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

[passedpawn]

How long do you let your kegs sit before carb and serve? In the recent past I've been serving my IPA's at about 4 weeks because everyone says drink fresh. I'm starting to think they lack in balance though, they all seem one dimensional. Unless, that's the point. Maybe I just need a maltier IPA through the winter.

My schedule.

1. Fermentation: 8 days. (Dry hops added around day 5 or 6.)
2. Cold Crash with gelatin @ 35C: 3 days. Then rack into kegs.
3. Keg carbonation @ 35C: 7 days.
4. Drink!

Tho, I make a lot of beer, so the kegs will probably sit a lot longer than that in my garage freezer.

BTW, I've made this recipe twice now and it's supergreat.

 

[tonymark]

OT... I hear gelatin removes a lot of the hop character. Do you find this to be true? Seems like that would kill a 2H clone. BTW, Bell's doesn't use gelatin.

 

[swstim]

I used gelatin for my brew of this clone and I wish I hadn't. It cleared up too much!

 

[nutty_gnome]

I have been using this malt bill for many, many IPA recipes with a variety of hops. This is my go-to malt bill for any standard IPA at this point. It even makes a great neutral pale ale recipe if you reduce the gravity! I haven't actually brewed the all Centennial version as presented but I can heartily recommend the malt bill. N_G

 

[ThickHead]

I have been using this malt bill for many, many IPA recipes with a variety of hops. This is my go-to malt bill for any standard IPA at this point. It even makes a great neutral pale ale recipe if you reduce the gravity! I haven't actually brewed the all Centennial version as presented but I can heartily recommend the malt bill. N_G

+1 for sure

I have done the same now since the inception of this thread. This is basically the first recipe I ever used that I found on HBT and the grain-bill has basically been the launching platform for many of my ales....both traditional and whimsical.

 

[Rahahb]

A question I should have asked before..

Since I've got a whole ounce left, and putting the 1/2 oz back in the freezer will likely cause them to go stale, would it change this recipe for the worse to dry hop with the whole oz? I've never dry hopped before or compared the same beer to one that had been dry hopped. I'll stick with 1/2 oz if it will be too much.

Thanks!

 

[ThickHead]

A question I should have asked before..

Since I've got a whole ounce left, and putting the 1/2 oz back in the freezer will likely cause them to go stale, would it change this recipe for the worse to dry hop with the whole oz? I've never dry hopped before or compared the same beer to one that had been dry hopped. I'll stick with 1/2 oz if it will be too much.

Thanks!

Chuck it all in. I dry hop this beer with 2oz typically.

 

[Jhoss]

I too will be brewing this weekend (Sat Feb 9th) - my 3rd run at this 2HA clone. Just for reference. I had some washed Bells yeast stored in the fridge since late November. I made a starter wort (1/2 cup DME, 1 pint water) on Saturday Feb. 2nd (1 week in advance). Last night Monday I made 6 quarts more wort and pitched the raging brew on in. On Thursday I will cool it to drop the yeast and pitch into my 5 plus gallons. This is a repeat of my process from my best batch....the bottom line....huge starter!

My pre-boil gravity 1.051. Post-boil 1.069.
Jhoss

 

[olz431]

I just brewed this, ended up with 5.5 gallons of 1.071 wort on my second ag excursion.

 

[brewinginCO]

Tasted my first bottle of this yesterday, and it came out fantastic. This is by far the best IPA I have brewed. I'm going to have to try to find some Two Hearted to compare.

I used WLP051 yeast. My OG was 1.064 and my FG was 1.014. For a 5gal batch, I used 1 oz of Centennial for 3 days.

 

[Cbrown]

What do you think would happen if I doubled the Centennial in this recipe. I have done a Two Hearted Clone similar and it was great but I am a little curious. Would it be to over the top?

 

[highgravitybacon]

What do you think would happen if I doubled the Centennial in this recipe. I have done a Two Hearted Clone similar and it was great but I am a little curious. Would it be to over the top?

Four hearted ale.

 

[mike_in_ak]

 

[Rivenin]

Four hearted ale.

how very Dr Whovian of you

 

[tonymark]

10 gallons of 2H clone brewed 2/9 with OG 1.065. I think that my fermentation may be stuck on one carboy. I pitched one with wyeast 1968 and the other with a cultured Bell's yeast. The 1968 finished days ago at 1.017 (high for 2H, but expected for 1968). I pitched a decanted 2L starter of the Bell's yeast (the starter actually blew out) in the other carboy. I aerated with aquarium pump and stone. The carboy Krausened hard for 3 days with a blow out. It seemed like fermentation was near done and the gravity is at 1.040. Should I see more that a bubble every 1.5 minutes in an S-type airlock? or is a slow fermentation to be expected with the Bell's yeast? I am thinking about adding some S-05. Should I re-aerate if I do, or will this cause oxidation?

 

[mike_in_ak]

Pitching Bells yeast in a couple hours in a different brew. Sticking around for any answers to the above post.

 

[mn_rookie]

One thing I do know from bad experience is not to reairate after the yeast has started doing its thing. That would completely oxidize your pride and joy right there I'm sure. It sounds like there's some kind of a variable your not seeing. It's a good point you bring up the cultured yeast. I would definitely look more into that aspect of things. But hey, what do I know? Like the name says im just a noob

 

[tonymark]

I forgot to mentioned (actually too embarrassed) that I racked to secondary. This is probably my problem. I just restarted brewing again after 12 years off from years of successful AG brewing and this is my 3rd batch. So I am kinda a noob all over again. After reading about stuck fermentations, this may be my problem. Should I re-pitch with a well attenuating yeast. I have 2 packs of S-05 and a little Bell's yeast saved from the starter in the fridge. I can re-culture the Bell's yeast into a 2 l starter, decant and pitch again or add a slurry of both packs of S-05.

 

[MMJfan]

Not sure I'm understanding. When you say you racked to secondary was your problem, why would that be a problem? Did you transfer too early?

I brewed up my 2nd AG version of this recipe on Saturday doing BIAB. I too used Bells yeast I originally cultured from some Bells Amber Ale and had sinced washed from a batch of an Oberon clone I brewed.

I did try something new with this last brew. Was reading my latest BYO and they had an article on whirlpool hopping so I figured what the hell and gave it a shot. I had an exta oz of Centennial so after flameout, I added 0.5 oz and since i dont have a pump, I stirred the wort for a minute and then let it spin down and settle. After 30 minutes I cooled the wort to 170 as instructed in the article and then added the final 0.5 oz and stirred again for another minute. I then let it settle for 15 more minutes before cooling down to pitching temp.

We shall see how this turns out. So far it smells awesome coming out of the airlock.

 

[Jhoss]

I believe you mean stuck ferment. You brewed on the 16th Saturday an on Monday your at 1040 (from 1065). I'd say, stay the course. If it still sits at 1040 on wednesday - I would add more yeast and I guess I'd go with the US05 as the Bells culture you have seems to have failed you - but this rack to secondary confuses me? Like you brewed on Sat, and racked to secondary on Sunday....? Huh? What?

 

[tonymark]

Woops, it was Saturday the 9th that I brewed. Edited to correct. So 8 days seems like most of the fermentation should be done not just 20 points.

 

[MMJfan]

Yeah, generally, fermentation should be complete after one week, so racking it to secondary after 8 days wouldn't be your problem.

I've never had a problem with a stuck fermentation (knocking on wood) so I don't want to give you bad advice on what you should do now. I had a Wyeast pack I left out in the sun last summer to warm it up. Well, I forgot about it and it got cooked. I was already into my brew so I tried pitching it anyway. After about 4 days with no signs of any fermentation and no change in my gravity readings, I bought a new pack of Wyeast and re pitched and the brew turned out fine. But my circumstances weren't the same as what you are dealing with...

 

[jmf143]

Woops, it was Saturday the 9th that I brewed. Edited to correct. So 8 days seems like most of the fermentation should be done not just 20 points.

Did you try putting your 2ndary in a warmer location? Maybe the yeast are just cold.

Did you calibrate your hydrometer? Maybe you're getting a bad reading.

It just doesn't seem likely that the yeast would crap out after 25 points or so in a normal environment.

 

[tonymark]

Did you try putting your 2ndary in a warmer location? Maybe the yeast are just cold.

Did you calibrate your hydrometer? Maybe you're getting a bad reading.

Moved near wood stove. It's now at 69 F. Took reading with second hydrometer and same reading. A new cake is forming, so I guess it's going slowly.

 

[sivdrinks]

Moved near wood stove. It's now at 69 F. Took reading with second hydrometer and same reading. A new cake is forming, so I guess it's going slowly.

I'd pitch a new pack of S05 or the dregs of a finished by you six pack of 2 Hearted. If there's fermentable sugars in there it should start. Try carefully stirring the cake with a racking cane to stir things up. The other thought would be your thermometer is off and you mashed higher than you thought.

 

[juggaleo]

Just picked up the ingredients for this last night for tomorrows brew day. picked SafAle 05, I can already taste it.

 

[logangclem]

Just bottled 5 gallons of this brew. 2 packs of US05 got me down to 1.009!!! Wowzers. It tastes amazing. Will definitely brew again, good job to the recipe maker. Probably 10 Gallons next time
:cheers:

 

[olz431]

Bry97 got me to 1.012 will report back after itsbottled and ready.

 

[DonnieZ]

I chose this to be my first all grain brew and made this today.

I live in a condo, so I was gong to try and brew this entirely on the stove. I used BrewSmith to convert this into a 3 gallon batch and ended up with about 7.9 pounds of grain.

First off, I know some things now that I need to do to improve my process.

BrewSmith came up with a 9 quart mash, with a strike temp around 167. I'm using a 48 quart Igloo rectangular cooler as a mash tun, so I poured 9 quarts of water in the mash tun and then added my grain slowly. Unfortunately I missed my temp by about 12 degrees - my mash ended up being about 140, instead of the 152 I was shooting for. I ended up adding about 1.25 gallons total of 160 degree water but this was doing little to bring up the temp. I didn't want to keep thinning out my mash, so finally I decided to open the valve and take about 2 quarts and bring it to a boil on the stovetop and add it back to the mash. This got my temp up to about 150, which was good enough for me at the time. I ended up having to do this two or three times throughout the mash. Once I got it to temp, I started the timer and kept it at about 150 for the full 60 minutes.

Since there was so much empty space above my grains, I think that's why I had to keep heating up wort. With the sparge, I ended up with right about 4 gallons or wort according to the line on my bucket.

I found out the other day my stove will boil 5 gallons of water, but not vigoursly. I figured that I could get 4 to a nice vigorus boil, but no such luck. It would roll, but after 15 minutes I never got a hot break. I finally gave up on the stove and set up the turkey fryer on the balcony. I was leary, but the thing never even melted the snow under or around it, but it sure did put the boil to the wort!

After boil and chill, I put slightly less than 3 gallons in the fermenter. Since I didn't culture the yeast from the Two Hearted, I went with Wyeast 1056. Was going to do the 1272, but the LHBS owner said this would be less fruity than the 1272 - I'm not a fan of the fruity taste so I went with it.

Just checked my cooled sample, to my utmost surprise I hit 1.055 on the nose. I'm floored!!!

This will also be my first kegged brew was well. Very stoked, but now the wait is killing me!

 

[DonnieZ]

One more Q.. Is 60-61 too low of a ferment temp for this? I want it to be clean tasting with as little fruit as possible, but I also want good attenuation.. Already bubbling after 2 hours at about 61.5 degrees.