm a little short. Next time I do something higher than 1.070 I'm going to pour water over the bag. For the whirlpool hops I placed them in at flameout and let them sit for 10 minutes before I started immersion cooling. First time I've used oxygen, I shook first then use the oxygen stone on low for about 30 seconds. I'm excited to see how this turns out!

Water (mash pH):

5.4pH
150 Ca
13 Mg
32 Na
283 Sulfate
47 Chloride

 

[Sleepyemt]

Sounds great! Let us know how it goes!

 

[Sleepyemt]

I just put mine into the fermenter. With BIAB I ended up hitting 1.081 after a lot of squeezing so I'm a little short. Next time I do something higher than 1.070 I'm going to pour water over the bag. For the whirlpool hops I placed them in at flameout and let them sit for 10 minutes before I started immersion cooling. First time I've used oxygen, I shook first then use the oxygen stone on low for about 30 seconds. I'm excited to see how this turns out!



Water (mash pH):



5.4pH

150 Ca

13 Mg

32 Na

283 Sulfate

47 Chloride

How'd this turn out for you?

 

[Tyler B]

Trying to bring another thread back from the dead... anyone brew this lately?

If I can get all of the hops, this one might have to jump toward the front of my queued recipes.

 

[Sleepyemt]

Trying to bring another thread back from the dead... anyone brew this lately?

If I can get all of the hops, this one might have to jump toward the front of my queued recipes.

Bells released the actual recipe here... or inspired by...


https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/2..._60787afc-9a45-4482-bf03-766790866401.pdf?154

 

[Tyler B]

Thanks for sharing! I kind of want to brew yours more...

The recipes are fairly close. It's interesting to see what everyone here settled on vs what Bells says. Crystal 10 or 20 malts vs 40, 2 lb dollop vs 12oz dollop, hops etc.

I'll most likely settle on something in between the two but it looks like I need the Amarillo and Simcoe for sure.

 

[Sleepyemt]

Thanks for sharing! I kind of want to brew yours more...

The recipes are fairly close. It's interesting to see what everyone here settled on vs what Bells says. Crystal 10 or 20 malts vs 40, 2 lb dollop vs 12oz dollop, hops etc.

I'll most likely settle on something in between the two but it looks like I need the Amarillo and Simcoe for sure.

Let us know how it goes! I really enjoyed this brew

 

[Tyler B]

I will for sure. It's always nice to read a thread when people follow up with their results, just as most have done in this one.

Based on the grains I have, It's looking something like:
85% Maris otter
3% Carahell (10L)
3% carared (20L)
9% local honey
I think I can do a hop schedule similar to the one on the Bells website and I'll probably use US-05.

Feel free to critique my recipe idea. I have some Caramunich I that I could use instead of one of the other Caramel malts, but the Weyermann website says carared has honey notes, so I'm leaning towards that. I also tend to like sweeter/malty brews and I don't care about the color at all.

I'll report back once I brew, but it will probably be a couple months before I can give tasting notes as I haven't even ordered the hops yet.

Thanks again for everyone's contributions to the thread!

 

[Tyler B]

I brewed this yesterday. Mostly followed the same recipe I posted in my previous post. I ended up using 50% Maris Otter and 35% pale 2-row because that's what I had on hand.

I hopped according to the hop schedule on Bell's website (but subbed Willamette for Glacier/Fuggle).

My efficiency sucks and Ive accepted it for what it is so I pretty much hit my numbers. OG was 1.094. Pitched US-05 straight to wort and it's been chugging right along. Mashed a little low hoping that it fully attenuates and gets to 10% ABV.

I'll report back as things progress.

 

[Tyler B]

Also, I scanned a few pages of this thread again but didn't see any consensus (unless I overlooked it)... When do you think is best to add the 4 oz. of Simcoe dry hops for this beer?

I was thinking after about two weeks, once primary fermentation is finished, I'd add them. Then leave them in for about 3 days. Sound about right? Or should I go longer?

 

[Sleepyemt]

Also, I scanned a few pages of this thread again but didn't see any consensus (unless I overlooked it)... When do you think is best to add the 4 oz. of Simcoe dry hops for this beer?

I was thinking after about two weeks, once primary fermentation is finished, I'd add them. Then leave them in for about 3 days. Sound about right? Or should I go longer?

I tend to add them when fermentation is done, what ever that looks like for you. You could add them shortly after fermentation (3days) see if the bio transformation does anything.

 

[Tyler B]

OK, thanks. I'll probably stick to the plan of adding them once primary has finished. Maybe next time I'll add them earlier.

 

[Tyler B]

This sat in primary for 11 days, dry hopped for 3 days (2 days + 1 day cold crash), then kegged on day 14.

It went from 1.094 down to 1.015 and finished raround 10%.

It smelled a bit hot when I popped it open to add the dry hops but Initial tasting (while kegging) was promising. A little honey forward but getting lots of fresh hop flavors and aromas. Actually quite good considering how young and undercarbed it was.

Now just waiting for this one to carb up. How long do you all think before it peaks? How long you think before flavor starts going down hill? I don't have a lot of experience with IPAs.

 

[Tyler B]

For anyone who is interested...

At 18 days old, as it starts to carb up, flavors are coming together nicely. Honey flavors are mellowing and blending in with malts and hops. I followed Bell's hop schedule and kinda wish it was a touch more bitter. Plenty of fruity hop flavors and aroma, but a bit more bitterness might balance everything else a little better IMHO. Not nearly as green as expected, considering the age. Hotness has definitely faded. Also, dangerously smooth and easy drinking for as big as it is.

It's been so long since I've had Hopslam, I couldn't tell you if this is a clone. This is a VERY good beer though. Thanks for everyone who has contributed. I'll continue to update as I drink it.

 

[Tyler B]

Tasting update (for the guy who wanted more details)...

Beer is fully carbed at day 24 and it has become apparent that my version (which followed Bell's hop schedule and finished at nearly 10.5%) would benefit from more hop bitterness.

I didn't have any whirlfloc on hand so the beer is a little hazy. Orangeish/honey colored with a creamy white head. Some slightly unpleasant aromas from the Simcoe dry hop, but still picking up fruity notes. Flavor is malty but smooth and fruity with notes of honey.

Overall, delicious brew and I will definitely brew again. Next time, I'll increase IBUs (maybe add a 60 minute bittering addition) and decrease honey (to 1lb). Admittedly, I didn't follow OPs recipes exactly, so next time I'll move closer to that.

Thanks, OP, for sharing and to everyone else who has contributed. I'll probably continue drinking until it's gone and provide one more update at the end.

 

[DVCNick]

Rather than start a new thread I figured I'd throw my experience in here. I was turned on to this recipe from a BeernBBQbyLarry video, and he indicated in there that this came from BYO magazine. Bells might have provided it; not sure.

Mashed at 152 (overshot from intended 149 but it worked out)

12lb 2 row
6lb pale ale malt
.5lb Caramel 40
.75lb Honey
1lb Corn Sugar (note that the recipe I received called for a little bit less, but my grain extraction was slightly under prediction so I made the decision on the fly to throw in a whole pound. It worked out well)

75 minute boil. Added whirfloc at 5 min, and honey and sugar very late between the whirfloc and flameout.

The recipe hop schedule:

.5 oz Crystal at 45min (I subbed Hallertau Mittelfruh since there was no Crystal to be had)
.5 Mosaic at 20
.5 Glacier at 20
1oz Centennial at 15
.5 Mosaic at 5
.5 Glacier at 5
2oz Amarillo and .5 Crystal (subbed Hallertau again) in a 15 minute hopstand at 170 degrees
4oz Simcoe dryhop

Water profile: Standard IPA
Yeast: 2 packs direct pitched US-05

I hit exactly 1.087 OG and 1.010 final which perfectly mirror Bells stated numbers. Adjust base grains for your system to get 1.087 OG.

Fermentation looked visually complete, and dry hopped on day 11. Kegged on day 18. Force carbed at high pressure for 24 hours then let it sit a few more days, tapped on day 26. It is day 29 now.

I emailed the brewery some questions and they responded that they plan to package it at 21 days in ideal conditions, so there is no aging going on here. Fresh is best. They shoot for 2.6 vol CO2. They also fine it in a centrifuge but do not filter it.

Other than some chill haze I can't tell them apart. Color, aroma, taste, mouthfeel, all absolutely bang on as far as my senses can tell. My comparison bottles are dated 1/16. Give them to me in an opaque glass and I absolutely couldn't tell you which is which.
Don't think I'll change a thing for next time.