American IPA Bell's Two Hearted Ale Clone (close as they come)

Nice pics - looks good!

This is one heck of a recipe, but what truly makes it exceptional is Bell's yeast. I know a lot of folks use 1056 or 1272 which are good substitutes, but imo you won't truly get that "Bell's flavor" unless you harvest their yeast.

I've brewed this a half a dozen times both with and without Bell's signature yeast and there are noticeable differences when deviating. The 1056/1272 batches have always been good though.

For those of you who haven't tried harvesting yeast, it's actually extremely simple. All it takes is a little time/patience...there are plenty of threads on here on how to do so. I usually buy a 6-pack of Bell's amber and take the dregs from just a couple of bottles, some boiled/cooled DME and a few days later on my stir plate, magic happens...step it up a couple of times and you're ready to go!

My 2 cents, cheers!

I have to agree with periwinkle! Bells yeast makes this beer!

Yes, I've done both, cultured Bells yeast from Bells Amber. And used 1272.

I initially gave 1272 a try because my guy at the LHBS says "Hoss, Bells yeast is 1272". I'm like, "Horsesh*t Johnny" "Bells has a super secret house yeast", he says Bullsh*t Hoss - its 1272 and I helped set up that place and know all the peeps there and I'm telling you the house yeast is 1272."

After many batches of Two Hearted Clone and Oberon Clone - using both cultured Bells from Amber and 1272 - I can tell no difference.

I would be willing to bet that if 1272 is their house yeast there are still enough variables like pitching rate, pitching temperatures, fermentation temperatures, head/vessel pressure, vessel shape/dynamics, and generational variance that even a moderately developed palate could pick up differences in yeast flavor in a side by side tasting with a home brewed version.

Well I did this batch with 1272 so I guess we will see how it compares to the last batch that was harvested Bell's Yeast.

Just did a split batch of this (yesterday) with s-05 and s-04, just for grins to see the difference. Both are bubbling happily away at 66 degrees F. [Both yeasts were from previous batches after washing.] If I had some 1272 I would have tried it also, but not enough time to run to the lhbs to get some.

To save me going through 89 pages, can someone point me to the best agreed recipe for this? I assume it changed from page 1.

steffie said:

To save me going through 89 pages, can someone point me to the best agreed recipe for this? I assume it changed from page 1.

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You assumed wrong! I've read through the whole thread. Everyone's basically brewing the original recipe. Granted some ppl alter it for there own liking or make different substitutes. Which still makes great beer. But the original recipe is very close to two hearted.

orangemen5 said:

You assumed wrong! I've read through the whole thread. Everyone's basically brewing the original recipe. Granted some ppl alter it for there own liking or make different substitutes. Which still makes great beer. But the original recipe is very close to two hearted.

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Great to hear - obviously OP did a great job. I'll just be changing the yeast. Can't get the original here in Australia to clone the yeast, so probably 1272.

I only ordered 1 lb of Centennial in the fall and have tried to make it last so I have been bittering this recipe with other hops I have on hand. I use only a 15 min addition of Centennial and dry hop with it in either secondary or in the keg. My last batch of this I added 0.5 lb aromatic/melanoiden and dropped the caramel in half. It is still in fermenter.

TBaGZ said:

Well I did this batch with 1272 so I guess we will see how it compares to the last batch that was harvested Bell's Yeast.

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I am in the same boat, didn't have time to harvest and build up the Bell's yeast from bottle. Please let us know how your 1272 batch differs from using Bell's in your previous batch.

so I cracked a bottle yesterday that has been conditioning for 2 weeks and am I so disappointed! I have NO idea what went wrong but it tastes like a regular old light beer! no aroma, no bitterness nothing even remotely close to two hearted! this is the first batch that I've had such disappointing results since some of my firsts! I have double checked my notes and I'm lost as to what went wrong.

Had a 2L starter of 1272 that was out of control, had to turn the stirplate off after about 18 hours, it was bubbling like crazy
Mashed at exactly 152.8 for 60, Sparged with 170 water
Hit pre-boil amount of of 6.75 gallons, est pre-boil gravity was 1.055 I came in at 1.058
Hit post boil amount of 6 gallons, cooled and was left with 5.5 in the fermenter
Pitched crazy yeast starter under 80, not sure of exact temp, was distracted.
Est SG was 1.064, I came in at 1.063, FG was at 1.012 (6.7) so I missed FG barely!
Blow off tube was blowing hard within 12 hours of pitching!
Primary for 3 weeks, 6 days of those were dry hopped, sat pretty much at 63-66 the whole time
Used 3.3 oz of corn sugar & .75 oz of table sugar to prime for bottling, bottled have been in a closet at close to 70

Only differences with this batch compared to others:
-1st batch I didn't transfer and dry hop in secondary, doubt that would cause the taste issues
-I did have a bunch of bubbling/issues when racking to bottling bucket but I wouldnt think at 2 weeks oxidation would even be present
-Had to used 3/4 of a ounce of table sugar with corn sugar due to not enough corn sugar on hand
-The only other thing I can think of was when I was cooling this batch, within the first 5-10 of minutes I noticed a very small amount of the cooling water was kind of sweating/dripping it's way back down the immersion chiller. I immediately stopped but couldn't fix the chiller so I had to cool old school with cold water and some ice in a sink. So my cool down took almost 45 minutes.

Now I'm leaning towards the crappy water getting back into the kettle caused this odd taste. But I'm kind of lost. I'm just surprised too that there is next to NO aroma at all. I haven't had the hops long at all either, ordered them back in April and had them vacuumed sealed within a week of receiving them.

No clue, I'm disappointed. Any thoughts?

Only been in the fridge for a couple days. Carbonation seems like it will be ok once it settles into solution. I am a little let down by the aroma though. Thought I would get more out of the 2 ounces.

Sippin this lovely clone on the deck.

JoeCap09 said:

Sippin this lovely clone on the deck.

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Killer glass!

I gotta do this one again... my last bottle was the best

Made this a couple weeks ago and tweaked a little. Added 1 tsp of black pepper for last ten mins of boil. Also added the fruit and zest from 4 naval oranges after initial heavy bubbling slowed in fermentor. Kegged yesterday and taste was very interesting. Heavy orange followed by an ever so slight burn from the pepper. Really balanced the sweetness. Very dry finish though. From adding oranges and re-energizing yeast maybe?

My most recent batch of this has been in the keg a few weeks now. I had a bottle of Two Hearted and then followed up with a glass of mine. Color is nearly dead on for this batch. Just slightly less clarity in mine than the real version, mine has just a touch of haze. Aroma is also very nearly dead on. I used some Citra in this batch so I expected differences but the aroma is very very close. Malt profile is also very close, in fact I can not pick up much difference at all. The hop profile is a little bit off though. Mine has just a touch more bitterness and a very light grassy profile that I assume is from the dry hop.

I am very pleased. I aimed for just above the original clone recipe numbers in terms of IBU and gravity on this batch. I used the 1272 yeast which seemed to work very well. If I recall all my numbers it was 1.067 O.G. and 1.012 final. I used half an ounce of Citra in place of the late Centennial addition. I also used Citra in the dry hop phase.

I get your description, well done - I've described this way myself. Keep in mind, this brew will mellow in bitterness. Give it a month (or two even). You'll be surprised at the difference - the quality goes way up. Time does wonderful things to this 2HA clone.

I brewed this again Saturday and blew through the last of my Centennial :-(

LHBS still has 1LB bags I assume from last year? (only harvested once a year right?)

jb1677 said:

I brewed this again Saturday and blew through the last of my Centennial :-(

LHBS still has 1LB bags I assume from last year? (only harvested once a year right?)

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That's nice, my LHBS only has 1oz options and they run $2.50 an oz. What are you getting a pound for in your area. I'm thinking about starting to buy in bulk, since I mostly brew IPA's.

I think I paid like 16 or 18 bucks for a pound of Centennial.

I am ordering ingredients for this clone right now. Seems pretty straight forward and I need to be able to drink this beer regularly!

Just bought a mixed 6 of Bells products including 2HA and Oberon as well as Amber Ale. May wind up doing those clones also...!

subscribed...what is the best yeast for this? it is now sunday and i plan on brewing on friday in 5 days

I've been reading that either Bells Amber or Oberon beers are good to harvest the yeast for this. If I start this tonight (Monday) with a six pack on a stir plate will I be able to harvest and grow enough yeast by this Friday?

Thanks!

Alright, I have been 'tasting' my clone over the past week since kegging it. I brewed this 5 weeks ago and it was in the primary for 3 weeks until I added 1oz of centennial for 6 days before kegging.

My taste notes are leaving me with a little bit of a 'hotness', almost like an alcohol taste. I have made this before and do not remember getting this, has anyone had a similar taste to their two hearted clone? I want to say its mellowing but that might be in my head.

Any thoughts?

Brewed this yesterday (partial mash). Quick question for you guys on fermentation. Should I do 5 days in primary, then add hops to primary for another 4 days (so 9 total) and then rack to secondary for another 2 weeks? Or would you suggest different lengths of time? Let me know. Thanks!

The original directions said 4 weeks total

barhoc11 said:

Alright, I have been 'tasting' my clone over the past week since kegging it. I brewed this 5 weeks ago and it was in the primary for 3 weeks until I added 1oz of centennial for 6 days before kegging.

My taste notes are leaving me with a little bit of a 'hotness', almost like an alcohol taste. I have made this before and do not remember getting this, has anyone had a similar taste to their two hearted clone? I want to say its mellowing but that might be in my head.

Any thoughts?

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Haven't gotten any "hotness" out of the 2 batches I have brewed so far, but I have been using US-05 and fermenting on the cool side (62-65ish). I think that helps tame some of that.

dschoen5 said:

Brewed this yesterday (partial mash). Quick question for you guys on fermentation. Should I do 5 days in primary, then add hops to primary for another 4 days (so 9 total) and then rack to secondary for another 2 weeks? Or would you suggest different lengths of time? Let me know. Thanks!

The original directions said 4 weeks total

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On both batches I have done, I let it sit 10-12 days in primary untouched, and then dry-hopped, but I drop hop directly in the keg and leave until done. Going the dry-hop in primary route, I would let it sit 10-14 days before the dry hop, pitch the dry hop in primary and leave for another 5-7 days, and then either cold crash for a day or two, or just rack directly into keg or bottle. I don't think another 2 weeks after dry hopping in secondary is going to do anything for you with this one, and I would be worried losing a lot of dry hop punch also adding only 5 days in as off gassing/yeast dropping are going to take a bunch of those hop oils with them. YMMV.

Brewed a scaled down version (4 gal total, only had my secondary free). Things went kind of crappy at the end when my gravity fed plate chiller set up only got my wort to 100F. I tried to run it again and it wouldn't flow (wasn't very confident in sanitization at this point) so I threw it in the kegerator and waited for it to drop to 70 to pitch.

I let it sit in the primary for 21 days and racked to the keg w/ a 1oz dry hop. Today at day 24, there isn't really any hop aroma and the beer tastes astringent. One of the worst tasting beers I've brewed. Even if it needs to condition, I don't get where the hop aroma and flavor is. I'm getting zero Centennial flavor/smell. Also the fermentation looked completely normal, no sign of infection.

I brewed this beer for my brothers 30th which is this saturday 7/20. I brought the keg out of the keezer and into the basement to 'condition' until friday night where I'll probably dry hop the 0.5 oz of columbus if nothing's changed just to give it something.

I'm rally frustrated reading how many people had great success with this recipe and mine's sooo far off. I was also really excited for this beer seeing Two Hearted is pretty much my favorite all around beer.

2005STi said:

Brewed a scaled down version (4 gal total, only had my secondary free). Things went kind of crappy at the end when my gravity fed plate chiller set up only got my wort to 100F. I tried to run it again and it wouldn't flow (wasn't very confident in sanitization at this point) so I threw it in the kegerator and waited for it to drop to 70 to pitch.

I let it sit in the primary for 21 days and racked to the keg w/ a 1oz dry hop. Today at day 24, there isn't really any hop aroma and the beer tastes astringent. One of the worst tasting beers I've brewed. Even if it needs to condition, I don't get where the hop aroma and flavor is. I'm getting zero Centennial flavor/smell. Also the fermentation looked completely normal, no sign of infection.

I brewed this beer for my brothers 30th which is this saturday 7/20. I brought the keg out of the keezer and into the basement to 'condition' until friday night where I'll probably dry hop the 0.5 oz of columbus if nothing's changed just to give it something.

I'm rally frustrated reading how many people had great success with this recipe and mine's sooo far off. I was also really excited for this beer seeing Two Hearted is pretty much my favorite all around beer.

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Sounds similar to mine. No hop aroma at all and very off taste. Only batch I ever dumped.

I only get quality dry hop aroma with 3oz of hops, anything less is a waste in my experience.

sivdrinks said:

I only get quality dry hop aroma with 3oz of hops, anything less is a waste in my experience.

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I'm realizing this also.

sivdrinks said:

I only get quality dry hop aroma with 3oz of hops, anything less is a waste in my experience.

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My last two beers I used 2oz dry hops, Simcoe and Mosiac, and both yielded great aroma. Maybe I'll have to try 3 and see what it does. They were also in the keg, I never feel like I get any aroma from dry hopping in the carboy.

sivdrinks said:

I only get quality dry hop aroma with 3oz of hops, anything less is a waste in my experience.

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That might be true for whole hops but for my latest batch I used 1oz of pellets to dry hop and I get a nice aroma.

sivdrinks said:

I only get quality dry hop aroma with 3oz of hops, anything less is a waste in my experience.

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We can't get the real deal in my area but a friend got me a few and I had one last night. It's been months since I brewed this up and my brother has some fermenting now that we're going to do a side by side with but.......I love this beer but like more hops too so when I did the last one, I added 2 1/2 oz of hops in the dry hop. I feel this takes this beer up a notch though I tip my hat to this wonderful beer.

barhoc11 said:

My taste notes are leaving me with a little bit of a 'hotness', almost like an alcohol taste. I have made this before and do not remember getting this, has anyone had a similar taste to their two hearted clone? I want to say its mellowing but that might be in my head.

Any thoughts?

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I'm experiencing the same thing. It's way hotter than the original.

It is mellowing out a bit though so I'll be patient and see what happens. I'm half tempted to take it out of the keezer and age it a bit more at room temp. I don't really know what effect this will have though.

firerat said:

I'm experiencing the same thing. It's way hotter than the original.

It is mellowing out a bit though so I'll be patient and see what happens. I'm half tempted to take it out of the keezer and age it a bit more at room temp. I don't really know what effect this will have though.

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I made 10 gallons of this for a party in mid August so I have been disappointed so far. My plan has always been to let 5 gallons of this sit as long as possible before putting in my keezer prior to the party but this means I might not get the clearest beer possible.

I actually took the first 5 gallons I put in the keezer out to condition more and I recommend you do the same. I know for sure this beer gets better with age so I am hoping it turns the corner before my party.

Hot alcohol flavors shouldnt be related to the recipe; they would be more a function of yeast health, pitching rate, and fermentation temp.

barhoc11 said:

I actually took the first 5 gallons I put in the keezer out to condition more and I recommend you do the same. I know for sure this beer gets better with age so I am hoping it turns the corner before my party.

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I followed your advice and took this out of the keezer to age a bit more.

Man what a good idea!! The hot flavor (I may be mislabeling what I'm tasting) has subsided and those lovely centennials have seemed to come more to the front. While not quite the same as Two Hearted, this is definitely a delicious beer!!

Ahh patience. A virtue in beer as in life.

Brewed today. Messed up sparge volume. Ended up with a 6.5 gallon batch. 1.052 OG. oh well. Just more beer to drink. First ipa can't wait