Bell's Two Hearted beats Pliney

Saw this today. Bell's Two Hearted beat out Pliney.

Discuss.. Should be interesting.

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2016/03/bells-two-hearted-best-craft-beer-bracket

 

They're both good. Can't say I've had a preference as far as those two go. We don't get either of them in vegas and I've never been able to have them side by side.

 

I might be alone in thinking this, but I don't really get the love for Two Hearted. It certainly isn't bad, but I wouldn't say there is anything particular special or remarkable about it.

 

I agree ... you are alone...cheers !

 

Agreed. Same can be said for Pliny though.


With that said, I prefer Pliny over Two Hearted.

 

OK. I will take to opposing POV. I have had Pliney fresh on tap and thought it was very good but over hyped. If I had both on the menu, I would probably have one of each. They both are good solid beers.

 

I've never had PTE so I can't really speak to how good it is, but I have heard its also overhyped by some. I guess I'm just more surprised by the Two Hearted love. Granted it is a fine beer, but it really just seems like a fairly basic IPA.

 

I think they are both very good-but-overhyped beers, but I personally prefer Pliny. That said, I think the hype surrounding both beers is just silly. Pliny is probably the more overhyped of the two, but I do think it's the better tasting.

 

^ this is why there is no reason to be surprised Bell's would beat Pliny. I spend time in California, Arizona, and Texas every summer when I'm back in the states. Two-Hearted has never been hard to find, but even spending time in California every summer I have never actually seen a bottle of Pliny or a place serving it on draft. The difference in customer exposure is massive.

 

Pliny does not contain an 'E'

With that said. I've never had two hearted, I'd love to try.

 

Pliny is probably my preferred one, but maybe it's because I could get two hearted whenever i want.

 

I think fresh Two Hearted is a great beer, and an accessible "gateway" IPA. The whole bracket is kind of silly, though. Pitting porters, farmhouse beers, IPAs, etc. etc. against each other just doesn't make much sense to me.

 

Pliny is consistently great, I've never been disappointed with it on tap or in the bottle. We don't get Two Hearted out this way but my understanding is it is an all centennial IPA? Doesn't sound THAT special but even a simple beer can be a great beer if it is well done.

 

I like it, but it would be better as an imperial IPA. If it was around 9 to 10% ABV, it would be fantastic.

 

Clearly, the whole effort was bankrupt from the jump.

DFH90 over Heady?

As if.

Cheers!

 

Two hearted is a great IPA. Pliny has a depth of hop goodness that defies reason. Both are good eepahs. Pliny is a hands-down winner for me.

 

First off, they are at totally opposite ends of the IPA spectrum. Two Hearted is fruity/herbal, Pliny is dank/piney. Secondly, the accessibility probably plays a part in it. Lastly, while Two Hearted is a great beer, make mine a Pliny!

 

The one that gets me is Wicked Weed Pernicious. That is by far one of the best IPA's I have had yet it didn't make it last round two. There's a reason it was runner up for American IPA's last year at the Great American Beer Festival. Who votes in these things anyways?

As for Two Hearted, I don't even really like it that Much. I'll take the Cigar City over that any day.

 

This! Cigar City jai alai, especially the white oak version, is fantastic. I've had both pte and 2 hearted and while they're both good beers i don't get the hype. Frankly, i don't get the whole hype thing with beer anyway. We all homebrew and have the ability to brew great tasting, super fresh, beer. To me, that's what's worth hyping up!

 

Have to agree. Last year, it was hard to find anything Bell's related in east Tennessee. Now I see their beers everywhere.....except Two Hearted. Unfortunately, TN is still in the dark ages when it comes to a beer's ABV. Anything above 6.2% we have to hit the liquor stores.


I've never had Pliny, but I've had home-brewed versions of it and loved it. More than Two Hearted? I don't know. They're two different beers to me, but there is something about Two Hearted I really like.


On another note, I can't believe there were no entries from Kona. WTF?

 

The fact that Dogfishhead 90 minute is in the final four tells me the whole bracket is suspect. I like Bells but it is probably not even in my top 20.

 

Yeah you have to get Two Hearted in the liquor store in Tennessee due to ABV. That's where I picked it up. Up until last summer I didn't even see Bell's in the store. Think it is new to the area (at least in East Tennessee)

 

Bell's is all over Knoxville now, but that's been in the last year. Like arnobg wrote, any beer over 5% ABW (6.25% ABV) can only be sold in liquor stores but that goes up to 8% ABW (10% ABV) in Jan '17.

In the past liquor stores couldn't sell anything UNDER 6.25% ABV but that changed within the past year as well.

And yes, our state is run by geniuses.

 

Funny...pretty much all hoppy beers there in the finishing rounds.


10 years ago, such a bracket would have been almost all Belgian quads + imperial stouts...

 

This bracket is a joke.

 

Yup and not sure if it is a county or state thing, but wine will finally be sold in grocery stores starting July here in Johnson City, TN.

 

Whats remarkable about it is that it comes in 16oz cans, of which, I can fit 2 comfortably in my coat pocket to sneak into the movie theater. Huge plus in my book

plus, unlike a certain other canned 16oz IPA, I can probably find it cold at nearly any beer store I stop at on the way to the theater. For unrelated reasons, of course

 

A lot of states have weird/stupid alcohol laws. In NC, liquor is sold only out of state-run stores, governed by the state Alcoholic Beverage Control. So, ABC stores are the only place to get liquor, closed on Sundays & all major holidays. (An aside - I loved it when I was in NYC, on Christmas day I went to the local liquor store, run by Chinese people who claimed to not speak any English & got a pint of Maker's Mark.)

Beer & wine are sold at convenience stores, gas stations, & grocery stores everywhere except our one remaining dry county.

Here's where it gets really weird & stupid - NC does not allow any beer over 15% ABV to be sold anywhere. Ever. Yet, in the convenience stores, you can buy fortified wine (Night Train, Thunderbird, all that gross stuff) and it is 18-21% ABV.



NC's are wack...

 

Had Two-Hearted on a few occasions. Did not know it was a "ranked" beer and definitely would not have suspected it. I liked it, but nothing really made it stand out.

 

I don't know if this is still the case but when I lived in Alabama you could not order a beer in a restaurant on election day until the polls closed.

I think they were afraid someone would get drunk and vote for a Democrat.

 

Back in the day, Two-Hearted was kind of special. It was a less-bitter, yet still hoppy IPA and it was produced in mass quantities.

Then came the IPA craze. The number of IPAs exploded and there were new hops coming out, different styles of IPAs, etc.

It's still a solid example of the American IPA style. Probably the defacto standard. But there are tons of IPAs out there now, and this malt/hop combo has been done to death by now. And drier, more aggressively bittered IPAs are more common now.

And don't forget the whole Lupulin shift that's sent IPAs into APA category, and DIPAs into IPA category.

 

I think this is why it's -still- a great IPA to this day. It's a classic example of American IPA in my opinion that showcases a single, great hop. And it does it well. Better than Pliny? Dunno, because I haven't tried it. But there's something to be said for IPAs that don't use 5-6 different hops and are triple dry hopped. Not that those are bad either

 

How many people have even tried Pliney versus Two-Hearted? It is hard to prefer a beer if you've never tried it. The last match up was likely decided by which beer had the greater distribution.

 

That law has thankfully been repealed though I think a couple of other states still have such laws. Somebody is still voting for Democrats here as they control about a third of both the house and senate though who knows how that could change if the Love Gov is impeached.

 

East coast USA today picks Midwest to win. Also picks Dogfish head over HT. Obviously biased.

With that said I'd def trade a Pliny for a bells and may be looking on BEX. Sorry King on the BCBS trade, wicked weed won that battle but I'm not going anywhere should 2016 be unavailable here

 

anyone know if they have changed up the recipe for 2 hearted recently? the few i've had in the last few months have been really great, better than i remember from the last couple years. thought it might have been a change in recipe or possibly a better than average hop harvest they are using.

 

I feel treasonous as a Michigander to say that I don't really care for Two Hearted that much, then again I've only had one IPA I really like and that's hopslam. I've tried to love IPA's, once you've had hopslam nothing else will do tbh.

 

And this is one reason why I think these kinds of competitions are bogus.

Don't get me wrong, I still think Two-Hearted is still the defacto standard and a fine beer. I'm just explaining why I think some people don't see it as that special anymore.

And to be honest, after having Pliny, there is not competition. Pliny trumps Two-Hearted easily for me. Maybe it's the rarity that makes it so special?

Bottom line for me is this "competition" is worthless for any reason except to introduce new beers to people who may not have known about them.

 

Hopslam is the best IPA you've had? I feel for you brother, I really do

 

I hear ya and truly appreciate that viewpoint. It was one of the first IPA's I have ever had. For me, I kind of felt like "I get it, but want a little more that that". It is easy to see why people would get interested in an IPA with such a nice start, but there was not enough there to keep my attention. My first go at chinook hops from a home brew IPA, I was hooked. Bell's was too "nice" for me going forward - no attitude.