Bell's Two Hearted Ale

I'm going to be rounding out my recent IPA kick with a pretty major offering from the folks over at Bell's brewery in Michigan, Two Hearted Ale. I picked up a 6-pack of this while we were on vacation in Virginia, since Bell's doesn't get distribution in Maryland or Delaware just yet. I've had this one before, but knew I enjoyed it thoroughly. Bell's is probably more well known for Hopslam though, a major hop bomb that's sought after by hop heads nation wide.

The first thing I noticed upon pouring was the pungent and sharp leafy aroma from the hops. As it sat the resin broke up a bit, making room for a sweeter grapefruit scent. While there may be some malt smell as well, I didn't really pick it up, instead the beer was drowning in intense hoppiness.

In the glass the beer takes on a golden color with a touch of reddish hue, and supports a thin white head. Being bottle conditioned, I may have poured a bit of sediment into the glass, and ended up with a bit of haziness in my otherwise clear beer.

Grapefruit assaults the tongue on the first sip, then makes way for a substantial bitterness at the back of the mouth. There's a light bread aftertaste on the sides of the tongue that lingers along with the hop bitterness for a few minutes. The beer is most assuredly balanced towards the hoppy and bitter side, which is certainly not unwelcome. It does however lack some of the intensity of Hopslam, which assaults the palate thoroughly with its hoppy nature. That isn't to say that it's lacking in flavor, but rather that it is more of an every day beer.

It certainly doesn't lack for carbonation, actually having a somewhat light body with constant tiny bubbles. The hop resins leave a stickiness in the mouth as well, quickly coating the tongue. The beer goes down easily though, with just a touch of warmth on the tongue and in the chest.

There really isn't much left to say, I love this beer. It's flavorful but not overwhelming, and has a great blend of hop flavors and aroma. The only criticism I can come up with is that there's the slightest touch of either metallic or phenolic taste, barely enough to notice. While sometimes this can be a welcome addition to the mix of flavors, in this case I didn't feel that it added anything. Still, this was a very minor issue for me, and for a standard IPA this is one of the best I've had. I imagine this beer is even better fresh, I don't know how old it is, but I know that it's at least from January. All things considered, it has held up rather well.