Which is the Better Two-Hearted Clone?

haven't made the AIH clone, but i did do the NB kit once. first and only clone brew i have attempted and i brought it to the local for my drinking buddies to compare to the real deal. damn it if 5 out of 5 could pick the original, but the consensus was that the real 2 Hearted had a bit more hop character and was 90% the same.

so, i vote for the NB clone. a really close comparison for me anyway.
Cheers.

 

I'd pick the AIH kit, so sounds like you had the similar idea.

I'd buy more centennial and I'd use something that finishes nice and dry. BRY97 might do that, haven't used it in a while. Seems to lag pretty bad at the start but finishes nice. I don't think it's as "bright" as 1272 but will drop like it does.

NB can get away with it, cause I think they probably reach a wider audience with their wares, and people will buy it up.

 

AIH.

If you price out the grain and hop bills for both ... the AIH kit price is essentially the basic cost of ingredient whereas it's clear NB is charging a hefty premium for the recipe.

AHS does the same thing although their premium is much less.

 

Someday I will make a Two Hearted clone, probably what was in Zymurgy, and use the Bells yeast from a bottle. The esters from that yeast and the centennial hops play well together.

 

Skip the kit and just buy the ingredients from your LHBS. The recipe, as mentioned, was in Zymurgy and they have handouts of that recipe in the Bells General Store. Super easy.

 

Here you go.
https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/homebrew-recipe/bells-two-hearted-ale-clone/

 

I did a double IPA with Centennial. My gripe is that it was too smooth. I tend to like my hoppy beers balanced, but I think with this one you can keep it pretty dry. Note that I've never know the birthday of a 2-Hearted that I've drank, but they're never smooth. It's a damn good beer, but nothing like you're going to have on tap. If I were to take a stab at this I'd say 3/4# of a pound of crystal is plenty.

Maybe the fact that there's no hop stand and minimal dry hopping will help roughen this beer up around the edges.

 

Note that the yeast choices are WLP 001 or WLP 051 California V. WLP 051 is the equivalent of Wyeast 1272 and BRY 97, and those are said to be the Anchor ale yeast strain.

 

It is worth mentioning that real Bell's two-hearted uses Vienna Malt for about 15% of the grist.

 

Can you give a source for that? The Zymurgy recipe uses Briess Pale Ale malt 3.5L at a similar rate. It was done by Bell's General Store employees, and blessed by John Mallett.
Edit - the real recipe may be something different, and probably changes based on which system it is brewed on.

 

Just an FYI, a company in Denver Colo now carries what I believe is Belle's yeast. It is called "Eccentric Ale".

 

Is that company BSI? It is my understanding that the smallest ‘product’ they sell is: “Smallest starter quantity is a 7bbl”

Cheers!

 

Agree, also think that the Vienna and Pale malt would be somewhat interchangeable when made in quick reference to an ingredient. I think our old recipe from '04 had Vienna malt in it as well and the version we've been running since...but that recipe (& a quite a few others) have been updated for a new issue. Can't remember now if the vienna was changed, but know that the hopping rate & schedule was changed significantly.

 

There is a significant difference between 3.5L pale ale malt, Briess Vienna and Weyerman Vienna.

 

One could ask the Bell's folks a NHC. Some will be there.