Bell's Light Hearted Ale

Eh -- I was afraid you were still seeing green bottles. If it's under a year old with imports I'm not afraid. The Urquell in the new brown bottles is mighty tasty.

 

There’s a few session New England style pale ales I’ve had that were spot on.

Are you talking about session IPAs in general or a specific style, like West Coast?

 

In general although the majority of session IPAs I’m used to are geared towards west coast. I’m sure it’s much easier to get a full bodied SIPA when you’re not filtering and adding wheat, oats and lactose a la NEIPA or shall we coin another ipa acronyms with NESIPA?

 

Bells website lists this as "Now Shipping". Havent seen it in my neck of the woods yet. Just interested in any impressions from BA's who have tried it.
https://www.bellsbeer.com/beer/year-round/light-hearted-ale

 

I picked up a sixer today. I have to wait until tomorrow to have one though. I got a medical procedure tomorrow that requires me to fast.

I still have a bottle or two of the Juicy Session IPA that Bell's was selling in their General Store a few months ago. I'm very curious to see how similar they are.

 

I tried it, it's ok. 11 bucks for a six pack though, if I want a solid session IPA I'll sprout the extra 5 bucks for a 15 pack of All Day IPA.

 

Agreed. I'm hoping Light Hearted is a winner. But $11 for 6 cans of Light Hearted compared to $15 for 15 cans of All Day makes for a no brainer decision to go with All Day.

 

Session ipas are right there with low fat or fat free dairy, it’s a compromise. You can produce something kinda similar to the original, but when you start removing stuff it ceases to be the same thing.

 

I’m with you in general. However, this newer generation of low abv/lower cal IPAs seem much more balanced. Beers like DFH Slightly Mighty and Stone’s Neverending Haze are nothing like the “hop sodas” of the first generation of session IPAs.

 

I probably need to revisit, but the memory of the original session ipas really put me off.

 

There’s drinking it that’s it’s ok, and then there’s drinking it and really enjoying it, there is a big difference. Old PU has a bit of a peculiar taste that I don’t like, it’s not skunked, but it just tastes off. I can get fresh Pils here that’s days old, but it’s $20/12 pk.

 

Not a huge fan of Regular TH so I doubt I will buy this. If that $11 price is true I’m really out as it will end up at $12-13. Been really getting into lagers the last few years and they are becoming my warm weather low ABV choice too.

Enjoy

 

Huge Bells fan but that price is just a no for me. If I can find it in a Kroger mix a six section I'll give it a shot due to the set pricing.

Never had a lower ABV session ipa that really made me go " wow, I gotta have more of that! " anyway.

 

I'm hoping the $11 price tag that I purchased at will get knocked down to $10 (or possibly $9) after the initial sales occur. Maybe retail has bumped up the price for the first round of sales knowing that people want to try this beer? I can usually find sixers of Two Hearted for $10. It wouldn't make much sense to sell Light Hearted for more than Two Hearted.

I'm also guessing that Light Hearted is eventually packaged into 12 packs and that the sale price on that will be anywhere from $14 to $17.

Does anyone know what price the General Store is selling these Light Hearted sixers?

 

I dunno maybe it's just me being a 6'1", 179lb beanpole that makes paying nearly $2 a beer for a lo-cal IPA not worth it.

 

Ummmm, my first session with Light Hearted was not the positive experience that I was hoping it to be. To be blunt, Light Hearted tastes more like a pilsner than an IPA. I know that with a light session IPA, there will be trade off between calories and flavor. But this just didn't do anything for me at all. Simply put, I don't want to drink this beer again.

I did open that last bottle of the Juicy Session IPA that I had and it was everything I could ever want from a session IPA. It is only 3.5% abv yet had a lot of great true (juicy!!!) IPA flavor going on. I'm utterly baffled that Bells can produce this great Juicy Session IPA and canned Light Hearted instead.

 

I'm a fan of Pilsner Urquell. We can get cases of 16.9 oz cans in Pittsburgh for $43 including tax. When I travel to Chicago, I can get it in most supermarkets for $4.99/4-pack of the big cans. Hell of a deal. I find it very satisfying.

 

I tried it on Friday. Meh. I felt like I was drinking a lighter version of Midwest Pale Ale, and I do not miss that beer. A swing and a miss.

 

Nice nose but lighthearted falls short imo. The taste is just... bland. A shell of its namesake.

 

Saw this in a store yesterday for $15.99 for 2 sizers.