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

Anyone tried using Pacman yeast on this? I was thinking about harvesting from the bottle but the beer cost more than a smackpack of pacman. I am thinking it would probably give the attenuation needed to pull this beer into the alcohol range it needs and it's a pretty clean yeast.

Two questions to answer here about yeast. The first one if you make a starter with the dregs of a couple of Two Hearted bottles you will need to step up the starter over time that is to say you will need to feed it wort a couple of times over the period of probably a week to get what I would consider a large enough colony of yeast cells. I'd suggest searching for bottle harvesting and see what comes up.

Second question; you could use pacman I don't see why this would be bad at all, pacman is a very versatile yeast so I'm sure it would be great for this beer. Pacman has distinct character that I have always liked, just make sure that if you bottle harvest you step up the starter to get a sufficient yeast colony.

farmbrewernw said:

Two questions to answer here about yeast. The first one if you make a starter with the dregs of a couple of Two Hearted bottles you will need to step up the starter over time that is to say you will need to feed it wort a couple of times over the period of probably a week to get what I would consider a large enough colony of yeast cells. I'd suggest searching for bottle harvesting and see what comes up.

Second question; you could use pacman I don't see why this would be bad at all, pacman is a very versatile yeast so I'm sure it would be great for this beer. Pacman has distinct character that I have always liked, just make sure that if you bottle harvest you step up the starter to get a sufficient yeast colony.

Click to expand...

Thanks, I'll try that search parameter. I have a stir plate I use with a filtered flask (no airlock). If I make the usual 1200ml or so of wort (1 cup DME) would I still need to step up as the 02 should help the yeast multiply out.

One more question, I couldn't find Two Hearted yesterday, but I have a few bottles of Hopslam left. Do you think they use the same yeast?

I brewed this yesterday. I've never had the original, and can't get it in Idaho. Will have to try it the next time I go east. I did a FWH with the 60 min centennials... and hit an OG of 1.067 which should give me an ABV of 7.45% if the nottingham can take it down to 1.010.

Cheers!

joety said:

Thanks, I'll try that search parameter. I have a stir plate I use with a filtered flask (no airlock). If I make the usual 1200ml or so of wort (1 cup DME) would I still need to step up as the 02 should help the yeast multiply out.

One more question, I couldn't find Two Hearted yesterday, but I have a few bottles of Hopslam left. Do you think they use the same yeast?

Click to expand...

That Hopslam yeast would be stressed out. You wouldn't want to use that. Two Hearted would give you a better sample.

eschatz said:

That Hopslam yeast would be stressed out.

Click to expand...

Funny, when I drink Hopslam it has the opposite affect on me.

Hopslam does bad evil things to me. They won't serve it by the pitcher at my local pub anymore because of me and a couple of guys.

I can't get Bell's beers over here either but I got a couple Two Hearted Ale's this Christmas from my secret Santa and through a trade with the ever lovely Yooper

Hops Direct is a great place to get the Centennial. I ordered 1 lb from them and got a few ounces more than I paid for. Also I love whole hops so I like Hops Direct.

Off and running. Planning on stepping up in 48 hours.

I'd love to get a couple bottles of the original of this... it seems pretty legendary. It would also be nice to compare to the clone I'm brewing . If anyone has local access to it that would be interested in swapping for something available on the west coast, PM me.

Did someone mention Pliny?

Ok, so this is in my queue now. Maybe the weekend !

What is the procedure for getting the yeast from the TwoHeart bottles? Just pour a couple of glasses and save the bottom oz or so? Then use a starter as usual?

I'll send someone a 22oz bottle of this, if they'll send me 2 12oz bottles of Bell's Two Hearted Ale. The Hop Henge Experimental IPA is 8.75% ABV and 95 IBU - The 22oz bottle sells for $5.35 here in Boise. PM me if interested.

I just christened my keg of 2 Hearted clone last night. Dead ringer, sort of, I bumped up the malt and IBUs to compensate so it tastes just like the original, only more.

dontman said:

I just christened my keg of 2 Hearted clone last night. Dead ringer, sort of, I bumped up the malt and IBUs to compensate so it tastes just like the original, only more.

Click to expand...

what is the original IBU? I don't think I ever found that out...don't think it's listed on their site.

lrr81765 said:

Ok, so this is in my queue now. Maybe the weekend !

What is the procedure for getting the yeast from the TwoHeart bottles? Just pour a couple of glasses and save the bottom oz or so? Then use a starter as usual?

Click to expand...

That's sorta what I did, but I started with about 300ml or so and am bumping it up tonight to 1200. I don't know whether I'll be successful yet so I'm keeping a pack of Nottingham at the ready.

Okay - I am making this right now. I realized 30 mins in that because of my low water volume (5 gal pot) I had to take 1/2 of the grains out. I finished steeping half at 150 for 30 mins, strained (ended up with 2 instead of 4 gallons) and then steeped the remainder of the grains for another 30 mins at 150. I ended up with about 3.5 gallons. I drained the grains through a strainer.

What do y'all think? Weak beer because of the loss of water?

--Jonathan

500ml Starter w/ dregs of 3 TwoHearts in there. We'll see if it takes off.
If it does, I'll create a 1.5l on Saturday, planning to brew on Sunday.

EDIT: This worked! There was barely a coating on the 500ml starter, but I figured what the heck. So I dropped it into the 1l starter, and let it rip. The next day, there was gas bubbles, and about a 1/4 of yeast on the bottom (after I settled it down off the stir plate).

Damn if my plans didn't change, so it is in the fridge for a day.

I just ordered the ingredients for this and they came today. Just my luck, I ordered an extra 1.5lbs of carapils for a total of 2lbs rather than 0.5lb. All the grains are in a single bag mixed together.

I am going to brew with it either way, but am wondering how big a deal this is? I haven't used carapils before so I don't really know its effects.

Yeah, I am going to do this again, and pitch right onto the yeast cake. The last time, I had some issues with equipment (my electric HLT died right after mash in), so not sure how that beer will turn out.

avaserfi said:

I just ordered the ingredients for this and they came today. Just my luck, I ordered an extra 1.5lbs of carapils for a total of 2lbs rather than 0.5lb. All the grains are in a single bag mixed together.

I am going to brew with it either way, but am wondering how big a deal this is? I haven't used carapils before so I don't really know its effects.

Click to expand...

It's going to be a chewy beer, that's a lot of carapils gonna have a lot of dextrins in that beer.

farmbrewernw said:

It's going to be a chewy beer, that's a lot of carapils gonna have a lot of dextrins in that beer.

Click to expand...

That's what I thought would happen. Is there any way to mitigate the problem?

I've never used that much cara-pils, but I think it will turn out good. It is typically used for head retention, and is light in color. Beersmith says you can use up to 20% in a batch, so I wouldn't sweat it too much. You may want to collect a little more water in the boil kettle to offset the gravity boost from an extra 1.5# of malt. That puts you at ~12% of cara-pils in the batch, and will boost the gravity about .006. Beersmith claims 20% is the max in the batch for cara-pils, FWIW.

This is on my to-do list. I just made an IPA that was very similar, but different. I might go ahead and start pulling yeast from the bottle and build up a starter for the beer when I brew it.

Now to start drinking and giving away the IPA that I just made! I wish someone would post a Hopslam! recipe now!

+1+1+1+1 On The HopSlam!!!!

I messed up my first one due to an equipment failure. Brewed a really hoppy NA brew....

So I did this again over the weekend with the yeast cake. This looked amazing and tasted so good already. OG 1.060.

Just tasted my six week old Two Hearted. Wow, best beer I've brewed so far.

BTW: Anyone else notice how close this recipe is to Bee Cave Haus Pale Ale (aside from the hop schedule)? 20L instead of 10L along with Carapils added and a couple less pounds of base malt.

I just made this brew as my first all grain. It seems that it worked out well. I pulled a 1063 but was about 3/4 gallons short at the end of the boil. Oh well, it should be a great beer. No turning back now that I brewed all grain. I did notice the pale recipe is very close. I think that may be my next pale recipe.

Made this and it's fantastic... I just acquired a bottle of Two-Hearted this weekend, and will try to do a side-by-side test tonight. Adjusted for my 68.4% efficiency:

11 lbs. American 2-row
2 lbs. American Vienna
0.5 lbs. Belgian Cara-Pils
0.5 lbs. Crystal Malt 20°L
1 oz. Centennial (Whole, 10.00 %AA) boiled 60 min.
1 oz. Centennial (Whole, 10.00 %AA) boiled 15 min.
1 oz. Centennial (Whole, 10.00 %AA) boiled 5 min.
1 oz. Centennial (Whole, 10.00 %AA) boiled 1 min.
1 oz. Centennial (Whole, 10.00 %AA) used as dry hop.
1 pkg. Danstar Nottingham

Will hopefully post pics and reviews tomorrow!

joety said:

BTW: Anyone else notice how close this recipe is to Bee Cave Haus Pale Ale (aside from the hop schedule)? 20L instead of 10L along with Carapils added and a couple less pounds of base malt.

Click to expand...

I happen to have these two beers in my fermenting chamber side by side! I took a hydro sample of the Haus Ale on the same day as the 2Heart was brewed. Very similar.

I can't wait to taste these.

I've got mine fermenting right now but I used US-05 instead of an english style yeast. We'll see how it turns out. It's going to be much bigger than the intended clone here at 1.070 and 71 ibu's.

I really need to get mine bottled. I brewed it nearly 2 months ago, and it's been cold crashing in a bright tank for the past week. Perhaps I'll get the energy tonight. I don't want to put it in a keg, because I fear it will go too fast. Took a sample when I transferred it out of the dry hop secondary, and in to the bright tank and it was fantastic—Even warm & flat .

hukdizzle said:

I've got mine fermenting right now but I used US-05 instead of an english style yeast. We'll see how it turns out. It's going to be much bigger than the intended clone here at 1.070 and 71 ibu's.

Click to expand...

Funny, I thought I undershot the OG but I ended up with awesome attenuation (down to 1008 using the bottle harvested yeast) and my ABV was nearly spot on.

Mehhhhh.... Crying baby = no comparison last night! Will try tonight, I didn't actually forget this time!

I wanted to chime in here. I brewed this back in February using harvested yeast from two bottles of the Two Hearted. I used a smallish starter, only a cup of DME, and did not step it up beyond that. My OG was 1.062, FG 1.011

The brew turned out awesome, the only think I will change the next time I brew this is to use leaf hops instead of pellet to see if I get better aroma.

Brent

I'll chime in as well. I brewed this in march. 1 packet of Notty, no starter. OG 1.067, FG 1.013. Dry hopped (too long) 14 days with 3/4 oz of leaf centennials (9.2% alpha). Sitting in a bright tank for the past week. Want to bottle, but waiting on iodaphor. LHBS ran out and won't have it for a week, so I ordered 32oz from BMW for half the cost. Might keg it this week instead and use Star San... but I digress. Anyhow flavor/aroma was awesome when I racked to the bright tank to cold crash. Warm flat beer is starting to grow on me . Seems to have a bit of chill haze @34F after sitting on the leaf hops for 2 weeks.

Wow... eschatz knocked this recipe out of the park... See my post above for the slight change to counter my efficiency, but here's the comparison:

Aroma: Both have overwhelming aroma of grapefruit, slight citrus. Slight maltiness, but hops are the star in both. Near identical aroma... Scary close.

Appearance: Almost identical... Hoof Hearted might be 1 SRM darker. It's SO close. Both beers crystal clear, no filtering on HH, but has been cold for 6 weeks. More head on the HH, but came from draught system. Both laced well. Pics below...

Flavor: Again, very close. Beginning to think this is the best beer I have ever made, and thank eschatz again for the recipe! Bell's comes out with a slightly deeper flavor profile. Sweeter with more of a juicy citrus taste on the mid bottom of the tongue. HH is a touch breadier, which may only be evident since the juiciness is missing. HH comes off slightly more bitter. Trying hard to describe the difference may make it seem like a large disparity, but I stress it's very close. Bell's wins for slightly more depth.

Mouthfeel: Identical. Both have light mouthfeel until the hops make you pucker. I really can't tell a difference there.

Overall: Again, very close. This is an AWESOME clone recipe. I give the slight edge to the Bell's, but my Hoof Hearted is super good for having been made in a garage and not a fancy brewery. Add the fact that this clone is much cheaper, and wow.

Make this clone! Thank you eschatz!!! All pics are here.

LOL!

I keep hearing about 2 hearted and keep wanting to try it, but can't get it here. Turns out I've brewed it twice and never knew it. My favorite IPA is almost this exact recipe. It started out an EdWort, then it became my house centennial pale ale, then it sort of kept growing

DubbelDach said:

Make this clone! Thank you eschatz!!! All pics are here.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the awesome review DD. I'm glad you like it. It's quickly becoming my house IPA. I agree that it needs to be lightly sweeter. Maybe bump the mash a little. I'll try that with my next batch.

Thanks for brewing it!!!!