Editor’s note: A homebrew-scale recipe for Bell's Light Hearted Ale is available to subscribers.
On the earliest attempts…
What we did was, we just scaled down a normal batch of Two Hearted. It was like 4.5 percent ABV, 130 calories, something like that, just your typical session IPA. What I found with that beer—and we all tend to agree—it was a little bit hollow. You know: There was just something missing.
We use these goofy terms sometimes in our brewery, and John [Mallett, vice president of operations] and I were talking about it. We were in the room with a bunch of sales and marketing people, and we were telling them that the middle was hollow, and they’re like, “What are you talking about?” We’re like, “Just trust us. The middle is hollow on this beer.”