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

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Hi there CopperTop..I cant answer this...i go by gut and the yeast calculators on the internet...they leave a lot to the imagination. Its a best guess. I can tell you I built up (no stir plate, just shaking) 1.5 gallon, then decanted on the morning of the brew, but I added to the coagulation a new 2 qt. starter just to wake things up. By the time I added this starter it was churning and burning I'll tell you.

This batch I also customized my ferment a little bit. I let it go 2 days at 64 degrees then moved it upstairs to 72 degrees for 3 days, then back to the basement.

Racked to secondary/dry hops recently, it finished about 1.008...lowest yet.
 
I've had this kegged for about a week and a half and it's almost gone! Color is spot on to the original but the bitterness isn't quite there. Next time I brew this up, I'm going to step up the bittering hops slightly. Should be perfect with that adjustment!
 
I bottled 5.5 gallons of this on Sunday, the smell was just incredible. I used US-05 for the first batch. Not a true clone because I had to sub some citra for centennial in the boil because I coldn't get enough to do a batch of all centennial. I now have a pound of centennial on order.
My stir plate and flask arrived and I now have the dregs from a sixer stiring in some dme so I can use the Bells yeast for a true comparison.
Patiently waiting for the first batch to carb up.:D Can't wait.....
 
The first batch is carbed... OMG this stuff is awsome. I can't even put the flavor into words. Well I'll try. Smooth, Very smooth and almost creamy on the mouthfeel. Aroma is sweet floral with just a hint of hop bite but not much. Taste is so ballanced with floral, bitter and sweet with virtually NO foul or unexpected aftertaste. This was my 3rd generation on the US-05 slurries and I really don't know now how the Bells yeast I harvested can improve it.
I've made lots of beers that I thought were really good, this eclipses them easily. :D I am one big happy camper!!
 
I just ordered my centennial hops for my next attempt at this recipe. It was my favorite IPA so far. My brother agrees, as it kick started him to resume this pursuit after a decade off.
 
I brewed a Norther Brewer Dead Ringer extract kit as one of my earliest brews - among my friends it is known simply as Number 9, as in my 9th batch ever. Number 9 was VERY good. Since then, I have brewed some version of Two Hearted a number of times, along with far more complicated, hoppy, etc. IPAs. But, this particular recipe is among my very favorite brews of all times.

Just brewed another batch today. Here in NJ, it is 15 or so degrees - damn cold for here - plus 40 - 60 MPH winds. Had to erect a wind screen around the burner.

This is a really great, classic, IPA.

My prediction - when some of the more extreme IPAs fade away, as many will, Two Hearted will still be there.
 
Helly said:
I used a generic pale ale/IPA extract recipe that sounded good and used all Centennial adjusted for the gravity/IBU ratio. So I didn't follow the recipe exactly. This is an untested recipe for me but here's what I used:

Steep:
8 oz C-10
8 oz Victory
8 oz flaked wheat

Boil:
7 lb pale LME
1 lb corn sugar

Hops:
All centennial, 1.25 oz bittering at 30 min and late additions of 1 oz each at 10 min, 0 min and steeping during wort cooling.

40 seconds on oxygen stone and chilled to 60 in swamp cooler.

Yeast: Safale US-05


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
Click to expand...

After I have a carboy available, I'm going to try this out. How did it end up tasting?
 
Well I got my tax return money today. I bought my ingredients yesterday and plan on buying a carboy or fermentation bucket after work today to get this beer going! Here's my version:

7 lbs. Light DME
1/2 lb. Cara Pils
1/2 lb. Honey Malt
2-1/2 gallons of water for the boil
S-05 yeast (if the other HBS store doesn't have Wyeast 1272)
2 ounces Centennial hops pellets (9.6%)
3 ounced Centennial hops pellets (9.0%... HBS didn't have more 9.6%)

Because I have the 2 different centennial hops, I need to determine what order I want to add them to the wort. I think I'll reserve one of the 9.6% ounces for DH and the other either at the 60 minute mark or the 1 minute mark.
 
IslandLizard said:
Congrats!
But I would stay away from carboys. Use buckets instead. They also include a handy handle.
Click to expand...

That, and their a fraction of the price!

I only have 1 glass carboy for wine making, but I have a few 6 gallon Better Bottles that I like a lot... until I have to move them. If I don't remove the airlock, the liquid in the airlock is all but guaranteed to get sucked back into the carboy.

Forgot to mention that I bought a grain mill (Victoria Grain Mill) so I can mill/crush my own Cara Pils and the Honey Malt :). Probably not the best one there is, but it'll do for my first one. Baby-steps towards all-grain!

...is it copyright infringement if I call it "Double Blood-Pumper Ale"? :)
 
Well so far it tastes awesome, but it sure doesn't taste like 2 Hearted, which I expected due to using different grains, yeast, and DME. It is lighter in color by a few shades. It's closer to the color of Oberon than anything.
It doesnt have the prominent fruity/citrusy flavor a 2 Hearted does and the hop aroma isn't very prominent yet but dry hopping should help with both.
The hop flavor is prominent but not overpowering or too intense. It's at 1.014 or so (OG was 1.064) so it's right about where it needed to be. I suspect it'll drop a little more over the next few days.
I'll let it sit for 1-1/2 more weeks before I begin dry hopping, then bottle 5 days after that. If it tastes as good when it's finished as it does now, I'll definitely be inclined to make this one again. I'm very happy with it.

Although, since mine isn't that close to a 2 Hearted Ale, I won't call it 'Double Blood-Pumper'. Instead, I'll reference the fact that it is an all-centennial IPA and call it "Cent-ual Healing".

Next two an actual 2 Hearted Ale:
View attachment 1425237807128.jpg

Next to my brown ale (from a kit)
View attachment 1425237835903.jpg
 
Thanks to a buddy who brought some back from AZ I just had my first Two Hearted and it is simply fantastic! I will definitely be trying your recipe to clone this one. :mug:
 
Bottled it last night. I ended up with 46 bottles. FG of 1.010, attenuation 69.9%, ABV just north of 7%. The last tasting I took before adding the priming sugar was excellent. So long as my carbonation isn't way off base (I dissolved 4.5 ounces of dextrose into 2 cups of boiling water) then I have an awesome beer that just might be ready by St. Patrick's Day, or the following weekend.
 
Keg is about to kick for this one...so sad...can't wait for this brew again. The wifey even really enjoyed this one.
 
Of the 20+ brews I have made, this is by far my favourite! Tried another batch with 50/50 centennial and Amarillo and just isn't as good as the original.
 
How is everyone hitting 7%abv? I've brewed this twice now and both times came in around 6.5%. My latest batch I mashed at 150 and used Bell's yeast. I went from 1.063 to 1.014. Should I just mash lower, increase my grain, both?
 
zackattack784 said:
How is everyone hitting 7%abv? I've brewed this twice now and both times came in around 6.5%. My latest batch I mashed at 150 and used Bell's yeast. I went from 1.063 to 1.014. Should I just mash lower, increase my grain, both?
Click to expand...

I love this stuff; it is my house IPA and I have brewed it a number of times, always hitting between 1.010 and 1.008. I use US-05, one packet re-hydrated, and mash for 75 minutes. A shake the fermentation bucket hard for 3 minutes before pitching.
 
zackattack784 said:
How is everyone hitting 7%abv? I've brewed this twice now and both times came in around 6.5%. My latest batch I mashed at 150 and used Bell's yeast. I went from 1.063 to 1.014. Should I just mash lower, increase my grain, both?
Click to expand...

My apologies - I didn't directly address your question. I would try mashing lower and make sure you have enough, good, healthy yeast. Try 2 packets of US-05 and see what happens.
 
zackattack784 said:
How is everyone hitting 7%abv? I've brewed this twice now and both times came in around 6.5%. My latest batch I mashed at 150 and used Bell's yeast. I went from 1.063 to 1.014. Should I just mash lower, increase my grain, both?
Click to expand...

MEPNew2Brew said:
My apologies - I didn't directly address your question. I would try mashing lower and make sure you have enough, good, healthy yeast. Try 2 packets of US-05 and see what happens.
Click to expand...

if you're not getting the attenuation (FG is higher than expected), then mash lower

if you're not hitting your pre-boil #s and your efficiency is low (OG is lower than expected), you may need to increase grain bill

do one or the other next time you brew (I would do the mash temp adjustment first; saves you the cost if you don't need the extra grain), then if the same thing happens on that batch, then do the other the next time.
 
I significantly increased my o.g. By slowing down my sparge time I was constantly hitting 60% I slowed down the sparge and now get around 75 -80 %
 
RodrigoEick said:
How long you taking to sparge?

Guess I'm rushing mine too
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What type of sparging are we talking about here? Sparge time would only really be a factor if you're fly sparging. If you batch sparge, really you want to drain as fast as possible (after you have sufficiently agitated the mash enough to 'break away' any of the fermentable sugars).
 
I'm making a manual fly sparge, adding hot water as needed to keep around 1 inch of water on top of the grain. The sparge process don't take more than 10-15 minutes
 
For those who are curious, Bells has had their Two Hearted recipe available online for at least a year now. I use Bells General Store as my LHBS and noticed they have print-offs of the recipe right there as well. It's pretty close to the OP considering this info wasn't available in 7+ years ago.

5 gal batch

10 lbs Briess 2-row
2.83 lbs Briess Pale malt
8 oz. Briess Caramel 40

1.2oz. Centennial 9.1% 45min
1.2oz. Centennial 9.1% 30min
3.5oz. Centennial 9.1% DH

WLP001 or WLP051

OG 1.063
FG 1.012
SRM 10
IBU 55
65% efficiency

Here's a link to the full recipe
http://m.imgur.com/r/Homebrewing/bfITU9X
 
That's quite a bit more dry hopping, 3.5 oz compared to 0.5 oz in this recipe. And no late addition boil hops? Interesting. Thanks for sharing
 
Also, there are no late addition hops in that recipe. Seems like it could be a good idea to split the 3.5 oz dry hop addition into something like .5 oz at 5 minutes, 1 oz at flameout, and 2 oz as dry hop.

Thanks for sharing, though!
 
I hesitate to commit my own pet peeve and talk about what I'm GOING to brew and not results, but tonight's recipe is a combo of the OP and the official recipe. I'm going with the Vienna and the 40cc while doing just as you suggested above and pulling back on the DH in favor of a few late additions.
 
thefolkmetal said:
Also, there are no late addition hops in that recipe. Seems like it could be a good idea to split the 3.5 oz dry hop addition into something like .5 oz at 5 minutes, 1 oz at flameout, and 2 oz as dry hop.

Thanks for sharing, though!
Click to expand...

I have been upping my dry hop additions to 2 oz from the OP's recipe for quite some time now. I follow his hop additions in the boil but I just felt like .5 oz in the dry hop wouldn't be enough and I've found 2 oz to be a nice fit.

What is interesting is that when you add up all of my hop additions in the recipe I use it adds up to 6 oz total and when you add up the hop additions from the Bell's General Store recipe it checks in at just under 6 oz of total hops (5.9)

I think I'm going to change things up and give this Bell's General Store recipe a try on my next go around of brewing this tasty nectar and see how it compares to my current recipe. :mug:
 
flyingd54 said:
For those who are curious, Bells has had their Two Hearted recipe available online for at least a year now. I use Bells General Store as my LHBS and noticed they have print-offs of the recipe right there as well. It's pretty close to the OP considering this info wasn't available in 7+ years ago.

5 gal batch

10 lbs Briess 2-row
2.83 lbs Briess Pale malt
8 oz. Briess Caramel 40

1.2oz. Centennial 9.1% 45min
1.2oz. Centennial 9.1% 30min
3.5oz. Centennial 9.1% DH

WLP001 or WLP051

OG 1.063
FG 1.012
SRM 10
IBU 55
65% efficiency

Here's a link to the full recipe
http://m.imgur.com/r/Homebrewing/bfITU9X
Click to expand...

Bells is also my LHBS and I picked up that recipe on my first trip in there over a year ago. I've brewed it at least 4 times now and will be doing it again. Keep thinking I want to do a little different IPA but every time I start thinking about changing it I realize I love this recipe and I repeat it.
 

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