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Beers that have been rated A-, A, or A+

Lost Abbey Red Poppy Ale

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The Lost Abbey distributes here, but as near as I can tell, rarities like this oak-aged, sour-cherry-soaked wild ale aren’t readily available (I’ve certainly never seen it around here). This was first released a few years ago to rapturous reviews, and by all accounts, the hype is well deserved (or maybe not, there’s always a dissenter). I got a hold of this bottle via that trade with Jay from Beer Samizdat that I’ve been lording over all my readers about for a month or so (don’t worry, only a couple beers left in that haul). My flirtation with the sick world of sour beers has slowly been solidifying into a more, uh, solid enthusiasm, and it’s beers like this that have fanned the flames:

Lost Abbey Red Poppy Ale

The Lost Abbey Red Poppy Ale – Pours a clear brown color with beautiful amber hues when held up to light, along with a finger of light colored head. Smells of earthy funk and a fruity, tangy sweetness. Maybe a little oak too. One of those beers that I was sniffing a lot, which would be really weird if I were in mixed company, but fortunately I felt free to explore the nose on this. Taste starts with a rich sweetness, some tart cherries and the lightest of sour twangs emerging in the middle, with some very well incorporated oak character rounding things out. Complex, but perfectly balanced flavor profile here. Mouthfeel is wonderful. Full, rich body tempered by ample carbonation, making this thing quite drinkable. Overall, this is among my favorite sours ever. A

Beer Nerd Details: 5% ABV bottled (375 ml, caged and corked). Drank out of a tulip glass on 9/30/12. Vintage 2012 C (I think that’s what the label sez, it’s a little smudged).

You know what this reminded me of? It seems like a more intense version of Rodenbach Grand Cru, which ain’t no slouch either (it’s got a Kaedrin A rating as well). This makes me want to beg, borrow, or steal some of those other rare Lost Abbey sours, like the Veritas beers, or Cable Car, or any of a handful of other rarities. Who knows what kind of success I’ll find on that quest, but in the meantime, I can always track down a Serpent’s Stout or other “regular” Lost Abbey ales…

Jolly Pumpkin Baudelaire iO Saison

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I’d eyed this saison brewed with rose hips, rose petals, and hibiscus, at the beer store this past summer, but I guess I didn’t look close enough, as the fact that it’s brewed by Jolly Pumpkin wasn’t readily apparent. Luckily for me, Jay had posted about this beer a while back and given it a glowing review, so the next time I saw it, I made sure to snatch it up. I’ve always enjoyed Jolly Pumpkin’s beers, but I have to admit, I’ve never really been blown away by them. Until now! But first, pedantry:

Apparently this is the first in “a liquid narrative” being told by Jolly Pumpkin founder Ron Jeffries and label artist Adam Forman. As such, this new series of beers (named in honor of French poet Charles Baudelaire) has a different sort of aesthetic when it comes to label design, hence my not recognizing it for what it was (in all honesty, I rather like the label design more than the traditional Jolly Pumpkin style). Forman was also working on a graphic novel as a companion to the beers, but that’s “on hold.” No biggie, though, cause this is some wonderful beer:

Jolly Pumpkin Baudelaire iO Saison

Jolly Pumpkin Baudelaire iO – Pours a cloudy, dark reddish orange color with a couple fingers of pillowy head. Smells strongly of biscuity, spicy Belgian yeast with a healthy dose of Brett funk that almost, but not quite, hits a sour note. The taste starts sweet, with that bready, spicy Belgian yeast character yielding to earthy, funky Brettanomyces in the middle and finish. Maybe a little bit of fruitiness to the taste too (perhaps some floral notes from the rose and hibiscus), not quite sour, but in that wild direction. The mouthfeel is highly carbonated, effervescent, full bodied, and very dry all throughout. Overall, we’ve got a well balanced, complex, funky beer here that I might have rated even higher had I not just had Logsdon’s wonderful Seizoen Bretta. Still, this is fantastic stuff. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 6.8% ABV bottled (750 ml capped). Drank out of a tulip glass on 9/28/12. Batch 1019. Bottled 02-23-2012.

Apparently this was made in pretty limited quantities, but they say they will probably be making it again, so if you like funky saisons, this is a must try for you. I’ll probably be seeking out some more Jolly Pumpkin in the meantime, and perhaps some additional entries in the Baudelaire series will make appearances. One can only hope…

Bourbon County Brand Stout

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After my trip to the homebrew shop last week, I popped down the road to one of my favorite little beer bars in the burbs, Station Taproom. It’s a small place, but they’ve usually got some good stuff on tap, and what to my wondering eyes did appear? Bourbon County Brand Stout, we meet at last. I don’t get the impression that this is a super rare beer, but Goose Island only started distributing out here a year or so ago (I think) and I’ve never actually seen a bottle of this around.

I suppose it should be acknowledged that Goose Island is now owned by the great Satan, AB-InBev, but I’ve always cared more about what’s in the bottle than anything else. As a general principle, Goose Island doesn’t get a ton of love from us Kaedrinians, but only because there’s just such a massive variety of beer available out there that I don’t feel particularly obligated to try their stuff. But by all accounts, this beer is a classic and I’ve kinda been drooling over the prospect of trying this for a few years now. Apparently Goose Island started making it way back in… 1992? That can’t be right. Is it? Holy crap, apparently that’s true. Anywho, Goose Island has one of the largest (if not the largest) barrel aging programs in the country, and if those devils at AB-InBev are able to expand that without impacting quality (hardly a sure thing), who am I to complain? Alright, so let’s get to it:

Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout

Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout – Pours pitch black color with a finger of light brown head. Very thick looking, like old motor oil. Smells strongly of bourbon and oak, with some vanilla and caramel coming out to play too… Taste has a ton of deep sweetness, lots of rich bourbon, caramel, dark chocolate, oak, vanilla, and just a hint of booziness (which is impressive for such a monster beer)… Mouthfeel is rich, creamy, thick and chewy, coating your mouth leaving those complex flavors to linger pleasantly on the palate. A little booziness and alcohol warming, but nothing overwhelming and actually pretty light for a 14.5% beer. It’s reasonably well balanced for such a monster. Overall, superb. A

Beer Nerd Details: 14.5% ABV on tap. Drank out of a goblet on 9/27/12.

I’d love to get my hands on some bottles of these, as it’s certainly one of the better big barrel aged stouts I’ve had. I can’t say as though I’m going to run out and try other Goose Island beers, but I’ll definitely be seeking out anything from the Bourbon County Brand series.

St. Bernardus Tokyo

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Hey, that St. Bernardus bottle looks weird. Oh God, what have they photoshopped onto that poor monk now? Is that a… kimono? What the hell? Tokyo? Did St. Bernardus make a new beer? Why was I not informed!?

Yeah, so while American breweries are pluralistic and ephemeral, engaging in limited-release arms-races and resurrecting dead styles, a lot of older breweries like St. Bernardus have a stable, tried-and-true lineup that doesn’t change much, if ever. This isn’t to badmouth St. Bernardus, a brewery we have the utmost respect for, as our archives demonstrate. For those keeping score, that’s 3 A ratings, 2 A- ratings, and one each of B+ and B. Truly a brewery to be reckoned with, which is why I jumped when I saw the poor monk photoshopped into a kimono. Apparently St. Bernardus is opening a branded Belgian beer pub in Tokyo, and brewed this one-time batch of beer to commemorate the occasion (most went to Tokyo, but some was reserved for normal distribution avenues in Europe and the US).

As it turns out, I grabbed the bottle so quickly that I didn’t pay attention to the price tag, which came in at a hefty $20+ for a 750. Now, lord knows I’ve pretty much broken down that $20 barrier, especially for the barrel aged monsters I’m addicted to, but this thing’s a 6% ABV Wit beer? Ooooookkkkaay, well, maybe there was a ridiculous markup at the bottle shop and most places that get this one-time brew are more reasonable. Apparently this brew uses malted wheat whereas a lot of traditional wit beers use unmalted wheat. Or something. I don’t really grok it, but perhaps that explains why this didn’t feel that much like a wheat beer (though I kinda loved it):

St. Bernardus Tokyo

St. Bernardus Tokyo – Pours a very cloudy, darkish yellow color with a couple fingers of fluffy white head. Smells of pure Belgian yeast, lots of spice (clove, coriander), bready aromas, and even a little light fruitiness. It seems like the nose of a Belgian Pale rather than a Wit (indeed, I get very little wheat character from this at all). Taste is again mostly defined by that bready, biscuity Belgian yeast which imparts lots of spicy flavors, along with some very light fruitiness and maybe even a hint of grassy, herbal hops (but maybe that’s just my imagination). As it warms up, some complexity in the form of that trademark wheat character starts to emerge, though this still feels like a Belgian pale… Mouthfeel is highly carbonated and effervescent, with a nice spicy feel. Finishes pretty dry too, making this a good beer to match with food. Overall, this is an excellent beer, much better than I was expecting… though I’m still not sure it justified the price tag. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 6% ABV bottled (750 ml caged and corked). Drank out of a goblet on 9/21/12. Label sez: “It is a unique, single batch brewed on February 3rd and 4th 2012”. Hops: Golding and Magnum.

So all’s well that ends well, and I’m really glad I got to try this thing, but I find it hard to recommend due to the price. If you’ve got the cash or hey, if you find a cheap bottle, go for it. Otherwise, I’d say hit up the Watau Tripel, which is probably about 3 times cheaper and probably better…

Hoppin’ Frog Barrel Aged Naked Evil

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I’m guessing that Hoppin’ Frog’s graphic artist was on vacation when they were bottling this stuff. Every single other label that Hoppin’ Frog makes features that weirdly proportioned cartoon frog, so scrolling down their list of beers, this thing definitely stands out. Maybe that’s the point. It certainly caught my eye in the store. I was a little wary of the odd description “Belgian-style Barley Wine-style Ale”. I mean, huh? Maybe their copy writer was on vacation too. Reading the full description, it becomes a little more clear. This is a barleywine that’s fermented with Belgian and English yeasts, then aged in whiskey barrels. Color me excited:

Hoppin Frog Barrel Aged Naked Evil

Hoppin’ Frog Barrel Aged Naked Evil – Pours a bright, slightly hazy amber color with almost no head at all, just barely a little ring of light colored stuff around the edge of the glass. Smells strongly of fruity malts and booze, some caramel, vanilla, oak, and bourbon. Taste starts with rich caramel, those fruity malts, and tons of boozy bourbon, oak, and vanilla. Mouthfeel is beautiful, surprisingly well carbonated (perhaps that Belgian yeast asserting itself), but still rich and creamy. As it warms, that tight carbonation winds down a bit into more traditional barleywine territory. Indeed, the fruity flavors and depth call to mind a port wine kinda character. Overall, a fantastic take on the style. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 11.3% ABV bottled (22 oz. bomber) Drank out of a snifter on 9/8/12. Batch 2 (black cap).

So at this point, I’ve had three beers from Hoppin’ Frog, and they’ve all been pretty fantastic. B.O.R.I.S. The Crusher is a fantastic imperial stout, and some sort of IPA that I don’t remember the name of (which was very good, though I wasn’t really in a position to take notes or pay much attention – sue me). So I guess what I’m saying is, I need to try more stuff from these folks in Akron, Ohio. They might not have a great graphic artist team (though they’re far from bad), but they seem to get the stuff inside the bottle right, which is the important part.

Lost Weekend

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No, I didn’t get blackout drunk this weekend, but I did lose a bunch of reviews due to a hardware failure on my host. All is well now, but I lost last Thursday’s review, and any notes I took over the weekend. Also, some comments were lost, so sorry about that (for what it’s worth, they were about the recent and awesome trend of non-sour beers aged in wine barrels and other fancy non-bourbon barrels).

But I’ve got a steel trap for a brain, so here are some thoughts on recent drinkery. I’ll include ratings, but I’m sure the nerdiest among you will be wary of their reliability or something. I suppose there’s something to such claims, but that’s no fun and you should probably get over yourself, so here goes (in order of consumption):

  • Smuttynose Pumpkin Ale – Yeah, it’s that season again. I know there are lots of folks that freakout about early availability of these brews, and in July, they might have a point, but it’s mid-September at this point, so I think it’s time to start easing into the seasonals. This is my favorite time of year, when it’s socially acceptable to watch bad horror movies, mutilate pumpkins, and decorate your house with faux-corpses. Oh, and we start to get seasonal beers that are actually distinctive… like this beer. Unfortunately, I found it to be a lackluster example of the style. It’s got the typical elements – pumpkin and assorted pumpkin pie spicing (cinnamon, nutmeg, etc…) – but it came off flabby and limp. It’s a relatively low-ABV beer, which I think lent to the more watery feeling (not that low-ABV automatically means bad or anything – there are beers that do that well). It’s not the worst beer ever or anything and I’d totally favor this over any macro offerings, but I found it disappointing. B- (Beer Nerd Details: 5.84% ABV bottled (12 oz.) Drank out of a tulip glass on 9/14/12.)
  • Dieu Du Ciel Équinoxe Du Printemps – Probably my favorite beer of the weekend, a Scotch Ale made by those wacky French Canadians at Dieu Du Ciel. I’ve previously enjoyed their pale ale, but this thing makes me want to stock up on everything of theirs I can find. It’s a Spring seasonal and apparently not much makes its way down here, but I lucked into a bottle:

    Dieu Du Ciel Equinox Du Printemps

    Thick and chewy, with a burst of delicious fruity malts and rich, syrupy caramel. It’s got a richness that I normally associate with barrel aged beers, though there’s obviously no bourbon flavors or anything like that. Apparently this is made with Maple Syrup, which probably explains some things (maybe the syrup was oak aged?) A big, eye opening beer, but well balanced, complex flavors make it something to seek out, especially for malt lovers. Right up my alley, and a good way to follow up with that pumpkin beer. A- (Beer Nerd Details: 9.5% ABV bottled (11.5 oz twist off) Drank out of a snifter on 9/14/12.)

  • Great Lakes Oktoberfest – As near as I can tell, this is the best reviewed Oktoberfest beer on Beer Advocate (at least, of beers with more than 50 ratings), even beating out the Germans. It’s not really my favorite style, but I always like to sample a few during the season, just to keep sharp. I actually really enjoyed this one. Not sure how close to authentic style it is, but whatever, it’s really solid. Maybe a little sweeter than expected, but it’s got that trademark toasty, nutty malt flavor, along with some atypical (to me, at least) caramel malts. It goes down quite smoothly, and I’d certainly put this towards the top of my rankings for the style (along with Live Oak and Ayinger). B+ (Beer Nerd Details: 6.5% ABV bottled (12 oz.) Drank out of a big ass mug on 9/15/12.)
  • Boulevard Brewing The Sixth Glass – I found myself relatively unimpressed with my previous exposure to Boulevard’s celebrated Smokestack series, a double IPA that just wasn’t doing it for me. Fortunately this one, a Belgian-style quadrupel, fared better. Perhaps not a top tier example of the style, but it’s a respectable and welcome redemption for Boulevard. Lots of Belgian yeast, musty and spicy, along with some fruity malt character. Perhaps a little too much sweetness, leading to a slight stickiness that’s not really characteristic of the best of the style. Still, this was a really nice beer, a fitting nightcap to a late Saturday night. B+ (Beer Nerd Details: 10.5% ABV bottled (12 oz.) Drank out of a goblet on 9/15/12.)
  • Emelisse Barley Wine Ale – Bonus review! I had actually written up and published a full blown post for this one, and it was witty and brilliant stuff, but it got lost in the ether. Fortunately, my tasting notes were still available, so you get more detail here: Pours a deep, cloudy amber brown color with minimal head. Smells of ripe fruit, caramel, and maybe some booze. Taste is filled with rich, fruity malts, caramel flavors, a little booze, a hint of bitterness in the finish. Full bodied, rich mouthfeel, minimal carbonation, very smooth, a little boozy warming going on, some slickness in the finish before it dries out. Overall, this is a very well crafted, if pretty straightforward English barleywine. B+ (Beer Nerd Details: 10.5% ABV bottled (11.2 oz.) Drank out of a snifter on 9/1/12.)

So there you have it. A solid weekend, and I’m excited to enter Halloween season. I’ve got a couple unusual pumpkin ales coming up, as well as an accidentally aged Autumn Maple that’s just calling my name. Harvest beers are starting to show up too, though I get the impression that West Coasters benefit from such practices moreso than we do, though I’m sure I’ll get my hands on some local harvest stuff from Victory and the like. Stay tuned…

Logsdon Farmhouse Ales Seizoen Bretta

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Not content with being the least coherent style in the history of beer, it appears that there are also multiple ways to spell “saison”. This is unsurprising though, owing to the fact that “saison” is just French for “season”. Now, why Logsdon went with the Dutch spelling is a bit of a mystery, but who cares? This is an awesome beer – the biggest surprise of the year so far. Not that I was expecting it to be “bad” or anything. This was yet another in the cross-country trade with Jay, and he gave this thing a stellar writeup on his blog, so I had high hopes… but as saisons go, this is one of the funky variety, dosed with Brettanomyces. I haven’t had a ton of this particular sub-style of saison, but I’ve had some supposed world-beaters like Saison Rue, and while I’ve enjoyed them, I’ve never been really been blown away by one. Until now:

Logsdon Seizoen Bretta

Logsdon Farmhouse Ales Seizoen Bretta – Pours a cloudy orange color with a couple fingers of fluffy white head. Smells wonderful, lots of light fruity aromas along with some spiciness (both presumably due to some sort of Belgian yeast) and a well balanced, earthy Brett funk. Tastes amazing too! Starts off sweet and spicy, a little juicy fruitiness in the middle (maybe a hint of wild yeast twang there), and earthy Brett funk in the dry finish. Definitely not sour, but maybe a really light tartness (which I may be attributing more to fruitiness than tartness, but whatever). Mouthfeel is highly carbonated and effervescent, but not harsh or overpoweringly so (the way a lot of yeasty Belgian style brews can be). Medium bodied with a beautiful, dry finish. Overall, utterly fantastic saison, probably my favorite “funky” saison ever. Superb. A

Beer Nerd Details: 8% ABV bottled (750 ml capped and beeswax dipped). Drank out of a tulip glass on 8/24/12. Bottle No. SB 12517. Best by: 05/2017. Bottle sez: Certified Organic.

Logsdon Farmhouse Ales is apparently the brainchild of David Logsdon, who made his way into the craft beer world by founding Full Sail Brewing way back when, but if this new brewery is any indication, I can’t wait to see what they do. Heck, this single beer is pretty darn spectacular, I’d be happy if they just started distributing out East! In the meantime, I’ll just have to see if I can get my hands on another of these things. I think there’s a pretty good chance this thing could garner the vaunted Kaedrin A+ rating, but I don’t hand them out lightly, and usually force myself to have at least a few separate tastings before giving them out.

Russian River Row 2/Hill 56

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One of the driving forces behind this blog is the wanton violation of the Constitution of the United States. Don’t get me wrong, I’m overall a pretty big fan of that document, but Amendment XXI, Section 2 can kiss my ass. It says you can’t transport “intoxicating liquors” across state lines. Given the PLCB’s ridiculous stance on single bottle sales in PA (i.e. you have to buy full cases1), it’s pretty much required for a beer nerd in my area to become a scofflaw. In addition to this, I giddily smuggled beer back to PA on a flight back from Texas last year.

And now I’ve added another felony to my repertoire: the vaunted beer trade. Jay, from the most excellent Beer Samizdat blog2, proposed a swap of ungettables from the opposite coast. And thus I came into the possession of West Coast rarities the likes of which us East Coasters drool over3. Er, sorry, don’t mean to rub it in, but it was exciting. And I’m not sharing.

As it was my first time, I was a little nervous about shipping mishaps4, but fortunately, I had plenty of bubble wrap securely fastened around all the bottles I sent, so no bottle explosions in transit or knocks at the front door by the FBI (I can just picture them now, in their black suits, holding a dripping box, frowning… saying “Is this yours?” while their partner pulls out the hand cuffs). Jay, being more experienced on this front, sent his in a fortress of seemingly indestructible styrofoam. Anywho, this is all by way of saying that you’re going to see some reviews of West Coast mind blowers in the near future.

Like this beer, from one of our nation’s most amazing breweries, Russian River. It’s the first in a line of beers they’re calling “The Hop Grower’s Tribute Series”, and in this case, they’re honoring the three farms that grow Simcoe hops. It’s named after the location in the experimental hop yard where Simcoe was born, and is it just me, or should there be more than 3 farms growing these prized hops? If the prices for Simcoe at the homebrew shop are any indication, I think there are some farmers that could stand to make a pretty penny by stepping up production.

I’ve never actually seen a bottle of Pliny or even Blind Pig, but it looks like the label’s got the trademark Russian River disclaimers pleading with you to drink the beer as soon as possible, least the hop character fade (as they tend to do with time). “This beer is not meant to be aged! Age your cheese, not the beer inside this bottle! Keep cold, drink fresh, do not age! Consume Fresh, or not at all! Respect hops, consume this beer fresh! Keep away from heat! This beer does not get better with age! Please do not age me!” They won’t shut up about it, but then, they’re probably right. And in any case, Russian River beers tend not to last long in my house. This stuff was gone just a few short days after I received it:

Russian River Row 2 Hill 56

Russian River Row 2/Hill 56 – Pours a bright golden color with a finger of quickly disappearing, fluffy head. Smells of bright grapefruit and a little bit of pine, pure Simcoe gold. The taste is less sweet than I’d expect, with a bracing bitterness that hits quite quickly and intensifies through the taste. Pine comes out more as a flavor here than in the nose, along with a sorta herbalness I associate with Cascades (which makes sense, since Simcoe is descended from Cascade). Mouthfeel is light, smooth, quaffable, but with a pleasant hoppy bite and a nice dry finish. Man, this thing goes down easy. A fantastic summer beer, perfect for quenching thirst after a long day/week in the office. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 5.8% ABV bottled (510 ml). Drank out of a tulip glass on 8/17/12. Bottled on 6/26/12.

At this point, I think I’ve had everything Russian River has made available in PA (including the likes of Pliny the Younger and a bunch of their mildly rare sours), but it’s nice to know that I may be able to get my hands on stuff like this in the future. Thanks Jay!

1 – There is a loophole to the case law that says that restaurants (or some sort of eating establishments) can sell singles, so the case law isn’t as annoying as it used to be. I was surprised when I recently walked into a new local place that’s purely a bottle shop – I asked the guy working there how he got around the case law, and he pointed to the back of the place. Tucked away in the corner was one of them hot dog machines that rolls the hot dogs. I suspect they don’t sell many of those things. Even grocery stores are getting into the act these days, and one local beer distributer seems to just be throwing caution to the wind and selling singles illegally. I say good on them!

2 – I suspect most of my readers are already familiar with Beer Samizdat, but it’s an excellent blog and Jay’s been posting up a storm of late, so be sure to check it out.

3 – Jay seems pleased with his haul too. I won’t spoil the trade, but I’m sure you’ll see a few of them show up on his blog in the near future too (like this one)

4 – Definitely illegal to ship via USPS, so third parties it was. Thanks to my lazy habit of never throwing out boxes, I had plenty of bubble wrap laying around (I used at least 3 or 4 different varieties), and did my best. Still, I was a little nervous, but as it turns out, bottles aren’t that fragile.

Central Waters Bourbon Barrel Barleywine

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So here we go, tapping that hotbed of beery goodness, Wisconsin. In all seriousness, these Central Waters folks have quite the reputation, most especially for their bourbon barrel stuff, which, you know, goes a long way here at Kaedrin. They’re also apparently one of them green-powered eco-hippie breweries. My eyes kinda glaze over when I read stuff about that, but from what I gather, the fine folks of Central Waters have invented a race of solar-powered, sentient robots to do all the brewing. The people of Wisconsin are quite industrious and may indeed be architects of the robopocalypse. That, or I have poor reading comprehension. Anywho, let’s drink some beer:

Central Waters Bourbon Barrel Barleywine

Central Waters Bourbon Barrel Barleywine – Pours a deep amber color with minimal, whitish head. Smells full of bourbon and caramel, with heaping helpings of vanilla and oak. The taste follows the nose pretty well – tons of rich caramel malt flavors, lots of intense, boozy bourbon, along with a little well-rounded vanilla and oak. Some fruity notes open up as it warms. Very sweet, but not quite cloying. Mouthfeel is full bodied, thick, a little light on the carbonation (though not too light at all), a bit of sticky booze in the finish, and a pronounced warming effect from the 11.5% ABV. Overall, pretty much everything you could want from a bourbon-barrel aged barleywine. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 11.5% ABV bottled (12 oz.) Drank out of a snifter on 8/11/12. Bottled in January 2012.

Nice first impression of the solar-powered wizards from Wisconsin, definitely hoping to get my hands on more of their stuff.

A Trip to Tired Hands Brewing

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Tired Hands is the brainchild of Jean Broillet IV and his wife Julie Foster. Jean began as a homebrewer, but quickly turned professional, starting at Weyerbacher Brewing Company where he learned the ins-and-outs of the brewing business. Eventually he moved on to the Iron Hill Brewpub in West Chester, PA (just down the road from me) and it was there that he fell in love with the brewpub model. After several years, he set plans in motion for his own brewpub, eventually landing in Ardmore, PA.

Tired Hands Logo

The greater Philadelphia area is home to numerous breweries, but few seem to inflame the passions of the Beer Advocate set (this isn’t to say they’re not any good, but that’s a topic for another post). Tired Hands looks to be a local brewery that will join the rarified few that amaze beer dorks like myself. Drawing inspiration from the farmhouse brewers of France and Belgium and the heavy handed hop-heads of the US, Tired Hands has already made a splash, just a few short months after opening their doors in June, 2012. Just to give you an idea of how well their launch has gone, they’ve already collaborated with the insanely popular Hill Farmstead on a couple of beers, which naturally brought many beer nerds to attention (the first time I heard of Tired Hands was at the Hill Farmstead event during Philly Beer Week). Being a fool (or perhaps just because my liver wasn’t up to the task), I didn’t get to try that collaboration.

But all is not lost, as they’re a reasonable hop and skip away, and I’ve lately thought it would be interesting to take a look at the smaller brewers of the area. And Tired Hands is indeed quite tiny, focusing on small batch brews (their website sez they make twelve-keg batches) and uber-local foodstuffs. It’s not quite a full-blown restaurant, but they offer a nice selection of fresh baked bread, local artisanal cheeses, and charcuterie. Which, quite frankly, is enough for me!

Duck Prosciutto

Duck Prosciutto

But what about the beer? I hear you, dear reader, so let’s do this thing:

Tired Hands Single Hop Saison (Simcoe)

Tired Hands Single Hop, Saison (Simcoe) – As if saisons couldn’t get more weird, here we have a traditional sweet and spicy saison liberally hopped with juicy American Simcoe varietals. Pours a cloudy, bright straw yellow with two fingers of pillowy head. Smell is full of piney simcoe and some fruity citrus, with a tiny, spicy Belgian yeast influence. Taste starts sweet and spicy (white pepper?), like a proper Saison, but then that simcoe pine and citrus hits, leading into a very dry, bitter finish. As it warms up, the Simcoe undergoes a bit of a transformation, with an herbal earthiness emerging into the fray. Mouthfeel is lightly carbonated, a little spicy kick, but ultimately smooth and compulsively drinkable. Overall, this is a superb blending of styles that I wouldn’t have expected to work anywhere near this well. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 5% ABV on tap (8 oz). Drank out of a wine glass on 8/18/12.

One of the nice things they do at Tired Hands is allow you to get small 4 ounce samplers, which allowed me to get a much broader view of their available brews. Of course, I’m sure there are some beer nerds who will scoff at 4 ounces being enough beer with which to judge, so I guess take it with a grain of salt. For me, 4 ounces is probably the minimum amount, but enough. Whatevers, let’s drink some beers:

Tired Hands Borage Saison and Hop-A-Tact IPA

Tired Hands Hop-A-Tact (glass on the right) – Pours a copper color with a finger of head. Smells of bright fruity hops, some pine, and some sort of malt that I can’t quite place. Taste also has that mysterious malt character (looking at their site after the fact, I see that this is brewed with oats, Victory malt, and a touch of black wheat malt – hardly typical IPA material) along with plenty of citrus and pine from the hops and a light bitterness in the finish. Straightforward medium body mouthfeel, not quite quaffable, but it goes down easy enough. Overall, a very solid,interesting take on the IPA, if not quite a face melter. B+

Beer Nerd Details: 7% ABV on tap (4 oz). Drank out of a mini-pint glass thingy on 8/18/12.

Borage Saison (glass on the left) – I’ve never heard of Borage before, but hey, why not brew a saison with mystery herbs? Pours a bright, cloudy yellow color with a finger of white head. Smells of spicy, peppery Belgian yeast, with a hint of light fruit and herbs. Taste starts sweet and spicy before drying out as the taste proceeds. Hints of fruit and herbs emerge too. Mouthfeel is smooth with a little bit of a spicy bite. Overall a very nice, complex take on a more straightforward Saison style. B+

Beer Nerd Details: 7% ABV on tap (4 oz). Drank out of a mini-pint glass thingy on 8/18/12.

Tired Hands Mysterious Mood

Tired Hands Mysterious Mood – Fermented and aged in old Chaddsford Winery barrels which, apparently, had contracted a small Brettanomyces infection. Music to a farmhous brewers ears. This one pours a slightly darker yellow than the other saisons, with a finger of light colored head. Smells of funk with just a hint of sour twang. Taste starts sweet, light spice, followed by a heaping helping of funk and some light sour twangyness. Mouthfeel is lightly carbonated and smooth. Overall a very nice take on a funky saison. B+

Beer Nerd Details: 5.1% ABV on tap (4 oz). Drank out of a mini-pint glass thingy on 8/18/12.

Tired Hands Deuce

Tired Hands Deuce – A “Corn based hoppy brown ale”, whatever that means. Pours a medium brown color (a bit light for something described as a brown ale) with a small, light colored, creamy head. Smells lightly hoppy, citrusy, some darkish malt (not roasty or anything like that, but not quite a brown ale either). Taste is sweet, with those darkish malts and nice citrus hop flavors without the bitterness. Mouthfeel is smooth, goes down easy, medium bodied. Overall a solid beer, but it’s kinda struggling to find its identity. It kinda goes in a few different directions without really coming together. That being said, it’s certainly an interesting effort and it went down easy enough, so there’s that… B

Beer Nerd Details: 7.1% ABV on tap (4 oz). Drank out of a mini-pint glass thingy on 8/18/12.

Well, I can certainly see Tired Hands becoming one of my go-to local joints. I think they’ve done some limited bottling before, though I have no idea how often they’re planning on doing that or if I’ll ever get my hands on some. Given their tiny, local-based approach, I suspect bottles aren’t going to be super common, but I’m definitely keeping an eye out. Well, this was a most enjoyable experience. I’ve already got a couple other local pubs/breweries on my radar, though I have no idea when I’ll get to them…