In-Box Instructions from Official Two Hearted Clone Kit

[deBREWler]

When I was in Kalamazoo, MI I stopped by Bell's General Store and bought the official Two Hearted All Grain kit. I was impressed by the in-box instructions. The step-by-step guide, brew log, and ABV equation are all really nice. I don't know if they intentionally don't want it available to the public but the "instructions" they link to in the online store aren't the same. It's a single page and surprisingly it's inaccurate (boil time is wrong). I searched around and found the full, in-box instructions hosted on shopify, same place the one-page instructions are hosted.

Bell's General Store Two Hearted Clone Kit

One-Page Instructions

Full, in-box Instructions

 

[jjw5015]

To me it seems like the online instructions are geared toward someone just looking for the recipe and nothing else. Doesn't explain the difference in boil times however.

 

[kh54s10]

For what it's worth. Both boil times could be viewed as inaccurate. If I boiled 6.8 gallons on my rig for 75 minutes I would only get about 4.25 - 4.5 gallons into my fermenter. Then with the large dry hop I would lose another half gallon or so. Boil times depend on starting volume and boil off rate.

I don't think they really intended the one - page instructions to be used the same way as the full instructions. They are maybe geared to a brewer who knows his system. Neither the mash or boil need to be 75 minutes long. The mash will be complete in under an hour and given the hop addition times (no addition at the beginning of the boil) a shorter boil could be used and still achieve the same bitterness.

 

[IslandLizard]

Neither is very good. The one page doesn't include any instructions, it's a recipe/brew sheet.
I thought the kits Bell's sells in their store includes their own yeast? Which really makes them more "special."

Just to mention a few glaring ones:
Dry hopping should be done 3-5 days before packaging, not 5 days after pitching for a total of 15 days.
Either yeast recommended is not the yeast Bell's uses for this beer, which is a house variant of WY1272.

 

[jjw5015]

Seems like they both need updating. They've started making Imperial Yeast A62 Bell's House Yeast available, as indicated on the website recommendations.

 

[IslandLizard]

Seems like they both need updating. They've started making Imperial Yeast A62 Bell's House Yeast available, as indicated on the website recommendations.

That's more like it, and probably worth getting, it's a nice yeast. I still doubt the recipe, as is, yields a close clone when homebrewed.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

I still doubt the recipe, as is, yields a close clone when homebrewed.

Kits get us started, discussion moves us forward.

The kit is likely to be an enjoyable beer and a good starting point for "dailing in" the recipe.

Moving the discussion forward, it would be interesting to see this recipe reformulated to use the "Hop Sampler" brewing process.

 

[kingmatt]

That's more like it, and probably worth getting, it's a nice yeast. I still doubt the recipe, as is, yields a close clone when homebrewed.

I've posted this elsewhere, but I recently brewed a Two Hearted clone using this recipe (with the Imperial A62 yeast and Bell's "select" Centennial hops) and to my palate it was dead on to the actual beer. I also entered it into a local competition in the specialty category as a "clone" beer and it won gold.

Here is a pic of my clone (left) vs. the real Two Hearted:

 

[jjw5015]

I've posted this elsewhere, but I recently brewed a Two Hearted clone using this recipe (with the Imperial A62 yeast and Bell's "select" Centennial hops) and to my palate it was dead on to the actual beer. I also entered it into a local competition in the specialty category as a "clone" beer and it won gold.

Here is a pic of my clone (left) vs. the real Two Hearted:

I saw that in the Malt Madness results. Congrats!

 

[Rick Crane]

That's more like it, and probably worth getting, it's a nice yeast. I still doubt the recipe, as is, yields a close clone when homebrewed.

The instructions on Bell's A62 liquid yeast say refrigerate until it's time to pitch, and pitch cold. So that's what I did. I sent an email to Bell's General store asking about making a starter, they said it's not necessary. Fermentatio0n started pretty quick.

 

[PCABrewing]

When I was in Kalamazoo, MI I stopped by Bell's General Store and bought the official Two Hearted All Grain kit. I was impressed by the in-box instructions. The step-by-step guide, brew log, and ABV equation are all really nice. I don't know if they intentionally don't want it available to the public but the "instructions" they link to in the online store aren't the same. It's a single page and surprisingly it's inaccurate (boil time is wrong). I searched around and found the full, in-box instructions hosted on shopify, same place the one-page instructions are hosted.

Bell's General Store Two Hearted Clone Kit

One-Page Instructions

Full, in-box Instructions

Wow, the Bells version is quite different from the Dead Ringer recipe from NB.
Not just in detail.
Bells dry hop step calls for 3.5 oz. while NB only calls for 1. Bell's recipe would seem to deliver a lot more on the nose than I remember from commercial Two Hearted.
Am I misreading something? Not that I'm doubting the original owner of the recipe...

 

[ITV]

The instructions on Bell's A62 liquid yeast say refrigerate until it's time to pitch, and pitch cold. So that's what I did. I sent an email to Bell's General store asking about making a starter, they said it's not necessary. Fermentatio0n started pretty quick.

Based on my location (Chicago Suburbs) it would cost me $38 for one pack of yeast ($12 for the yeast and $26 for express shipping) which only includes one ice pack and no cooler. I try to avoid mail ording my yeast since it has been my experience (not with Bells) that the ice pack is room temperature when I receive it.

 

[IslandLizard]

Based on my location (Chicago Suburbs) it would cost me $38 for one pack of yeast ($12 for the yeast and $26 for express shipping) which only includes one ice pack and no cooler. I try to avoid mail ording my yeast since it has been my experience (not with Bells) that the ice pack is room temperature when I receive it.

At that price, it's indeed hard to justify. Temps are a lot cooler now in December, but you'd need to get your timing right so it doesn't end up freezing in transit, or in your mailbox.

I usually order yeast during the cooler seasons (including the shipping route) for that reason.

In a pinch you can try WY1272 for a Bells clone. You may be surprised how close it gets. Pitch cool, yes. For one of the best (double) IPAs I brewed I used WY1272, a huge amount of fresh starter slurry going into a 10 gallon batch.