Tired Hands

Tired Hands Compilation

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It’s been a while since I’ve recapped recapped some recent Tired Hands beers, and these notes just keep piling up, so here goes nothing. Note that the earliest of these is from late August, so it really has been a while since I’ve attempted to stoke the jealousy of my readership with these local gems. Most are one-offs that will never be brewed again, but we’ve gotten to a point where I’m starting to recognize rebrews of some of their beers, so you never know.

Screeching Loud Thrashing Death Metal Offensive Song

SCREECHING LOUD THRASHING DEATH METAL OFFENSIVE SONG – 10.5% ABV blended old ale – Named after a review on Yelp where someone complained about the, shall we say, eclectic mix of music you hear when at TH (it looks like someone told her that they brewed this beer in her honor, so she updated her review, but the original one is still there.) A blend of 9 month old Flemish red (25%), fresh Barleywine (65%), and rye whiskey barrel fermented Barleywine (10%). Very interesting! Not a ton in the nose, but the taste is unique and interesting. I’m getting lots of chocolate, and maybe even coffee-like notes. Faint hints of cherries and a note of something bright escaping in the finish (prolly that Flemish red). Unique beer, never had anything like it. B+

Singel Hop Saison Citra – 5% ABV saison – Hurm, either this has gotten a lot better since my last glass (my previous note expressed surprise that Citra wasn’t that potent – but it was great this second time), or my palate got destroyed by Vermont beer and is only coming back… Juicy citrus hops and saison spice. Glad I gave it another shot, upgrade! A-

Tabel, Sacred – 4.2% ABV spiced saison – Brewed with oats and Holy Basil, fermented with a touch of grapefruit and pomegranate. Is there a touch of funk in here? Not sure, but it’s a nice, quaffable saison, with some citrus rind character, maybe a hint of lemon, an herbal note, and slight spicy yeast notes. B+

Mt.Sharp – 7.2% ABV Citra and Columbus IPA – Interesting sticky icky citrus and pine combo. Sticky and yet creamy? This is striking a chord that I can’t place, but who cares, because its awesome! A-

SuchUnique – 8.2% ABV Double IPA, Simcoe & Centennial hops – Nice floral and citrus notes, mango, flowers, good stuff. Well hidden ABV. Good! A-

Pub Style Ale – 4.5% ABV pale ale brewed with oats & Centennial hops – Great nose, lots of citrus, big floral hops in the taste. Quaffable! B+

Sad State of Affairs – 8.2 % ABV DIPA – A less profane reference to the cease and desist for FarmHands? Regardless, this is a rock solid DIPA, citrus and pine, a little slickness but still well balanced. Fantastic! A-

Lizard Queen – 5.2% ABV Motueka & Centennial Pale Ale – Yep, another great pale ale, juicy citrus nose (maybe even a lemon note), some earthy floral notes too. Crushable. A-

Euphoric Sunshine Drip – 5.7% ABV spiced saison with Meyer lemon and pink peppercorn – Another typically great Tired Hands farmhouse saison, not quite funky, but that lemon makes overtures in that direction, and the peppercorn accentuates the yeast well… A-

The Multiverse – 8.1% ABV pear farmhouse DIPA – Wow, really nice pairing (pearing?) of farmhouse spice (funk?) and hops, with neither dominating, but instead melding into something different. Really nice! A-

Critical Anxious – 7.8% ABV Biere De Garde – And I didn’t take any notes on this one, though I did write down that I had it, so, um, I dunno. Mulligan.

Oktüberfest – 6.1% ABV Ser Gut Yam Bier – Very nice Oktoberfest style beer, mild, light toasted bread, but still relatively sweet. Great mouthfeel on this one too. Not really my style, but this is my kinda take on the style. B+

My Favorite Show – 5.7% ABV classical modern saison – Typically great Tired Hands saison, almost funky, nice peppery notes, highly drinkable, like a slightly amped up FarmHands (er, SaisonHands). B+

Communication is the Key – 5.5% ABV crushable Simcoe pale ale – Typically great Tired Hands pale ale, big juicy fruit notes, hint of pine, crushable is a perfect descriptor. A-

Tired Hands Murky Growlers

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So I’m at the bar one night and Jean fills a couple of growlers. He gives them to some guy who’s making a trip to Hill Farmstead and says that Shaun Hill likes his beer extra cloudy, so he renamed “Communication is the Key” to “Communication is the Murky” and “We Are All Infinite Energy Vibrating At The Same Frequency” to “We Are All Hazy As Hell Vibrating at the Same Cloudiness”.

Fall Precious – 6.6% ABV autumnal saison – Really nice saison, it’s got that typical Tired Hands farmhouse character, but it’s carving out an identity of its own. Sweet up front, maybe some fruit, with the spice emerging towards the finish. A-

H.C.S. – 5.9% ABV viscous and delicious saison – Power of suggestion, or is this really viscous? Definitely a fuller body than your typical TH saison, very cloudy, a little yeasty spice, well done. B+

MortalGrade – 8.2% ABV DIPA brewed with wheat, oats, Chinook, Citra, Zythos, and Simcoe – Fantastic, one of my favorite Tired Hands DIPAs! Huge juicy citrus, some grassy, floral, and pine hop notes too. Obscenely quaffable for its ABV, no real hint of booze. Great stuff! A

MoMoCoe – 5.5% ABV Motueka, Mosaic, and Simcoe pale ale – Great juicy hop character, lots of grapefruit, nice bracing bitterness, really good! A-

Singel Hop Saison, Chinook – 5% ABV – The 8th singel hop saison, and probably around the middle of the pack. Indeed, the hops and saison yeast seem a little at odds here. Still good, of course, but not the best of the bunch. B+

Under Pressure – 7.6% Blended Artisanal Farmhouse Biere de Garde – Excellent malt forward Brett beer, some nice malty fruit notes, with some peppery yeast and complementary Brett. Great! A-

Coulton Hop – 5.5% heirloom cider/pale ale – 49% of the fermentables came from cider made of apples, pears, and quinces. Hopped with Simcoe and that’s really what stands out, but it’s amazing that they were able to coax something so beerlike out of something comprised of so much cider… As I drink more, the cider twang becomes more pronounced… Really nice. B+

Coulton Sour – 5.5% heirloom cider/Berliner Weiss – Similar approach with the cider used as fermantable. Holy sour patch kids, this is super tart, and you really get that cider side of things here too. Really interesting beers here. A-

Cosmic Slop – 8.3% DIPA – Tired Hands’ 200th batch is a typically great fruit and hop forward DIPA, lots of citrus, pine, and floral notes, very well done B+

Hail Santa – 6.4% ABV Rye IPA – Slightly darker than typical, but still a pale yellow, beautiful juicy hop nose, with some floral and spicy notes hitting in the taste. Really good! B+

I See a Darkness – 8.5% ABV porter brewed with coffee and honey – Collaboration with Sante Adairius, very nice, bigger than normal porter. Tried getting some a few days later, but they were out… B+

Sgt. Salamander – 5% ABV Holiday Sour Berliner Weiss – Wow, this has a typical Berliner nose, but the taste is all sorts of great. Really tight lactic sourness, puckering really, and it’s great. Also had some dosed with cinnamon & vanilla bean syrup that just puts this miles ahead. Super flavorful. B+ (regular) and A- (with syrup)

Trendler – 5.5% ABV alt bier – Very interesting and different, Jean is branching out here, malt forward but not heavy at all… B+

Praise Bee – 9% 2X honey IBA – Zombie rides again… Sorta! Doesn’t quite live up to zombie levels, but it’s really good, nice hop character, well matched dark malts, excellent. A-

Circumambulation – 7.2% biere de garde – Fermented with kolsch yeast and lagered three weeks, this is a subtle beer, super creamy head, not a typical TH feel, but still very good, lots of muted flavors, complex but not overwhelming… B

Bucolic Overlord

Bucolic Overlord – 8% DIPA – Brewed with oats, Citra, Columbus, and Simcoe hops. Great stuff, dank and resinous, with floral and citrus notes rounding it out. Superb! A

VOID ego VOID – 9.8% ABV blended imperial stout – Partially barrel aged in Tuthilltown rye whiskey barrels for 7 months… Not a lot of barrel character, roasty up front, sweet towards the finish with a nice hit of vanilla. Not as thick or heavy as you’d expect, but it still has admirable heft. I really enjoyed this! A-

Principal Eel – 6% sour farmhouse IPA – Well this is unusual, better than the last sour IPA I had from TH last year, but something about the strong hop and sour combo doesn’t completely work for me… B

All-O-Gistics – 5.9% Experimental IPA – Experimental hop #05256 – Whoa carbonation! Not that I’m complaining, but this is more carbonated than your typical Tired Hands beer. Great juicy hop nose, citrus, pine, and grass. Maybe something like green onion. Taste is more piney and it’s got a sharp bitterness. Definitely not your typical Tired Hands IPA, but still great. A-

Can’t Keep Up – 6.2% Spontaneous Saison – Fermented in old Tuthilltown rye barrels that had previously been used to make some apple cider (by frequent TH collaborator, Tom Culton), only 10 gallons produced. Amazing, nice oak character, sharp but very pleasant sourness, almost vinous tart fruit, really great. I love this! A

And that just about covers it. If you’re local and heading over to the next release on Sunday, let me know!

Tired Hands Monster Beers

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As previously mentioned, Tired Hands really gets into the spirit of the Halloween season. Last year, they made a series of beers named after classic monsters like Vampire, Zombie (a personal favorite), Ghost, Goblin, and so on. This year’s theme appears to be 80s horror monsters, including some suitably obscure choices that warm this jaded horror movie lover’s heart (if you’re so inclined, check out my generalist blog, where I’ve been marathoning horror movies for about six weeks at this point). As I write this, Tired Hands is hosting their All Hallows’ Eve Supper which features all of these beers and food pairings (not to mention an exclusive, Captain Howdy, which sounds rather great). Alas, I was not very quick on the gun for that, so no supper for me. I’ll have to content myself with the regular awesomeness of their beer. So let’s do this:

Jason

Jason – 6.9% citrus IPA – Awesome juicy ipa, citrus and pine hops, nice bitterness in the finish, just great! I feel like I should have more to say about this since I really enjoyed it, but I’ll just note that Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives is arguably the best of the series (with strong contenders in IV and of course, the original). A-

Pinhead – 5.9% ABV saison with cascade, Simcoe, and Amarillo hops – Nice blend of saison and pale ale attributes, a little sweet saison spice upfront with the hops hitting in the middle and contributing a nice bitterness to the finish. In other news, they’re remaking Hellraiser. Barker is involved, which is promising, and it’s hard to be annoyed by this when there are literally, like, 7 sequels, most pretty terrible. On the other hand, dammit Clive, we need you to finish that third Book of the Art you started writing, oh, 20 years ago (though apparently the manuscript for The Scarlet Gospels, another book he’s been talking about for decades, has been sent to the publisher, so that’s cool)! And now that I’ve spent more time talking about Clive Barker than the beer itself, I’ll stop. B+

Herbert West

Herbert West – 7.6% ABV Coffee IPA Ethiopian Worka beans courtesy of ReAnimator coffee in Philly (hence the name of this beer) – An interesting spin on your typical Tired Hands IPA, juicy hops of course, but the coffee adds something that doesn’t immediately read as coffee. Easy to pick out when you know it’s there, but the character is more earthy and almost chocolaty than your typical coffee. In other news, don’t you think that the severed head from Re-Animator looks an awful lot like John Kerry? A-

This next beer is a sour wheat saison brewed with PA wildflower honey and fermented atop passion fruit, lime, and grapefruit. Jean kept posting pictures of the pellicle on Twitter, but when I looked at it under my electron microscope, I saw this:

Screenshot from The Thing

The Thing – 6% sour wheat fruit saison – Um, wut? Halp, this am so fruity that I can has lolcat speech. For realz, this is very strange and quite pleasant, tropical fruit all over, light tartness that is perfectly balanced, sorta like a bigger, stronger Berliner Weiss, really nice! Also, The Thing holds up pretty damn well. Best damn practical effects ever. A-

Freddy – 8% robust porter – Dark like my nightmares, not your typical porter, lots of complexity, chocolate, coffee, very light roast, hint of caramel, smooth as can be, easy going. Keep picking out new flavors as I drink. Really solid stuff! I know Robert Englund got a little down for a while because he was so well known for this one character, but he’s become this great horror icon, a grand old man in the genre, and he’s raised the profile of a lot of small horror movies in the past decade, so good on him. And Freddy (at least in the first film), is still fantastic. B+

Emerald Skeletons Listening To Your Footsteps – 7.5% IPA – I suppose this is arguably not part of the Monsters series, but it sounds pretty scary, and apparently Emerald Skeletons are gigantic spiders, which are terrifying in themselves, so I’m including it. And yep, another typically great Tired Hands style IPA (at this point, I’m pretty sure I can pick out their IPAs blind), standard citrus and pine, maybe some floral hops too, interesting complexity beyond the hops that’s hard to place, but all is well balanced and it’s really nice stuff. A-

Blonde Zombie – 11.5% imperial honey IPA – This is basically the same beer as last year’s Zombie, but without any of the dark malts. Whoa, this is really nice, citrus, pine, and floral hops in the nose and taste, a little sticky, but it doesn’t feel like 11.5% at all. Dangerously drinkable for such a monster (pun intended!)… I might still prefer the original Zombie, but this is still a great beer. Favorite zombie movie I saw during my horror movie marathon this year: Pontypool. It doesn’t quite stick the ending, but it’s pretty solid (but then, I’m not much of a zombie fanatic, so take this with a grain of salt). A-

Marty Rantzen

Marty Rantzen – 6.8% smoked gourd brown ale – I love the obscurity of this beer name’s reference, and if you haven’t seen Slaughter High, um, well, you’re in for something strange. For instance, during a sex scene, the girl asks the guy for a little mid-coital dirty talk and he responds with “Uhh..tits! Screw! Tits!” He’s a poet, I guess. Also notable, someone is dispatched with… a “poisoned” can of Pabst Blue Ribbon (that or it’s just regular PBR, they never really say). Oh yeah, the beer. It’s a straightforward brown ale base with some added complexity (presumably from the smoked gourds, though I can’t really pick them out), nice toasted malt character, easy drinking. I like. B+

Will the real Marty Rantzen stand up?

So there you have it. A pretty interesting bunch of beers, actually, so kudos to Tired Hands. Moar holiday beer reviews to come later this week.

Oktober Beer Club

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Tonight was Beer Club, a gathering of beer minded friends from work who get together every month at a local BYOB for libations and fun. This month, someone decided to bring beers she thought would be disgusting. And they were! We should probably discourage this practice, but on the other hand, sometimes you just need to bite the bullet and try some Cave Creek Chili Beer or, in this case, some of Rogue’s recent offerings.

Oktober Beer Club

Half-blinkered thoughts on each beer are recorded below for posterity, though standard tasting disclaimers apply and I’m a moron so take it all with a grain of salt. In order of drinking (not necessarily the order in the pictar):

  • Tired Hands Jason – One of my contributions, and a great way to start the night. I’ll probably talk more about this at some other time, but for now it’s a very nice, juicy IPA, great hop character and that citrus fruit really comes through. Reminiscent of last year’s “Vampire” beer. A-
  • Rogue Beard Beer – This beer’s gimmick is that it’s made using yeast that was found in their head brewer’s beard. Sounds appetizing, no? Well, no, but the beer itself was nowhere near as bad as I was expecting. It felt sorta like a bland Belgian pale ale, with some light spicy yeast notes and some sweetness. So not the worst thing ever, but perhaps I set the bar too low on this one. B-
  • Jerry’s Homebrew “SB” – Mystery homebrew from one member who got it from a friend of a friend, or something. Don’t know what “SB” stands for, but that’s all it was labeled with. But it turned out to be a pretty good beer in the style of a brown ale or soemthing like that. Not something to go crazy over, but a good homebrew. B
  • Rogue Voodoo Doughnut Chocolate, Peanut Butter & Banana Ale – I actually had no real problem with the first Voodoo Doughnut beer, but then again, it’s a smoked beer and no one likes those. I don’t know why they thought it was a good idea to continue this collaboration with Voodoo Doughnuts, but I guess they’re actually selling this stuff. This was a pretty terrible beer. I get hints of that chocolate and peanut butter, but they feel… wrong, like they were buried in Pet Semetary or something. This is an unbalanced, sloppy mess. Not entirely undrinkable, but in no way good. D
  • Terrapin Dos Cocoas Chocolate Porter – Now this one gets the chocolate thing right, and the base porter matches really well with it. Not my favorite style ever or anything, but it works well enough. B+
  • Trappist Westvleteren 12 – Yep, it’s still amazing. Certainly opened some eyes with other folks too.
  • Perennial Vermilion Winter Ale – Excellent English style barleywine, lots of caramel, toffee, and almost fruity malt notes, really nice. A little heavy, but that’s what you want out of this sort of thing. The sort of beer that makes me want to put on a smoking jacket, sit by a fire next to my bearskin rug on a cold night, making haughty rich person noises. Another eye opener for some folks. Me, I really liked this sucker, and may snag another bottle if it’s around (it looks like it was a 2012 one-off, but I’ve definitely seen it around). A-

And that just about covers it. You may have noticed that it’s only been a little over 2 weeks since the last beer club, but we had to reset to the beginning of the month, due to the November and December holidays. So stay tuned, moar to come.

Tired Hands FatherBeast

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This is the, er, I guess we’ll call it the spouse of Tired Hands MotherAnimal (a barleywine conditioned on coffee and vanilla). Near as I can tell, FatherBeast is the same beer, sans the coffee… oh, and it was aged in Dad’s Hat Rye barrels. Beast Mode: Engaged. Not being a big coffee person, I expect this to be more my speed, and what do you know, I loved it:

Tired Hands FatherBeast

Tired Hands FatherBeast – Pours a slightly cloudy dark brown color with beautiful robey tones and just a minimal cap of head that quickly resolves to a ring around the edge of the glass. Smells deeply of crystal malt, caramel and dark fruits, with some vanilla and oak pitching in as well. As it warms, more whiskey comes out to play too. Taste is very sweet, filled with a fruity crystal malt character, with the whiskey and vanilla sweetness kicking in towards the middle, then leaning back to the intense fruity malt towards the finish. Mouthfeel has a relatively low carbonation which leads to a very smooth and approachable feel, medium to full bodied, not much to indicate the ABV. It’s pretty easy going for a sipper. Overall, this is some great stuff. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 11.5% ABV bottled (375 ml capped and waxed). Drank out of the FatherBeast snifter on 9/27/13. “Roughly” 150 bottle release.

Worth waiting in line for, and check out that fancy snifter. Bitchin. As per usual, expect moar posts on Tired Hands in the near future, because I’m a jerk and like to post about beers that will never see the light of day again. You’re welcome.

Halloween and Other Nonsense

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The most awesomest time of the year has arrived, bringing with it stuff like decorative corpses, mutilated pumpkins, bite sized candy, pumpkin beers, and a whole host of other nominally ghastly objects that suddenly become socially acceptable. Here at Kaedrin, we tend to drink a lot of beer (yeah, par for the course, I know) and watch a lot of bad horror movies (these tend to be chronicled on my generalist blog, so stop by and say hello if you’re so inclined). So look for some season’s greetings in the near future. And Sweetzels. Lots of Sweetzels.

Kaedrin Halloween Festivities

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Speaking of Halloween themes, Tired Hands is getting into the swing of things with their series of beers named after various monsters. Last year were the classics: Vampire, Zombie, etc… Take a look at the fermenation board for a preview of this year’s fun:

Tired Hands Fermentation Board

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Yep, 80s horror monsters all the way. Not on the board, but mentioned by the bartender last time I was there, is Marty Rantzen (!), a suitably obscure choice that warms this jaded horror movie lover’s heart. Of course, these are just names, and it’s what’s in the glass that counts, but Tired Hands has more than proven themselves on that front and their nonsensical naming conventions only add to their charm.

Speaking of nonsense, check out this video I made on Vine after I got drunk on Saturday.

It’s no DDB video revue, but I think it turned out well given the approximately 30 seconds I put into it.

Incidentally, this is the sort of thing I’ve been posting on Twitter lately, so go there and follow me now (if you don’t already). Cheers.

Tired Hands Anthology

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It’s been a few months since I recapped some Tired Hands brews, and these notes have just been piling up, so I figure it’s time to pull that trigger and share the wealth with you all… Of course, most of this stuff will probably never see the light of day again, but some of the big ones will probably be brewed again…

Tortoise – 6.7% ABV Brett Amber Ale – Dark amber brown, funky nose. Funk is reminiscent of the Darwin Solera series, some earthiness and even a touch of salinity. Stronger malt backbone makes this a little more complex than the Darwin series, which is nice. Good stuff! B+

Perfect Hole in One – 6.5% ABV IPA – Counter programming because the PGA tour was in town… A typically great IPA, huge citrus & pine notes, very Simcoe, really nice. A-

Guillemot – 8.5% ABV Dense & Dark Oak Aged Saison – This is sorta the base beer for Guillemot Nebula (and Prunus). Dark, slightly sour, nice balance with a creamy malt backbone. Really smooth and creamy, with a slight acidic kick in the finish. Strong beer, maybe not quite as great as Nebula was, but still a worthy A-

Cassie – 6% ABV Motueka Farmhouse IPA – A delicious mash up of the saison and IPA styles, really well matched hop to saison ratio, better than their singel hop saison Motueka (and most of the others in the singel hop series)… Delicious and quaffable. I really loved this beer. A

Tired Hands 5 out of 5

5 out of 5 – 10% ABV Imperial Stout brewed with cacao, peanut butter, marshmallow, PA maple syrup, vanilla beans, and One Village Coffee espresso beans. They gave a concise tasting note at the brewpub: “Notes of everything in the description” Big roasted malt notes in the nose, with all that wacky stuff showing up more in the taste. Definitely a stout, but lots of other stuff going on… Super complex, really weird, but really well done. Not even a hint of booze. Not quaffable or anything, but not a monster either. Some folks don’t like Tired Hands’ stouts, but I actually really enjoyed this. A-

Sunbather IPA – 5.8% ABV honey Meyer lemon hibiscus IPA – Wow, very pretty orange amber color, not your typical tired hands pale (which is cloudy straw yellow). Lots of floral hop notes (or maybe that’s the hibiscus?) and lots of citrus (again, both from hops and other ingredients). Tasty stuff, really nice. A-

Due to an equipment malfunction TH lost a batch of DIPA and to fill the taps, they dipped into their cellars supply of aged, Brett dosed saisons:

Tavna – 6.6% ABV blended Brett saison – Solid beer with Tired Hands’ trademark Brett character, salty, spicy. Great nose. Solid taste, not super quaffable, but good stuff. B+

Whalagos – 7.5% ABV Well aged blended saison – Similar to Tavna, but with more of a smooth, creamy mouthfeel, really nice. Mouthfeel definitely puts this one ahead of Tavna… A-

Singel Hop Saison Pacifica – 5% ABV – Usual cloudy straw yellow, bubbly white head. Nose hits with a sorta green hop character, reminiscent of the Pacific Jade version, and the taste bears that out. Grassy, a little earth, and typical peppery saison goodness. B+

Sleep – 7.6% ABV chamomile saison – Cloudy golden orange color with a finger of creamy head. Seems to have that trademark Tired Hands salty funk going on, but it works well. B+

We Are 138 – 7.6% ABV India Black Ale, brewed with pineapple – Black color, tan head, very nice nose, that pineapple coming through and matching well with those citrus & pine hops. No roast in the nose, but it comes out a bit in the taste, which is still very hop forward. Nice balance though, and very tasty. Overall, really great, delicious beer. A-

We Are All Infinite Energy Vibrating At The Same Frequency

We Are All Infinite Energy Vibrating At The Same Frequency – 6.2% IPA – Mostly clear golden color, amazing juicy citrus hop nose, tastes fantastic. Top tier IPA! A

Mr.Alien – 4% ABV Berliner Weiss – Nice refreshing beer, just a bit on the tart side, really easy drinking, decent stuff… B+

Tired Hands Ellipses

… (Ellipsis) – 7.6% ABV red hued Brett dubbel – Nice amberish color, that Tired Hands Brett in the nose, but hot damn does it match well with the base beer. Nice spicy Belgian yeast, with those dark fruit flavors, and that almost salty funk character tying it all together. I originally pegged this as an A-, but had another glass on a subsequent visit and it totally warrants an upgrade. Really superb stuff. A

Tired Hands Phantom With Three Different Colored Eyes

Phantom With Three Different Colored Eyes – 8% ABV citrus IPA – Whoa! Nice citrusy pine hop nose, but the taste and mouthfeel are absurdly great. It’s got an almost creamy texture, with a great balance of sweetness from the malt and bitterness from the hops, and that juicy citrus holding it all together. Just superb! A

Penelope – 6.4% Farmhouse IPA – Typical cloudy light yellow color, nice Tired Hands funk in the nose along with some citrus hop aromas. Taste has that Tired Hands funk too, a little Belgian yeast spice, and some hops. Crisp, smoove, very easy drinking. B+

Kickphone iFlip – 5.5% ABV Citra & Amarillo IPA – A great light IPA, typical Tired Hands profile, beautiful citrus hop character, off the charts drinkable. A-

Pleasant – 5.8% ABV hoppy black ale, Simcoe single hopped – Nice looking beer, black with light brown head, but I’m not getting as much Simcoe out of this as I was hoping for. Still a nice beer, and if I didn’t just have some superb TH stuff, this might get rated better. B

HappyHands – 5.2% ABV heirloom tomato Berliner Weiss – Well, yeah, that tomato actually comes through. Nice sharp acidic bite to this one. I’m not a big tomato person, so this isn’t my favorite, but it’s obviously well crafted. B

The Rest of Your Life – 6.4% ABV classic modern saison – A really nice saison, not quite funky, though its got that farmhouse feel. Typical Tired Hands stuff here, which is to say that it’s great, if a bit straightforward. B+

Safe & Sound – 4.5% ABV crushable IPA – Pours a surprisingly dark color, murky brown (maybe some amber highlights), nice malt and hop combo, maybe some rye or oats going on here, surprisingly full bodied for such a small beer… I don’t know that I would have ever pegged this as an IPA, but it’s still pretty good for whatever style it is… B+

Singel Hop Saison Citra – 5% ABV – I’m surprised that Citra is not quite as potent as some of the others in this singel hop series, but this is still pretty damn good! A-

And that takes us up to stuff that was just tapped yesterday. See you in a few months with more Tired Hands goodness. Or maybe sooner if they have another quick bottle release…

Tired Hands Rye Barrel Only Void

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So far, Tired Hands has made quite a few barrel-aged beers, but as far as I know, they’ve all been sours. Excellent sours! And while I’ve certainly caught that sour bug over the past year or so, I have to admit that I still have an inordinate fondness for straight up whiskey barrel aged stouts. So it was with great anticipation that I chiseled my way through the waxed cap of Tired Hands imperial stout, Only Void, aged in local Dad’s Hat Rye Whiskey barrels.

I had the “regular” stainless steel aged Only Void at the Anniversary Party, and I had the Red Wine barrel aged variant on Only Void day. Both were excellent, so I was really looking forward to this bottle – one of only 144 available at the release (adding in Believer’s Club members puts the full allocation at somewhere around 220 or so – mental note: find out how to get in on that). So enough blabbing, let’s drink this sucker. Oh and check out this fancy glassware too:

Tired Hands Rye Barrel Only Void

Tired Hands Rye Barrel Only Void – Pours a deep dark, almost black color with a couple of fingers of tan, khaki head. Fantastic retention, the head never really goes away. Smells of chalky roasted malts, some caramel, maybe a hint of whiskey (but it’s not very pronounced in the nose). Taste is sweet, full of rich caramel, very little whiskey and oak, but lots of vanilla. Chocolate flavors also present, and it evolves as it warms up too. Minuscule roasted malt character. Mouthfeel is super smooth, rich, creamy, full bodied, but surprisingly drinkable. Well carbonated, and no evidence of the booze whatsoever – impressive for a 12% beer. Overall, this is great, delicious stuff. Not quite best in class and no where near as whiskey forward as I’d expect, but right up there with the cool kids and face melters anyway. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 12% ABV bottled (500 ml waxed cap). Drank out of an Only Void snifter on 6/21/13.

Another winner from Tired Hands, well worth waiting in line for. These guys are absolutely killing it right now. And of course ther’ll be more jealousy inducing posts about Tired Hands going forward!

Some Notes From Philly Beer Week

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Now that it’s officially ended, I think it’s fair to say that I failed at Philly Beer Week. I went to a few things, but it seemed that all of the week’s most interesting events were happening at inconvenient times for me (not complaining here, as it’s a total pain to get into the city and I don’t do it often enough). To be sure, I went to a few events and sampled a few beers, but nothing like last year’s Hill Farmstead adventure, though I suppose the two Tired Hands events warrant excitement (technically not part of the official proceedings, I’m going to say they count anyway). You’ve already heard about their anniversary event, but they had an Only Void bottle release yesterday too, and I was fortunately able to get there early enough to snag some fancy glassware and bottles (sub-250 bottle release for each variant detailed below).

Tired Hands Only Void bottles and glassware

The black waxed one is straight up Only Void aged in stainless steel, which I got to sample at the Anniversary last week (it’s spectacular). The light greenish waxed one in the middle is local rye whiskey barrel aged Only Void (I’ll have to confirm this the next time I’m at Tired Hands, but I’m guessing that “local rye whiskey” is Dad’s Hat Rye, which is a distillery I’ve been meaning to check out). I’m particularly excited for that one since, to my knowledge, it’s the only non-sour whiskey barrel aged beer Tired Hands has ever made… Finally, we’ve got the red waxed variant, which was actually barrel fermented and then aged in local red wine barrels. They had some of this on tap at the release and I managed to snag a sample before it kicked (which happened within the first hour – there were still people waiting in line for bottles). Very nice fruity sour notes to this one. Special thanks to Rich on Beer for gifting his seat at the bar to me when he was leaving, much appreciated.

Other Philly Beer Week highlights included some Firestone Walker stuff (but nothing I haven’t seen before, which was a slight disappointment), lots of Tröegs Scratch series beers, and a couple of relatively new local brewery Neshaminy Creek beers that I’ve been waiting on for a while now. I was a little disappointed by their Leon imperial stout (also known as the S’more beer, as it’s brewed with graham crackers, marshmallow fluff, and chocolate), but I thought perhaps a 6 month stay in bourbon barrels would improve it. They had a lot of events last week, so it wasn’t hard to track down the bourbon barrel stuff:

Neshaminy Creek Bourbon Barrel Aged Leon

I was a little worried about it when I first took a sip. Super boozy and bourbon forward, I think it may have even been worse than the base beer… but it turns out that it was just served way too cold. As it warmed up, there was a big transformation. Still bourbon forward and a little boozy, but it evened out quickly, and more stoutlike flavors joined the party. All in all, I think it was a nice improvement over the base beer, but it’s no top tier face melter either. I think the base is just too well attenuated to really stand up to the bourbon. Or something. I still enjoyed it quite a bit and will give it a B+

They also had a firkin of their Coconut Mudbank Milk Stout with Samoas and Caramel Delights added into the firkin. Not sure if it was those Girl Scout cookies or what, but this thing had an overpowering coconut aroma/flavor that sorta dominated the taste. I like coconut, so I guess there are worse things out there, but it ultimately felt a little unbalanced. Still enjoyed it. B-

And that just about covers my Philly Beer Week exploits. The Tired Hands stuff was great, but I wished I could have gotten my arse into the city for the Lost Abbey event, where there were apparently pours of Cable Car and Duck Duck Gooze happening. Oh well, I guess there’s always next year…

Tired Hands Anniversary

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Today was Tired Hands’ one year anniversary, and they had a big shindig featuring lots of fantastic beers. As per usual, their events are a bit of a madhouse, but they did a good job keeping up with the demand, and it helps that the new and special beers they were serving were nothing short of spectacular. Big congratulations to Tired Hands for living up to lofty expectations and establishing themselves as the best brewer in the area.

Lunch of Champions: Only Void and an Everything Pretzel

Yummy Everything Pretzel paired with Hophands mustard and Only Void

I had quite a few things today, and for shits and giggles, I’ll include stuff I’ve had from the past few months as well, because why not? Yeah, I suppose the fact that most of them are already gone forever is a pretty good reason not to dwell on them, but how else am I to make my readers jealous?

St.Oner – No picture! Sorry about that! One of Tired Hands’ typically fantastic IPAs. It’s getting very hard to judge these against one another, as they’re all so damn good. The big twist with this one is a very juicy citrus character, presumably from the hops but also maybe some fresh fruit. Pleasant bitterness, and at 6.5% ABV it was downright quaffable and refreshing on a hot day. A-

Romulon

Romulon – Wow, this is a beautiful gueuze-like sour blend (wine barrel fermented Saison and fresh Saison). Very nice oak character, a bright but not overwhelming sourness, tart fruits, just fantastic! While technically a saison, I’d put it right up there with some of the fantastic gueuzes I’ve been having lately. Indeed, this is probably a contender for my favorite Tired Hands beer ever (even though that’s a sorta impossible choice!) A

Only Void

Only Void – Tired Hands has a little fermentation chalkboard and I feel like this beer has been sitting on there since last year. A massive 12% imperial stout conditioned on stainless steel (there are some barrel aged variants coming), pours black with tan head. Nice roasty nose, dark chocolate is there too (and becomes more pronounced as I drink), maybe a hint of coffee in the nose too. Taste has that well balanced roast and coffe note, some earthiness, but also lots of chocolate and some rich caramel and maybe even some hop bitterness in the finish. Really well balanced flavors for such a monster beer. Mouthfeel is rich, full bodied, and smooth. It’s not quaffable or anything, and it would work as a dessert sipper, but it’s pretty easy going for something this big. Only a slight alcohol warming in the belly… Because I drank too quickly! Overall, it’s a fantastic imperial stout. A

Our Berry Vest

Our Berry Vest – A blend of the aforementioned Only Void and a strong brown ale called “So It Goes” (which I’ve never seen or had before) conditioned on fresh strawberries. At 11.5% ABV, this is no fru-fru beer, and it actually has some sour notes to go along with the fruity strawberry. Really interesting beer, it’s got the Only Void notes of roast and dark chocolate softened considerably by a sour fruity character, strawberries coming through clearly, much lighter body than Only Void, but still a big beer. An almost chocolate covered strawberry feel (ok, perhaps not quite like that, but still really good). Great variation on the theme. Glad I sprung for this one. A-

And that covers what I managed to greedily gulp down today. In order to fan the flames of jealousy, here’s some more stuff that I’ve had over the past couple months…

The Light That Spills Out of the Whole in Your Head – In the running for weirdest/awesomest beer name. A 6% citrus pale ale, great juicy hop character full of citrus, really easy drinking and refreshing. One of the few beers Tired Hands has brewed more than once (I think! I know I had this before, but for some reason, never recapped it). A-

Tralfamadorian – They called this a 6.8% barrel fermented biere de garde, but it basically feels like a lighter bodied Flanders Red. Whoa, robey tones, dense tan head, pretty. Taste is reminiscent of Domo, sorta a Flemish red, but with slightly less body. Light on the oak, some sharp sourness, but not overwhelming. Nice sour cherry notes, really well done. A-

Station – A 5.8% Simcoe IPA? Sign me up! Cloudy straw yellow, beautiful grapefruit citrus nose, ditto in taste, with some light herbal notes too. Light and quaffable, very nice! Grading on a curve: B+

Wiggle Wurm – 9.2% DIPA, clear golden yellow, citrus & pine hop aroma, very sweet on the palate, sticky but not cloying. Solid! B+

Wisdom Teeth – Darwin Solera series number 4, a 6% Brett pale ale. This series is seriously mellowing out with each new installment. It’s still got that funky salinity, but it’s more well rounded and integrated. It’s a fun series of beers, highly drinkable stuff and getting better with each iteration. B+

My Briefcase Says “Time Is Money” – Another fantastic name. It’s a 5.7% Black IPA, nice drinkable beer, not as hoppy as you’d expect, but not super roasty either, striking an interesting balance. B+

Eye 4A Face – A 4.5% dry hopped farmhouse mild conditioned on oak. Dark golden hues, nice citrus hops in the nose, taste more malt focused, maybe a hint of oak, plenty of bitterness, easy drinking. B+

CuzCuz – Southern Hemisphere IPA filled with New Zealand hops, etc – Super cloudy straw yellow, bright citrus and herbal hops, floral too, really nice, easy drinking stuff… B+

Tabula Rasa – Classic modern saison at 6.2% ABV. I got a super yeasty pour, almost milky looking, Jean said that happens sometimes and it’s really annoying because he has to sacrifice a bunch of beer to get past the yeast plug. It was drinkable, but he gave me another glass after he cleared the line some. Once I got a proper glass, it was still super cloudy, but at least it was yellow! Nice peppery yeast in the nose, a lot like Farmhands. Taste has that big saison yeast character, spicy sweet, similar to Farmhands but a bit more body. Medium bodied, smooth, spicy, very nice. Overall, really nice. B+

Pineal – Mosaic Amarillo Simcoe IPA at 6%, this may be my first real Mosaic hopped beer? Can that be? Well if this is any indication, I’m going to have to seek out some more! Bright cloudy yellow, beautiful nose, citrus, pine, nice floral aspect, great nose. Taste has nice sweetness, big juicy citrus notes, pine and floral notes too. Great beer. A-

Caskette – Hoppy golden mild at 4%. Yellow color, fantastic juicy hop nose, biscuity malts make a nice platform for those hops, compulsively drinkable. Would have loved to tried the one they actually put on cask! B+

Jittery Tiger – An oatmeal stout brewed with espresso at 6.6%. Black with tan head, big roast coffee nose, strong coffee in taste, roasty, bitter. Coffee beers are not normally my thing… but I like this. Not my favorite evar or anything, but good, and goes down easy… B+

Yellow & Green – A 4.5% all Cascade Keller pils. Nice yellow color, some herbal hops, plenty if citrus too, classic Cascade hop character. Feels more like a pale ale than a pils, but it’s really quite nice… B+

Carpathian Kitten Loss – An 8.8% DIPA brewed with rye. Citra & Simcoe hopped, this has an amazing aroma, bright oranges up in my noseballs, citrus hops all they way… Taste is fantastic too, lots of citrus hops, bright, nice spicy rye or caramel note, a hint of booze but well balanced, way too easy to drink for the ABV, smooth. Delicious, better than the last couple DIPAs that they’ve made… A-

Phew. That’s a lot of beer (spread out over the past few months, I assure you!). I feel very lucky to have Tired Hands out here in my backyard (ok, a half hour away, but still). Really looking forward to the Only Void bottle release (coming soonish, I think), especially those bottle conditioned variants.

Tired Hands Omnibus Post

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Another Tired Hands bottle release today! However, the bottles being released had all made appearances on tap earlier in the year (or late last year), with no barrel aged components or anything, so while there was still a line, it was not anywhere near as crowded as it was for the last couple releases. The bottle was for ArtiSnale, a beer I already covered a while back. But I also have two months or so of notes on Tired Hands beers that I’m sure will interest everyone, since most of these will never see the light of day again. So I figured it was time for another omnibus collection of notes. Check it:

Tired Hands Mrs. Pigman

Mrs. Pigman – This beer came out right around when Pliny the Younger was making the rounds in Philly, like Jean was sorta counter-programming his beer nerd calendar. It’s a huge, hoppy monster of a beer (really glad I got a growler of this 11% ABV sucker, rather than sampling 4 ounce pours). Big citrusy floral hop component, very little in the way of malt character. Overall, not as overwhelming as you’d expect from something clocking in at 11.5% ABV. A delicious “triple” IPA, a worthy competitor to Pliny (though I may still prefer the Younger to this). I tried the growler over the course of a couple days, and it was significantly better on the first night (the night I got it filled), while the second night had become more sticky sweet and less hoppy. Not surprising, but still. That first night was a solid A-…

Perfect Touchdown – More counter-programming here, this one was released right before the Super Bowl… and it’s a superb 9% ABV DIPA! Big juicy hop character, lots of citrus, perfect proportions, nice solid malt backbone, more so than most tired hands beers. Really fantastic brew! A

StrangeOwl – A very pleasant hoppy red ale, very drinkable, not going to blow the world away or anything, but I really enjoyed this one. B+

Liddle Fiddle – Reminiscent of the singel hop saison Amarillo, gorgeous juicy hop aroma and flavor, with a distinct farmhouse saison yeast character. Well balanced, really well balanced carbonation, compulsively drinkable. A-

Ancient Knovvledge – A very trangely spiced saison, it’s got some peppery notes, but also some aroma/flavors I can’t really place… (thanks to the internets, I’ve got a full list here: “hemp seeds, nori, black & white sesame seeds, tangerine juice & zest, schezuan peppercorns, and long red hot peppers.”) An interesting brew, glad I tried it, but not something to go nuts over. B+

Heaven Dream – A straightforward, perhaps above average pale ale, very light and quaffable, solid. B+

Entropic – The first in Tired Hands’ Darwin Solera Series, this is a Brett fermented pale ale (using yeast from Crooked Stave). Pours a very cloudy yellowish color witha couple fingers of white, fluffy head. Smells slightly funky, with an odd salinity? Yep, that saltiness shows up in the taste too, kinda like a shellfish salinity, really interesting… Light funk, maybe some lemon lime action… Mouthfeel is nice, medium body, easy drinking stuff. Overall, I don’t really know what to make of this, except to say that I like it! B+

Galapagos – The second in the Darwin Solera series, this is a new Brett fermented pale all that was blended with Entropic. Cloudy yellow orange, smells of funk and saline, very similar. Taste seems to be evening out a bit, more subtle but still complex. This really isn’t that old, but it seems a bit more mellow, less brackish and salty. I actually like this better than entropic, but they’re both pretty darn good! B+

Dinner of Champions: Tired Hands AromaFlavor and Candied Bacon

Dinner of Champions: Tired Hands AromaFlavor and Candied Bacon

AromaFlavor – FlavorAroma was one of my favorite Tired Hands beers, so I was super excited for this one. It’s a similar recipe, but the hops are different. Pours a deep golden color with a couple fingers of fluffy white head. Smells delicious, tons of citrus and pine, and plenty of floral notes too. Taste has that same hop component, but also an earthy, floral, almost spicy hop flavor that is well integrated with the traditional citrus/pine/floral notes… I’m betting significant Centennial involvement here. Mouthfeel is smooth, lightly carbonated, quaffable. Overall, really fantastic stuff, but I think I preferred FlavorAroma a bit more… A-

A Cold Freezing Night – A pretty straightforward 6.2% stout. Black color, nice roasted malt aroma, some light coffee notes, a relatively straightforward, normal beer. Probably grading on a curve, but this is a B sorta effort. Solid, competent, but not mind blowing… (but then, I like my stouts huge and chewy, so I’m sure others would love this.)

Liverpool – A “magical” dark mild ale, this pours a brown color with a couple fingers of off white head. Smells… British! Light caramel and toffee notes. Also tastes British! That caramel and toffe from the nose, but some nice biscuity character too, maybe a faint hint of subtle toast. Mouthfeel is pretty big for such a small beer (only 4%). Low end of medium bodied, with ample carbonation (more so than most Tored Hands stuff). Overall, a fantastic sessionable beer, if not one that really rocks my world (not that it’s trying to…) B

HeavenDream – Yet another in a long line of solid pale ales from TH. Light yellow color, couple fingers of white head. Surprisingly muted aroma, lightly hopped taste, citrus and pine. Mouthfeel is nice and light, quaffable… Overall, solid… B

Stare At Yourself in the Mirror Until You Feel a Burning Sensation – Quite possibly the best named beer ever. Pours a super cloudy orange color with a couple fingers of white head. Smells of bright, juicy hops along with a sorta yeasty character. Taste is lightly sweet, delicate hop flavor, a little citrus but also almost spicy too. Mouthfeel is surprisingly big considering the abv, medium bodied, but smooth and almost creamy. Not entirely sure what to make of this, but it’s good! B+

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Honestly not sure which beer this is a pic of – one of the pales that’s around this point in the post, I think!

Say It Muy Fabs – A 4% pale ale that I found to be supremely good for such a slight beer. Weird that it does not seem to exist on RateBeer or BeerAdvocate, but I love it anyway. Cloudy yellow, tons of lacing, huge citrus and fruit nose, perfect balance of flavors, utterly quaffable, light, refreshing body, really amazing depth for such a small beer. Maybe I just really needed a drink at that point, but I was very impressed with this one. A-

MagoTago – An IPA made with mangos, this pours a cloudy light yellow color with a finger of head. Huge citrus nose, mango coming through strong, but plenty of citrusy floral hops too. Flavor follows the nose, sweet, floral citrus hops, and that mango coming through loud and clear in the middle and finish. Nice light mouthfeel, quaffable, just really nice. Overall, this is right up there! A-

Bokonon – A hoppy brown ale, as the style goes this is nice, though its hard to compete with some of the other stuff (see previous two beers)! B+

Tabel, Printemps – A saison made with lime and cilantro, this is light and refreshing, really nice little beer, that lime/cilantro combo is prominent but not overpowering… B+

Singel Hop Saison, Pacific Jade – Wow, super “green” hoppy character, like Saaz or Golding, but a little brighter and more intense. Feels super fresh. Mixes well with the spicy saison yeast. An interesting entry in the series, though not my favorite… B+

Tired Hands Comfort Zone

Comfort Zone – Pours a super murky, cloudy, almost chocolate milk looking brown color with a couple fingers of tan head. Smell has that chocolate milk character, but also the lighter saison fruit and spice… Ditto for the taste, which has a very yeasty character that overrides the dark malts… Overall, a nice, yeasty dark saison, but nothing to write home about. B

Phew, that’s a lot of great beer! I usually end up over there every week or two, so I think you can expect to see more posts about these guys…