Two Hearted Ale

Brewed by Bells Brewery
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Kalamazoo, Michigan USA

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

Tasty IPA - varies from batch to batch - I lived down the street from Bells in my college years and although I like this beer, it is not their best. As far as IPA’s wait for Bells to release their Hopslam IPA in the winter, a much better beer.

UPDATED: JUN 22, 2010 Awesome brew I had on tap at St. Stevens green. Enjoyed with Katie and her brother. Pour was a hazy yellow with medium head that laced well. Aroma was full of citrus hops and floral scents. Flavor was an amazing balance of hops, citrus fruits, and something else I’m forgetting right now.

On tap. Pours golden orange with minimal white head. Aroma is highly citrus-like with orange and grapefruit present. Pine, and some fruitiness, too. Flavor starts off with sweet malt followed by some spicy hop flavors. Finish is mildly bitter. All in all this is a well balanced beer. It has been my go to for a few years, and will likely remain that way for a while. Can’t wait to try one of the contaminated batches, too!

UPDATED: AUG 19, 2011 This is my 3rd time rating this. Pours a deeper orange and bright clear with a pillow like head. When it fades it leaves a distinct looking pattern of bubbles which seems to be unique to this beer. Nose is evident centennial but not really as intense as it could be. There is an abundance of fermentation esters in this beer which really makes it stand out. Has a big hop and ester flavor profile with elements of slight biscuity malts and not really any caramel but some bread character. Light body and pretty dry. Medium bitterness for the style. Wonderful beer.

Truly a world class example of the IPA style. Northwesrt hops lend a huge fruity estery nose replete with piny sharpness and some pineapple notes. A slight note of sweetness in the malt profile tempers what would otherwise be a full-on hop assault. Shows off its west coast style while still allowing the malt backbone to take a turn. A drawn out sharply bitter finish ends things.

UPDATED: JUN 1, 2010 12oz bottle thanks to a local beer geek who isn’t on this site. Thanks Terry! Really been looking forward to this one, and it’s not disappointing me. Pours a pale gold with a medium white head and minor haze. The aroma is an amazing bouquet of hops, resinous sharp pine, pineapple, hoppy amazingness. Flavour is a borderline perfect matching of bitter and sweet. Amazing hop presence, slightly prickly which is a really nice sensation, but matched just so well with really nice biscuity pale malt body that finishes strong and delicious. Some pleasant honeycomb as well, which I also noticed in Hopslam. Grainy lingering malt flavours. One of the best balanced beers I’ve ever had. This is so damn drinkable, such an awesome beer. I’d drink it everyday if I could, I need a mini-keg in my fridge at all times.

Sample. Amber with off-white head. Flavour is malt, caramel, and well hopped.

i don’t know how to fucking rate IPAs. maybe i’m just biased about this one. either way, it has some nice bite and nice aroma.