Two-Hearted Ale Partial Mash

First-time poster here. Also my first time doing a partial mash. Bell's THA is one of my favorites, and I'd really like to brew a clone as warm weather approaches. I found the following recipe in an old thread (courtesy of shunoshi) and I was hoping to get an updated critique.

The OG and ABV are low for this beer, but it seems it was tweaked to compensate for a late extract addition. I plan to lower the mash temp to get closer to THA's 1064 OG, but I wasn't sure about that late extract addition. Also, I was thinking Wyeast 1056 would work fine for my purposes. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Two-Hearted Ale Clone (Calculated from TastyBrew.com)

Boil Volume 3 gallons
Batch Size 5 gallons
Yeast 75% AA

OG 1.057
FG 1.014
IBU 60 (Adjusted for late extract addition)
ABV 5.5 %
SRM 8

3.75 lbs. American Two-row Pale 44.1 %
0.75 lbs. American Crystal 60L 8.8 %
1.00 lbs. American Vienna 11.8 %
3.00 lbs. Light Dry Malt Extract 35.3 %

0.50 oz. Centennial Pellet 10.5 AAU 9.5 % 60 min.
1.25 oz. Centennial Pellet 10.5 AAU 23.8 % 20 min.
1.50 oz. Centennial Pellet 10.5 AAU 28.6 % 2 min.
2.00 oz. Centennial Pellet 10.5 AAU 38.1 % Dry Hop

Mash grains with 1.5 gallons of water at 154* for 60 min. Batch sparge with 1.5 gallons of 170* water. 1 lb. DME added for entire boil, 2 lb. late addition at 15 minutes.

Mahs temp shouldn't affect OG, it has a bigger impact of the FG. If you want a higher OG you'd need more grain, or more extract. Late extract addition is to lighten the color when doing a partial boil.

1056 is a great yeast for hoppy beers, should be a fine choice. Recipe looks fine to me otherwise.

Hope that helps, and welcome to the board.

Thanks, Oldsock. So do you think adding a pound of DME would be sufficient to raise the OG? I have limited kettle space so I can't up my grain bill too much, but would like to shoot for a higher OG (or at least a higher ABV). Maybe my sparging technique would be more important in that regard?

PattyC said:

Thanks, Oldsock. So do you think adding a pound of DME would be sufficient to raise the OG? I have limited kettle space so I can't up my grain bill too much, but would like to shoot for a higher OG (or at least a higher ABV). Maybe my sparging technique would be more important in that regard?

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1 lb of DME will raise the gravity of 5 gallons of beer by ~.009. Sparging technique will certainly help to get more efficiency. Take a gravity reading and adjust how much extract you are adding to hit your target.

Good luck

So how did this partial turn out for you, PattyC?

Anything you'd do differently?

I'm going to give this a go soon. I'm going to try and harvest some yeast from a few bottles. Which of course means I get to consume a few bottles of Two Hearted Ale.

I did a PM clone of the Two Hearted Ale. Below is my recipes, based on eschatz:
Boil Volume 6.15 gallons
Batch Size 5.15 gallons
Yeast 80% AA (Bell's harvest from Pale Ale)
Mash Efficiency: 67ish%

OG 1.064
FG 1.011
IBU 62 (Adjusted for late extract addition)
ABV 6.8 %
SRM 6

3.0 lbs. American Two-row Pale
2.0 lbs. American Vienna
0.5 lbs. Beligan Carapils
0.5 lbs. American Crystal 10L
3.0 lbs. Light DME
1.5 lbs. Extra Light DME

0.60 oz. Centennial Pellet 9.2 AAU 60 min.
0.50 oz. Centennial Pellet 9.2 AAU 45 min.
0.50 oz. Centennial Pellet 9.2 AAU 30 min.
0.50 oz. Centennial Pellet 9.2 AAU 15 min.
0.25 oz. Centennial Pellet 9.2 AAU 5 min.
0.25 oz. Centennial Pellet 9.2 AAU 1 min.

1.50 oz. Centennial Pellet 9.2 AAU Dry Hop

I hit my gravities and made minimal adjustments to come within .001. My issue is I don't think the color is coming out correct. It appears to be much darker in the carboy than I expected and seems to be a consistent issue with my lower SRM brews. I slowly added the DME while stirring with about 10 min left in the boil. Thoughts?

aplus01 said:

So how did this partial turn out for you, PattyC?

Anything you'd do differently?

I'm going to give this a go soon. I'm going to try and harvest some yeast from a few bottles. Which of course means I get to consume a few bottles of Two Hearted Ale.

Click to expand...

I know you posted this like ages ago, but I actually never ended up brewing the THA. Instead I designed my own Pale Ale recipe, which turned out great and have since brewed on my AG setup, which I dove into early this year. I still have the THA on my brew to-do list, though.

djevans3 said:

I did a PM clone of the Two Hearted Ale. Below is my recipes, based on eschatz:
Boil Volume 6.15 gallons
Batch Size 5.15 gallons
Yeast 80% AA (Bell's harvest from Pale Ale)
Mash Efficiency: 67ish%

OG 1.064
FG 1.011
IBU 62 (Adjusted for late extract addition)
ABV 6.8 %
SRM 6

3.0 lbs. American Two-row Pale
2.0 lbs. American Vienna
0.5 lbs. Beligan Carapils
0.5 lbs. American Crystal 10L
3.0 lbs. Light DME
1.5 lbs. Extra Light DME

0.60 oz. Centennial Pellet 9.2 AAU 60 min.
0.50 oz. Centennial Pellet 9.2 AAU 45 min.
0.50 oz. Centennial Pellet 9.2 AAU 30 min.
0.50 oz. Centennial Pellet 9.2 AAU 15 min.
0.25 oz. Centennial Pellet 9.2 AAU 5 min.
0.25 oz. Centennial Pellet 9.2 AAU 1 min.

1.50 oz. Centennial Pellet 9.2 AAU Dry Hop

I hit my gravities and made minimal adjustments to come within .001. My issue is I don't think the color is coming out correct. It appears to be much darker in the carboy than I expected and seems to be a consistent issue with my lower SRM brews. I slowly added the DME while stirring with about 10 min left in the boil. Thoughts?

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Looks like a vigorous fermentation! I wouldn't worry about the color yet, as it always looks darker in the carboy than in the glass.

PattyC said:

I know you posted this like ages ago, but I actually never ended up brewing the THA. Instead I designed my own Pale Ale recipe, which turned out great and have since brewed on my AG setup, which I dove into early this year. I still have the THA on my brew to-do list, though.

Click to expand...

Better late than never eh? I've done multiple attempts at a THA clone so far. Need to try harvesting yeast again as on my first/only attempt I think I underpitched. I tried with 1056 and US05 also and they were tough to distinguish in a blind test. Think its time to deviate from the northern brewer dead ringer recipe. Looking for a new recipe to try. Will give yours a spin. Anything you'd change?

Kind of funny were all NC people posting on this thread

If you're going to be in the Charlotte/Concord area in the next 1-2 months you're welcome to stop by. I plan to primary for 3-4 weeks, then wash the yeast so I could give you a jar.

I had visible signs of fermentation within 12 hours and it is still bubbling away 6 days later, the Bell's yeast is NO JOKE!

djevans3 said:

Kind of funny were all NC people posting on this thread

If you're going to be in the Charlotte/Concord area in the next 1-2 months you're welcome to stop by. I plan to primary for 3-4 weeks, then wash the yeast so I could give you a jar.

I had visible signs of fermentation within 12 hours and it is still bubbling away 6 days later, the Bell's yeast is NO JOKE!

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Hey neighbor! Just move two weekends ago further east so a visit isn't likely. Thanks for the offer though. I haven't had any two hearted lately so I think its about time to harvest another batch!

You don't grow hops do you? Considering it now that I own a house. Centennials won't be happy in Carrboro but wonder if cascades will grow here?

No, I don't grow hops, but the guy at my LHBS said he may try growing some centennials. I know he has Cascades and a couple other varieties.

I'm curious how your brew turned out. How close to 2HA?

Mine was pretty indistinguishable. I did a triangle test and couldn't pick out the odd beer from the 3. I used the Northern Brewer recipe and have had great results each time I've done it (5 times and counting).

aplus01 said:

Mine was pretty indistinguishable. I did a triangle test and couldn't pick out the odd beer from the 3. I used the Northern Brewer recipe and have had great results each time I've done it (5 times and counting).

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Are you using the ALL Grain or the Partial Mash?

I've been drinking the 2HA from the keg now for a couple weeks. It is excellent and very close to the original. Based on my SG readings, I hit 7.1% ABV using the harvested Bell's yeast with a OG of 1.064. My color and hop flavor are great. My aroma isn't quite as nice as Bells (I only dry hopped with 1.25oz) and my head retention isn't great despite moderate lacing, but it is best beer brewed to date. My PM batch cost me around $42 or so for roughly 50 beers. Much better price than the $10.99 for a 6-pack around here!

cdelap said:

Are you using the ALL Grain or the Partial Mash?

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My very first attempt was partial mash but now that I have a Rubbermaid mash tun I do all grain brews. It was good both ways. Would be curious if I could tell a difference between a partial mash and an all grain batch.