Bell’s Brewery is expanding the brand family of its flagship Two Hearted IPA, beginning with Hazy Hearted IPA and a new variety pack, the Comstock, Michigan-based brewery announced today.
Hazy Hearted, a 7.5% ABV IPA with “fruit-forward flavor” and “moderate hoppy bitterness,” will launch this week at select retailers in can 6-packs and 19.2 oz. single-serve cans, according to a press release. American and Australian hops, including Strata, Citra, Mosaic, Galaxy, El Dorado and others, are used throughout the brewing process, as well as “specific and intentional ratios of oats and wheat” to create a “smooth and pillowy mouthfeel.”
“Not just any hazy IPA could join the Hearted family, so we worked for years to craft a flavorful beer that brings out the fruity taste IPA drinkers love, while maintaining the quality and balance Two Hearted IPA fans have come to expect,” Bell’s brewmaster Andy Farrell said in the release.
Bell’s will expand distribution of Hazy Hearted 6-packs across the Great Lakes region by January 2023. The offering will also be available on draft at Bell’s Eccentric Café in Kalamazoo beginning Friday, December 16.
Additionally, Bell’s will launch its first Hearted IPA variety pack this week. The variety 12-pack includes the original Two Hearted IPA (7% ABV) and Hazy Hearted, as well as two pack-exclusives: Big Hearted, a 9.5% ABV imperial style IPA, and Change of Heart, a 6.8% ABV cold IPA. Change of Heart is an “experimental rotating offering” with cans that include a QR code, allowing consumers to review the beer.
The Hearted IPA variety pack will be available nationwide starting this week and will remain in market until mid-March. In April, a new variety pack with “a new lineup of beers” will replace it.
“Growing the Two Hearted brand family has been a long-term goal at Bell’s,” Two Hearted brand manager Carly Davis said in the release. “We were intentional about honoring Two Hearted’s 25-year legacy when creating Hazy Hearted, Big Hearted and Change of Heart and it was imperative that these new beers could sit alongside our iconic Two Hearted IPA, and be equally enjoyed for their perfected flavor profiles.”
Other offerings in the Hearted family include Cold Hearted cold IPA (7% ABV), Black Hearted Ale (7% ABV), and Light Hearted Ale (3.7% ABV).
The expansion of the Hearted family is the first major brand extension from Bell’s since it was acquired by Kirin-owned Lion Little World Beverages, the parent company of Fort Collins, Colorado-based New Belgium Brewing Company. New Belgium CEO Steve Fechheimer teased the Hearted expansion to Brewbound in October, noting that while Bell’s had attempted to expand the Hearted brand with limited-time offerings in the past, this is the most “concerted effort” the company has made to build the family.
Two Hearted is the No. 13 craft brand in IRI-tracked channels (multi-outlet plus convenience) with more than $48.2 million in dollar sales year-to-date (YTD) through November 27, a -5.6% decrease year-over-year (YoY). In the same time period, its case volume sales have declined -7.7%. In the last four weeks through November 27, the IPA recorded about $4.64 million in dollar sales, holding a 1.19% dollar share of craft.
Within the 100 top beer brands, Two Hearted ranks No. 93 with a 0.12% dollar share of beer YTD in multi-outlet plus convenience channels, according to IRI.
Bell’s produced 490,000 barrels of beer in 2021, a +5% increase YoY, according to the Brewers Association. The brewery was the No. 6 largest BA-defined craft brewery by volume, overtaking CANarchy.