Homebrew Beer Blog

I think if I had to pick a desert island beer, this would be on the short list. The bottle description: “India Pale Ale style well suited for Hemingway-esque trips to the Upper Peninsula. American malts and enormous hop additions give this beer a crisp finish and incredible floral hop aroma.”

On the website, it’s listed as an OG of 1.058 with 7% ABV. I found that’s actually not correct. It has an OG of 1.062 and an FG of 1.015, according to an email from Bells. By my calculation, that’s still low by 0.75% ABV, but that’s what they said, so that’s what I’m running with.

I did some reading for hints on a recipe. There are a lot of clones out there, and they’re all pretty different. I’ve always heard it’s a real simple beer. I’ve seen recipes list many different specialty grains, but one thing is for certain, is it’s an all-Centennial hopped beer. The July/August 2002 Zymurgy had a big profile of Bell’s beers, and Two Hearted was there. It lists pale malt, 3# of Vienna, and a 1# of crystal. Not so sure about that. They also say mash at 150-152, which is probably about right. They list two additions at 60 and 20 minutes, then another dry hop. I’d expect some later hop additions. They also say a sub for Bell’s yeast would be Irish Ale yeast, and I disagree there. My stints with Irish Ale yeast is nothing like Bell’s. It may make a fine IPA, but IMO, it’s not going to be Two Hearted.

I contacted Bells with this post in mind. I just asked on the ingredients, and didn’t get into recipe formulation. The key point here is I’m asking what they do, and not for them to formulate a homebrew recipe. To me, that’s the most valuable information since I can formulate a recipe for my system if I know the parameters. That’s half the fun. So, the point here is your mileage may vary because they obviously work on a different scale, but this should be a pretty solid start.

Bell’s was very helpful and offered some tips. Perhaps the wisest words were that Two Hearted is really an exercise in balance and there’s no need to make it more complex than it is. They confirmed the widely known Centennial hops, and said the malt is US 2-row and and some light caramel malt. They also suggested to use a different beer to harvest Bell’s yeast. THA is pretty high alcohol and that I could get a better starter from a smaller beer.

I’ve harvested Oberon yeast a number of times with OK results. Those beers usually seemed great at first, but then got a little funky after a few months. Either I need to drink faster or build a clean room. I’m pretty good at starting with a fresh vial, however, so that’s what I’ve been going with. I like California Ale as a Bell’s sub, and I think it would be particularly good here to showcase the hops. I’ve heard Wyeast’s 1010 (probably WLP320 too) is a good sub, but I’ve never tried it in a Bell’s clone. Last year I did a American Wheat with WLP029/German Ale-Kolsch yeast and turned out pretty well. That tip came from a Jamil podcast, and that could be another interesting sub.

Here’s my tasting sheet:

Batch #8319, 12oz bottle.

A - Slightly darkish golden in color. Pretty clear, a little haze. Pretty good for a bottle conditioned IPA. Thinnish white head, with lacing.

A - Wonderful citrus-floral hops. Distinctly Centennial. Fruity. Some malt, maybe a hint of sweetness.

F - Assertive, clean bitterness. Good hop flavor. Lingering bitterness, finishes clean. Some alcohol warming and a little alcohol flavor. Nice fruitiness.

M - Smooth, medium body. Some mouth feel from the hops. Clean finish.

O - It’s gone and my ears are warm. A great blank pallet for the hops. Nice and clean, easy drinking. Really enjoyable in its simplicity.

I hope that’s some good info for others to start a recipe. Based on all that, here’s what I’m putting in the recipe hopper:

OG 1.062, FG = 1.015, 62 IBUs.

95% - Pale Malt
05% - Crystal 40

X.X - Centennial @ 60 (Whatever to make the 62 IBUs)
1.0 - Centennial @ 20
1.0 - Centennial @ 10
1.0 - Centennial @ 01
1.0 - Centennial @ DH

Mash 152

WLP001

Simple!

Got your own version of THA? Post it in the comments!