Bell's Light Hearted Ale

[Roxhambrewshed]

Hi, has anyone tried the recipe for Bell's light hearted ale that was recently on Craft B&B website? If so, how did it turn out? Any adjustments to be made?

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Giving this topic a "bump" as I like the original (but haven't tried brewing the "clone" recipes).

The CB&B recipe (link) appears to require a subscription. There's also a recipe at Bells General Store (link).

 

[TennBrewer]

I tried the Two Hearted Ale AG kit from Bell's store and after 4 weeks compared to the commercial beer. Quite a different taste, it's not bad, just different. I liked the kit beer but I wouldn't call it a clone.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

I tried the Two Hearted Ale AG kit from Bell's store and after 4 weeks compared to the commercial beer. Quite a different taste, it's not bad, just different. I liked the kit beer but I wouldn't call it a clone.

What did you use for water additions? IIRC, the Two Hearted instructions include the Kalamazoo city water report (not to be confused with the water additions that they might use).

 

[Tyler.W]

Giving this topic a "bump" as I like the original (but haven't tried brewing the "clone" recipes).

The CB&B recipe (link) appears to require a subscription. There's also a recipe at Bells General Store (link).

The CB&B podcast 139 features Andy Farrell from Bells and has the recipe in it.

 

[cactusgarrett]

has the recipe in it.

Sort of. I skimmed-listened and didn't get an explicit recipe (@BrewnWKopperKat had a good link), but it did have good discussion on the evolution of the creation/recipe. The recipe highlights I pulled out (corroborated by the previously referenced recipe):

• Hop schedule led by Centennial, but there is also Galaxy present
• 20% of alpha acids go in the kettle, while the rest is whirlpool additions
• Base is a mix of low colored 2-row and Pale Ale malt (american, assuming something like Briess' Pale Ale malt)
• ultimately includes some C40 malt after attempts to use munich to bolster the malt backbone didn't take

 

[TennBrewer]

What did you use for water additions? IIRC, the Two Hearted instructions include the Kalamazoo city water report (not to be confused with the water additions that they might use).

I don't follow the city water reports because most brewers modify the water anyway. I used a 50-50 mix of filtered tap water and RO. To that I added 3.5mg Gypsum,3.1mg Epsom Salt, 2.5mg Calcium Chloride and 3.2 grams Citric Acid. All grains and hops supplied by Bell's in their kit. I used Imperial Bell's House Yeast A62

 

[Tyler.W]

Sort of. I skimmed-listened and didn't get an explicit recipe (@BrewnWKopperKat had a good link), but it did have good discussion on the evolution of the creation/recipe. The recipe highlights I pulled out (corroborated by the previously referenced recipe):

• Hop schedule led by Centennial, but there is also Galaxy present
• 20% of alpha acids go in the kettle, while the rest is whirlpool additions
• Base is a mix of low colored 2-row and Pale Ale malt (american, assuming something like Briess' Pale Ale malt)
• ultimately includes some C40 malt after attempts to use munich to bolster the malt backbone didn't take

I must have mis-remembered the Podcast. Here is a recipe I got for it based on this and possibly the subscriber only CB&B article. I can't remember the source, but I believe it was on another thread on the forum. I brew 3 gallon batches, so I provided the % and oz/gal for scaling.

Grain Bill - Target OG of 1.037

• American 2-Row - 74.3%
• American Pale Ale Malt - 17.2%
• Munich Dark - 5.7%
• Caramel 40 - 2.8%

Hop Schedule - Target IBU of 35

• 45 min - Centennial 9.2% - 0.1oz/gal (16.7 IBU)
• Hopstand - 25 min - Centennial 9.2% - 0.4oz/gal (17.9 IBU @ 185F)
• Dry Hop (Day 4)
  • Centennial - 0.36oz/gal
  • Galaxy - 0.16oz/gal

Mash @ 154F for 60 minutes, ferment with American Ale yeast @ 71F, carbonate to 2.4 volumes of CO2.

 

[AzOr]

I too am curious if anyone else has brewed this. I recently brewed the regular Two Hearted ale and it was fantastic.
I can’t compare to the original as we don’t get Bell’s where I live. I also used Lutra Kveik yeast. It was however one of my better APA/IPAs and will be part of my regular rotation.

It was a bit dangerous being so easy to drink and higher in abv so that’s why I’m so curious about this beer.

 

[cactusgarrett]

Here is a recipe I got for it based on this and possibly the subscriber only CB&B article.

And here is from Bell's website: (for 5gal)

 

[Franktalk]

I tried the Two Hearted Ale AG kit from Bell's store and after 4 weeks compared to the commercial beer. Quite a different taste, it's not bad, just different. I liked the kit beer but I wouldn't call it a clone.

TennBrewer, can you give us a sense of how the beer came out "different?" I'm sure that with a bit of tinkering, perhaps we can get closer.

 

[TennBrewer]

It seemed that the original beer was somewhat drier than the kit. This could be attributed to the fermentation profile or less likely in the mash. For one thing, I have an eBIAB system so there was no sparging. My OG came out at 1.053, 10 points lower than spec at 1.063 and FG 1.012 where mine finished at 1.011.

 

[Apple_Jacker]

I wasn't aware that Bell's started selling their house yeast