Old Time Hawkey & Two Hearted IPA Team Up to Celebrate All Things Midwest

Author

Tanner Bowden

Photographer

Bell's Brewery

Old Time Hawkey & Two Hearted IPA Team Up to Celebrate All Things Midwest

Known for camp vibes and nostalgic ASMR cooking videos, the famous Yooper is hitting the road with the celebrated beer with the trout on the can

Published: 05-07-2026

Updated: 05-11-2026

About the author

Tanner Bowden

Tanner Bowden is a Vermont-based writer, photographer, former wilderness educator, and Field Mag Managing Editor. He also contributes to GQ, Men's Journal, Gear Patrol, and Outside.

If you're one of the nearly 13 million people who follow Old Time Hawkey on TikTok and Instagram, you're already familiar with the appeal. On either channel you'll find Hawkey, aka Fritz, with his two Australian shepherds making a grilled cheese or stack of pancakes, often while playing a retro video game or watching a film from the '80s. Usually, the setting is an old-school cabin, his 1975 Travco pop-top camper van, or a riverside somewhere in the Michigan woods. If this sounds like your idea of a good time, too, we have good news.

Right now, Hawkey is out on the road with fellow Michiganders Bell's Brewery for the Catch You There Tour, where you, Buddy, can join Fritz for a celebration of all things Midwest, including Two Hearted IPA.

The ongoing tour was inspired by the Midwest's deep traditions and heritage. Stops in Minneapolis, Madison, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Chicago, and Indianapolis at classic bars like The Old Miami and Cody's Public House will feature meat raffles, pull tabs, euchre, sweet and savory s'mores, and a custom 8-bit Two Hearted fishing game, among other pastimes—and plenty of Bell's famous IPA.

You don't have to be a hop head to know Two Hearted. The label is distinct with its orange lettering superimposed over a painting of a brook trout; a nod to the classic American camps that still characterize life around the Great Lakes, where fishing—and drinking beer—are simply part of the vibe. Also, the American Homebrewers Association recognized Two Hearted as the best beer in America four years in a row, from 2017 to 2020. It's still the number one IPA in the Great Lakes region.

"Trends come and go, but high quality beer made with intentionality will always be in style," says Erica Vitkin, brand manager for Two Hearted. "Two Hearted stands today as a testament to what a well-balanced and dependable IPA is."

The beer draws its name from the Two Hearted River, a remote, roughly 24-mile waterway that winds its way through forests near Lake Superior on Michigan's Upper Peninsula, aka the UP (which also happens to be where Fritz calls home). The beer's origin story has its own turns and bends, beginning in the late 1980s with a recipe that used English malt and Wisconsin-grown hops. Then in 1992, brewer Rob Skalla started experimenting with single-hop beer recipes, and in 1997 Bell's made a winter seasonal beer using only Centennial hops—it was the first batch of Two Hearted. Six years later, Two Hearted became a Bell's mainstay.

The Catch You There Tour is about more than beer though. "Because we’re inundated with so many distractions on a daily basis there is a want and need to return to real experiences," Vitkin says. "This tour offers an opportunity to slow down, show up, and connect with old and new friends."

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Tour stops run through May 2026. Those who join Old Time Hawkey are in for convivial gatherings at memorable establishments where Midwestern community and traditions will be celebrated alongside and plenty of Two Hearted.