Bell’s Two-Hearted Ale: My Zen Beer

Written by The Beer Wench. Posted in Beer Evaluations

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Bell’s Two-Hearted Ale: My Zen Beer

Published on May 05, 2010 with 6 Comments

The Wench is most definitely a story teller. I have been this way since I was a kid. Growing up, all the kids in the neighborhood used to sit around for hours listening to my crazy tales. I had one story called “The Blob” that I swear lasted for weeks. In fact, I am pretty sure I never ended it.

I almost rarely ever review beers without telling some sort of story about the brewery and the background of the beer. For me, it is these stories that add a completely new dimension to the whole beer tasting experience.

Today’s story is about Bell’s Two-Hearted Ale.

Two-Hearted will always hold a special place in my heart. It was my first IPA, and you always remember your first IPA. I had never experienced anything like it before. Citrus and pine aromas, wickedly bitter taste, super dry finish. It was flavorful and intense. It smacked me in the face and made me beg for more.

I will never forget that fateful night in Columbus, OH. At the time, I was a complete wine geek studying for sommelier certification. My good friend Zach was (and still is) a total beer geek and beginner homebrewer. We met up at a local craft beer bar called Bodegas, where I was introduced to The Two-Hearted.

I suppose I consider Bell’s Two-Hearted to be my “hop epiphany.” That beer turned me into a full-fledged hophead. From the moment I tasted it, I became obsessed with hops. I searched high and low for the hoppiest beers I could find. But, at the end of the day, I always came home to Two-Hearted.

Two-Hearted became an integral point of my life after that. It was my go to beer. Although I loved trying new beers everywhere I went, Two-Hearted was my fallback crush. I drank that beer like it was water. Pint after pint, everyday for almost 2 years.

Some of my best memories with some of my best friends involved Two-Hearted. All of my favorite local watering holes served it — including my favorite bar in the entire city of Columbus, Tip Top Kitchen & Cocktails.

Oh Tip Top, how I miss thee. That bar is the epitome of everything I look for in a great bar –> dark, divey yet swanky interior, fantastic craft beer, excellent whiskey cocktails, great wine, amazing bar-style food made from local ingredients (and ingredients from the roof garden), an outdoor patio, wonderful staff, privately owned and dedicated to the local community. Overall, Tip Top just has a great ambiance. And I could ride by bike there, which was icing on the cake.

I have many happy memories of swilling down pints of Two-Hearted, sitting on the patio of Tip Top, noshing on sweet potato fries and eggplant fries with the house-made Bloody Mary dipping sauce, playing Apples to Apples for hours upon hours with some of the best friends I have ever had in my life.

Those were the days my friend, those were the days.

Ultimately, an itch inside The Wench took me away from the city of which I have so many fond memories to a new city, where I was virtually alone, with no friends and no bars “where everyone knows your name.”

But I was not entirely alone. Lucky for me, Bell’s had distribution in Orlando. And I found a local wine bar that served Two-Hearted on tap. On the days when nothing seemed to go right and it felt like the whole world was against me, I found myself sitting at that very bar, visiting my old friend Two-Hearted, and with every sip, all my trouble would just melt away.

Now I am not talking about an alcoholics moment, where turning to booze helped me to escape reality. I am talking about nostalgia. I am referring to the “mom’s apple pie” concept. You are old and grown, your wife wants a divorce, your kids hate you, you just got fired from your job — and then you go home, to mama’s house, and as you walk in the door you get a big whiff of her homemade apple pie, and then, in that moment, everything is alright.

That is the effect that Two-Hearted has on me. It is a psychosomatic response. Two-Hearted has only brought me pleasure. Once my senses experience it, I fall into a comma of pure bliss, pure happiness, pure zen.

Last year, I moved to California. And although our West Coast style IPAs are absolutely amazing, Pliny the Elder and Sculpin are now my two favorite IPAs, no beer gives me that feeling of pure inner peace like Two-Hearted.

Last week, a good friend of mine (fellow beer blogger James Marks), visited me from Columbus. And with him he brought out Bell’s Two-Hearted and Bell’s Hopslam. And tonight I decided to pop open a Two-Hearted. And as soon as I did, the memory flood gates opened and I was instantly enveloped by the nostalgia and taken to my happy place.

And so I wonder, do any of you have a “ZEN BEER”? If so, I would love to hear your story!

Thanks for listening to mine!

Cheers,

The Wench

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6 Comments

There are currently 6 Comments on Bell’s Two-Hearted Ale: My Zen Beer. Perhaps you would like to add one of your own?

  1. My first craft beer, that started me down a road to homebrewing and other unmentionables, was Sierra Nevada Pale Ale… I still remember it. I also went through a TON of Great Lakes Brewing Co beers, but since I live near CLE, I don’t think of GLBC as a craft beer co. They’re just Great Lakes. Good beer, but common place for me.

  2. Green Flash WC IPA and Racer 5 were my first “wow” IPAs that made me try more and more (they still remain high on my favorites list), but the beer that blows me away day after day is Troegs Nugget Nectar. Down with the people who say it is overrated (of course overrated/underrated is all a personal preference). Every sip of NN causes an explosion in my mouth, and the last drop leaves me yearning for more.

    The only other beer that I can say has an effect near that of NN is Rodenbach Grand Cru. I hate it when the bottle goes dry.

  3. Don, agree on both Sierra Nevada and Great Lake Brews – Dortmunder is a longtime favorite. But my go to beer, and one that got my wife hooked is Harpoon IPA. Had it the first time at the brewery in VT. Drinking that beer makes me smile, not just cause it tastes good, but of the memories in Woodstock, VT it conjures up! Had it on tap a couple of years ago at a bar at Horseshoe in WVa. Great beer on tap, or in bottle! Think it is time for a VT roadtrip…

  4. Once upon a time, a long time ago, I was living among the Ponderosa Pines and Massive Meese (plural of mooses?) of Big Sky Country, Montana. Those days are tinged with memories of ice fishing in the wilderness, warming my frostbitten hands upon the fire while sipping nearly frozen Powder Hound from Big Sky Brewing Company. Or hot summers doing trail work in Glacier National Park, wiping the dirty sweat from my brow, stuffing my mouth with a handful of fresh huckleberries and washing it down with Summer Honey. Unfortunately, as these beers are seasonal, they are not available in stores on the West Coast, although other year round Big Sky Brewing Co. beers are. The only way for me to relish those delicious memories is to go back to Montana!

  5. My two Zen beers are: Duchesse de Bourgogne from Brouwerij Verhaeghe and La Roja from Jolly Pumpkin. I had the Duchesse for the first time about five or six years ago at the Brick Store Pub in Decatur, GA. At that time, I had never had any beer like it. The carbonation, the sour bite, and the complex flavors had a huge impact on my appreciation of Flemish brewing. Later I stumbled upon Jolly Pumpkin’s La Roja and had nearly the same “Wow” reaction. Both beers take me to my happy space from the first sip. They knock me out of my beer geek analytical mode and into a “life’s simple pleasures” frame of mind.

  6. If you are ever in the Troy/Birmingham Michigan area, try the Big Rock Brewery Imperial IPA. The brewery is on site. This was my second experience with an IPA, and by far my most memorable. I guess it helps that the big rock is within walking distance of my house, and will soon build an even bigger brewery almost directly across the street from my house. This must be proof that if there is a God, he must want me to be happy, and have lots of beer! The first time I tried an IPA was at the Frankenmuth Brewery, while on an anniverary weekend there with my wife. I tried one of their IPAs (they currently have two), which was has led to a long love affair with this amazing recipe for this bliss we call IPA in the beer afficianodo world. Since then, I’ve been exposed to the Bell’s Oberon, which I look forward to with great anticipation in the spring here in Michigan, and the Arcadia Sky High Rye. God damn! Michigan breweries make some great beer!!

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