Two Hearted Ale - Bell's Brewery, Inc.

jewel942

Michigan

4.93/5  rDev +15.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Had the opportunity to sample several out of the firkin at Ashley's in Ann Arbor - came for the Hopslam which was out, but boy was this a great surprise.

Firstly, the ABV was quite a bit higher than the 'regular' Two Hearted... was stated as over 10%, although I don't recall exactly. Regardless, there was no strong alcohol overtone; definitely there but not objectionable in any way.

Head was nominal, typical for a firkin pour, excellent lacing and retained the foam layer pretty well. Color was a nice hazy golden hue, made better by the dim lighting at the Ashley's bar.

The aroma was Two Hearted, but better - more hops, more citrus, more everything. Best brewed aroma ever for me, save for a chocolate porter but that was something entirely different.

Same thing with the flavor, it was like Two Hearted with several highly enjoyable added layers of initial flavors and aftertastes. This was absolutely one of the top 5 brew experiences of my 30+ (won't say what the + represents) years of beer enjoyment.

Mouthfeel was better than usual for this level of IPA, seems the firkin processing smoothed things out a bit, less astringency and aftertaste.

If you have the chance to try Two Hearted from the cask - not to be missed!

Serving type: cask

09-07-2010 18:45:29 | More by jewel942

atsprings

North Carolina

4.38/5  rDev +2.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Had this one on cask tonight at Landmark Tavern during opening day of Raleigh Beer Week. Served in a standard pint glass a crisp orange with a nice lasting off white head that lasted and left nice lacing on the glass. Aroma was crisp citrus hops just in front of sweet malts. The taste was a nice balance with the complex hop profile just in front of a firm sweet caramel malt backbone. The beer is on the light side of medium and is quite smooth and refreshing. This is truly the kind of beer that casks were made for, truly outstanding, no wonder this cask kicked in less than 40 minutes.

Serving type: cask

08-31-2010 03:23:32 | More by atsprings

TMoney2591

Illinois

4.4/5  rDev +2.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Served in a pint glass at Paradiso.

I've had this a number of times, but never on cask. Let's do it to it. It pours a hazy orange amber topped by nearly a finger of thick creamy foam. The nose is dominated by the hops (mostly citrus with some pine thrown in for variety's sake), though a current of sweet caramel jets through like the EAC. The taste is very similar, though the balance is much better. Both camps respect each other for their ferocity and professionalism. Damn, does it make for one tasty battle. The body is a light medium, with no real carbonation involved and a severely smooth and creamy feel. This is insanely good on cask, even better than in bottles. Get some!

Serving type: cask

08-14-2010 00:48:59 | More by TMoney2591

DefenCorps

Oregon

4.63/5  rDev +8.2%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

On cask at Paradiso yesterday. I finally managed to track this down.

Pouring light orange with a mild haze, there's a dense, reverse-cascading head that forms a dense collar, leaving sheets of lace. Perfect. The nose is too, redolent, bright and yet suffuse with beautiful citrus and floral hops. Truly a centennial showcase, the palate replicates the flavor. Opening with a bright citrus and floral hop character, this is really smooth. A touch sweeter than it is on tap, there's a little cotton candy sweetness. Still, this dry, with mild bitterness and an explosion of hop flavor. I drank two pints and would have had a third and a fourth if it didn't kick.

Serving type: cask

07-25-2010 15:17:52 | More by DefenCorps

drpimento

Wisconsin

4.53/5  rDev +5.8%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Served out of a freshly tapped firkin. With a huge foamy frothy cream colored head. Color is a hazy amber. Aroma is hoppy grapefruit malt caramel. Flavor is like aroma plus huge bittersweet. And caramel comes out too. Body is what you'd expect from this beer out of a firkin - low carbonation with full roundness. Finish is like flavor with a slow lingering sweetness that tapers off to a slight bitterness. Excellent beer. Session if you can get it.

Serving type: cask

04-24-2010 02:16:58 | More by drpimento

mynie

Indiana

4.78/5  rDev +11.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

They had a firkin of this at the Black Sparrow, and as I am not made of stone I had to buy and consume several pints far too quickly.

Pours like hazy amber and honey (and at a temperature that was only slightly below ambient!). Smallish but retentive head, good lacing, blah blah you know what a cask IPA looks like.

Smells capital-S Smooth. Two Hearted is normally well balanced but this is just boffo: giant west coats hops were almost, like, fluffed up by a malt so smooth it was like bready whipped cream.

Tastes even better than it smells, since smoothness is one of those things that ain't conveyed too well through the olfactory sense. Hops are like flowers and grapefruit juice, the malt is like poundcake, together they combine into a well-balanced slurry of perfection.

I've said in the past that casks don't really impress me unless they're of thick stouts, but I think I'm going to have to amend that for exceptionally balanced IPAs. This isn't *quite* at the level of cask Masala Mama, but it's damn close.

Serving type: cask

04-03-2010 15:32:40 | More by mynie

BeerGodz

New Jersey

4.15/5  rDev -3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

On Cask @ Sidecar Bar & Grille

Look: Deep golden honey color, clear, thick head with great retention & good lacing

Smell: Pronounced citrus, nice floral aroma

Taste: Up Front: Pine, citrus. Finish: Tropical fruit, sweet malt

Mouthfeel: Medium body with light carbonation - super creamy!

Drinkability: I could pound this cask ale down all day!

Overall Impression: This beer may have benefited from me drinking the Firestone Walker Double Jack right before it. It was a very enjoyable IPA served on cask; what's not to love about that?

Serving type: cask

03-20-2010 20:27:18 | More by BeerGodz

sitarist

Ohio

4.5/5  rDev +5.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Served in a pint glass at the Buckeye Beer Engine.

Poured a cloudy honey yellow with an orange hue. The head was perfect, two fingers of thick white beauty that stuck around throughout most of the glass. Lots of heavy lacing. The aroma was just as beautiful as the appearance. Lots of sweet tropical fruits, pine, slight hint of citrus, dough, and a wood pulp scent. Very complex and balanced. The flavors follow suit with the nose. Very pleasant and great balance of the flavors. Lots of hop flavors mixed well with the malty sweetness. It has a medium body, it feels creamy almost; must be the cask. It has a nice bitter finish. Each sip begs you to take another. So many subtle flavors, each on teasing you to figure them out. Nice body, not to heavy. Goes very well with pup grub.

Serving type: cask

03-05-2010 01:16:01 | More by sitarist

adamette

Ohio

3.73/5  rDev -12.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3.5

Review from notes taken last night. Poured from nitro tap into a clean, clear 16 oz. pint glass at a cost of $6.

A Translucent orange yellow body under a very creamy head that lingered for at least 5 minutes. Good lacing left on the inside of the glass as well. 4.0

S Floral and very fragrant hops with a background of sweet malt that presents as a butterscotch sweetness. Hops predominate here, though. 4.0

T The big, bitter hops with the medium butterscotch like malt presence predominate in that classic 2 Hearted taste. I do not notice a difference in the cask with the smell or taste. 3.5

M This is where the cask presentation really changes things. First, the beer is near room temperature and it has a kind of "classic" beer feel as in this is the way that the brewer's intended to present it. I really like the feel of this cask version. 4.5

D Fair to good. The hop levels are too high for me but there is enough balance to make this a really interesting beer, one that I would certainly look for again. 3.5

Serving type: cask

02-07-2010 15:59:19 | More by adamette

GeezLynn

Minnesota

4.5/5  rDev +5.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

At The Porter 1/20/10 during Firkin Madness

Beer wasn't all that different from the tap or bottled versions, but was slightly more enjoyable - so will offer short review with modifications on original.

Nice hazy orange color with a large-bubbled white head. Smell had all the tropical hop characters and bready malt this beer is remarkable for. Flavor was also enjoyably sweet with fantastic mango/citrus/pineapple flavors over biscuity caramel malt. Mouthfeel was smooth, not dull like some cask beers and the lack of carbonation really seemed to prolong the bitter finish.

Two Hearted is a very good IPA that is even better as a cask ale.

Serving type: cask

01-20-2010 16:16:14 | More by GeezLynn

Whiteweasel

Illinois

3.75/5  rDev -12.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Served from a cask/minikeg and poured into a

Appearance: A nice copper colour. Might have left the top open so the carbonation sucked. Im just going to give it the benefit of the doubt and rate it as I remember it before today.

Smell: Very nice, like a garden of fragrant flowers. Hop smell is completely dominant. Scent is very fresh and clean

Taste: Hophead's delight. Hoppy but not bitter to a fault. Gets better as you drink it, and you can taste lots of complexity. Very floral and

Mouthfeel: Carbonation peters out quickly (but might be a result of the minikeg incident) otherwise, its crisp, clean, and a solid mouthfeel.

Drinkability: Not very drinkable. Its nice to pour a pint or so, and then just sip on it for a while. Otherwise its a bit too strong and one dimensional with the hoppiness to really enjoy quickly or a number of times. Plus, its rather alcoholic...

Serving type: cask

12-10-2009 14:06:14 | More by Whiteweasel

Deuane

Pennsylvania

4.65/5  rDev +8.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

Wow! I finally land a pint of 2-Hearted on cask. At the Buckeye Beer Engine.

A-Golden copper with an absolutely lovely, thick, meringue-like, off-white head that reduced a touch and left thick, ringing lace.

S-Mangoes and tangerine with a subtle hint of sweet caramel! Whoa! This is nice!

T-Ahhh---WOW! All the hops, Oh my! The malt--mmmm! Damn, so nice. Honey covered tropical fruit compote on a fresh baked biscuit--Gees Louise this is good.

M-Medium bodied yet soft and light feeling. So smooth and creamy. LONG lingering bitterness--absolutely delicious!

D-Crazy good! This, already very good beer, is off the hizey served on cask! So glad to finally track down this one down served via the engine!

Serving type: cask

11-23-2009 13:09:00 | More by Deuane

glid02

Georgia

4.45/5  rDev +4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Cask version at Aroma's in Athens, GA.

Pours a hazy yet bright copper color with a one-finger off-white head. The head recedes into a patchy layer on top leaving thick lacing.

Smells of citrus, spruce, and pale malts, in that order. Loads of hop aroma come out and there is less of an influence from the malts than tap versions.

Tastes very good. Pale malt flavors are a bit more pronounced than the smell would intimate but soon give way to massive amounts of grapefruit and spruce hop flavors that manage to not be over the top. The ending is solidly bitter.

Mouthfeel is good. It's slick with soft carbonation.

Drinkability is very good. I finished my glass quickly and could easily have a few more.

Overall this solidifies the fact that there is no bad way to have this beer. The cask lets the hops shine a bit more but any way you can get it this is worth a shot.

Serving type: cask

11-20-2009 03:50:37 | More by glid02

johnmichaelsen

Oregon

4.5/5  rDev +5.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Was very pleasantly surprised to see this on cask today at Pizza Paradiso at the Dupont Circle location.

The beer pours the expected peachy orange color with good head retention and exceptional lacing. The nose has the prototypical perfumy citrus, white pepper and spice I've come to expect with two hearted. Flavors on the palate replicate the nose, except the cask conditioning has given this beer a smooth, creamy mouthfeel. The beer has lost some of the hoppy bite you get on C02, but the creamy mouthfeel makes up for it in my opinion. Drinkability is very, very good, with the alcohol very well disguised.

Obviously, this beer is a masterpiece, but is an absolute joy to try on cask. Yumm....

Serving type: cask

11-12-2009 00:34:43 | More by johnmichaelsen

Travlr

District of Columbia

4.13/5  rDev -3.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Cask at Churchkey. Gorgeous cloudy straw colored with a large white head that settles quickly. Aroma of freshly mown grass and cut hay. Directly bitter but not over the top, well balanced with malt and light pepper. Better on cask than tap or bottle by a long way.

Serving type: cask

11-05-2009 04:23:32 | More by Travlr

beertooth

Illinois

4.43/5  rDev +3.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

$6 20oz pour from the beer engine at the Maproom.

A glowing ever so slightly hazy orange with a huge foamy white head that leaves thick layers of sticky, crusty lacing down the sides of the glass.

The nose is full of candied orange, sweet malt, tropical fruits and some hop spice.

The first gulp gives me orange candy, sweet doughy malt, slight hoppy bitterness, more tropical fruits. There's some slight oxidization and it's just slightly warm. Just what I like in a casked IPA!

Mouthfeel is slick and fast with very low carbonation(duh!).

Two Hearted is a damn fine IPA and I love casked beers so this is a match made in heaven for me. I could easily empty the firkin all by myself seeing how I killed this Imperial pint in about ten minutes. I better take it easy or I'll be sleeping on the couch tonight. Yeeeesh!

Serving type: cask

09-21-2009 22:02:25 | More by beertooth

paco1029384756

Illinois

4.63/5  rDev +8.2%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Pours a golden orange color with two fingers of foamy white head.

Scent of strong hops, citrus, and sweet sugar to balance it out. One of the beers I can not get enough of the scent, awesome stuff.

Taste of hops, citrus, and sugars. Excellent, a bit more balanced that the bottled version.

Mouthfeel is smooth with a nice bite.

Serving type: cask

08-16-2009 02:02:49 | More by paco1029384756

tadowdaddy

Michigan

4.5/5  rDev +5.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

A- Light orange colored with 2 fingers of head with excellent retention. Lacing is tremendous.

S- Fruity (citrus) and flowery.

T- My go to beer. Is a very well balanced, frity and flowery ale. The hops are not overly strong, yet they do stick out. I can't believe I haven't reviewed it yet. Very well balanced with a bit of a malty backend. One of my favorite beers to drink due to the outstanding balance.

M- Is more thick than you would imagine, and leaves a wonderful aftertaste in your mouth.

D- Six.. easily. No problem at all. My favorite session beer.

Serving type: cask

12-02-2008 17:17:30 | More by tadowdaddy

corby112

Pennsylvania

4.88/5  rDev +14%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

Served cask-conditioned at Monk's Cafe in Philadelphia, PA.

One of the best examples of a well balanced IPA. Pours a hazy golden orange with a foamy white head. Beautiful aroma of floral and citrus hops with a solid malt backbone. One of the smoothes easieest drinking IPAs I've ever had. A nice balance of maltiness and citrus and floral hops. Awesome!

Serving type: cask

11-28-2008 08:01:18 | More by corby112

TheMistler

District of Columbia

4.08/5  rDev -4.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A deep golden color, with some hazy brown. A little bit of puffy white head clings to the glass...

Wow. Hops on the nose. Lots of them. A pleasant, fruity-pine smell.

A surprisingly creamy mouthfeel up front, maybe abetted by it being on cask. Highly drinkable, with some nice malt characteristics moderating the floral and grapefruit hop taste. The Two Hearted also did not leave behind a parched feeling accompany the hops on the palate, as some stronger IPAs do (at least with my taste buds). Instead it was rather refreshing.

Serving type: cask

07-17-2008 01:56:35 | More by TheMistler

beachbum1975

Ohio

4.9/5  rDev +14.5%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

Cask conditioned pour at Dilly Deli today.

This version poured a super cloudy gold color with an AMAZING white creamy head that stays forever This is the best looking head I have seen to date. The lace was super sticky throughout . It clung and held strong the entire time. At the end of the pint, I noticed some small greenish and golden chunks lingering at the bottom. Not certain if it was reminisce from the cask or unfiltered hops!

The smell and taste were both phenomenal. Like my earlier review from the keg pour, but even richer floral, grapefruit and freshly cut grass flavors throughout. Much less carbonation, and a thicker drink then on tap - which is to be expected in a cask...

Highly recommended if you can find it cask conditioned!

Serving type: cask

05-10-2008 01:04:46 | More by beachbum1975

neenerzig

Ohio

4.13/5  rDev -3.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Served in a pint glass. This beer is a clear amber gold color. The head is about 1/4 inch when drawn and brought to me. Settles to virtually nothing with decent lace. Grassy, citrusy hop aromas are certainly present followed by some malt. The taste of citrus, grapefruity hops dominate followed by a somewhat sweet malt backbone. Not much else here. Good, but not as good as out of the bottle. Has a crisp and smooth, full bodied mouthfeel with light to medium carbonation. Easy to drink. If I am correct in my belief that beers in the cask are still maturing and the yeast is still active than this is one beer that I believe is best enjoyed once it has reached its full maturation.

Eric

Serving type: cask

04-23-2008 02:45:31 | More by neenerzig

skibumdc

Virginia

4.9/5  rDev +14.5%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 5

Cask conditioned ale on tap @ RFD in Washington DC.
Thinner mouthfeel than I expected, but I had just finished a barleywine so that may have affected it a little bit.
Nice hop presence but not too powerful. Perfectly malted barley.
Cask conditioning definitely help bnring an extra amount of character to this one.
Aroma was not very present, at least not what I could tell.

Serving type: cask

04-17-2008 12:44:16 | More by skibumdc

MmmIPA

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev -6.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Very cloudy,orange colored body with tons of lacing.

Very citrusy,piney and grapefruit notes in the taste also.Bitterness then malt.

Nice mouthful.Little carbonation.

Nice but I like the bottled version better.Seems more hoppy.It was still nice to have though.

Serving type: cask

01-07-2008 21:33:48 | More by MmmIPA

chefboy812

Virginia

4.5/5  rDev +5.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

This is one of my favorite beers to begin with. It is now avalable as a 1.35 gal mini keg.

I am not sure if it is conditioned in the can or not. I believe by appearance and taste it is.

It pours almost still with a thin lacey head. It is quite coudy which argues in favor of cask conditioning.nice orange color.

iT has a bright fruit hop aroma. with a pleasing hop bite at first sip and a good chew to it's mouthfeel. nice piney and graprfruit finish.

a great beer made better by being "REAL"
I enjoyed the cask over 4 days with pleasing results each day. the carbonation is lighter each day, but the flavors grew in complexity.

nice beer to study, I even tried a bottled one next to this and was surprsied by the vast differences. But I will let you investigate those on your own.
cheers.

Serving type: cask

12-15-2007 21:44:00 | More by chefboy812