Second Visit to Tired Hands

Last weekend I took my second trip to Tired Hands in Ardmore. This time I did it on a Saturday so I could spend a bit more time there than when I visited on the Wednesday during beer week. Once again the trip from Philly on the R5 was super easy and it's maybe a five minute walk from the station. Super convenient for those of use that find getting to the suburbs a pain in the butt.

When I arrived I ordered a glass of Tabel, a 3.8% saison. Note that even though I insisted in saying the name like table, it's apparently pronounced ta-bell. So if you don't want Jean giving you funny looks, you can say it properly now.

Very clean saison nose. Light spiciness, slight citrus notes. Mildly sweeter body than I expected with a little breadiness in the back as the main flavor. A nice pepper note built as I worked my way through the glass too. Very clean and enjoyable, great for 3.8%. With the low ABV yet strong taste, this is super for people who need to drive to Tried Hands which is, well, mostly everyone since it's in the suburbs. While this isn't one of the two permanent drafts, most likely a version of it will be always be available in some form. Jean, the brewer, said he planned on using different spices and probably different hops to mix it up a bit from brew to brew.

After that I ordered one of the beers not available during my last visit, Blood Root, a red saison.

Malty and hoppy nose though I didn't find any bitterness. Almost flowery flavor at first with nice malty caramel in the finish. Definitely hoppy but only very lightly bitter. Definitely a solid beer.

To keep myself from getting too drunk, I ordered a delicious plate of house made pickles which also comes with some of their bread.

Doesn't that all look delicious? Well, it was.

The second to last beer I got was Aloysious, an American Brown Ale. And, no, I couldn't pronounce the name then and I can't pronounce it now. I said Aloy-sus but was told it's probably Aloe-wishus. I think I should just get used to not being able to pronounce half of the beer names.

Interesting earthy nose from the mix of roast and hops. Body was similar with the roast playing around with the citrusy hops and the flavors going back and forth. Definitely an American Brown ale with any malt sweetness being hidden underneath the overwhelming hop notes.

And last I tried the Hop Hands, one of the two permanent drafts.

This is a beer that deserves a permanent place. Bright grapefruit nose. Lots of citrus in the body with light malt in the back and a really mild bitterness. Enough flavor to keep you interested but not totally in your face with hops, meaning more people will enjoy it. Plus, since it's a brewpub, you know it'll always be fresh!

Definitely a great second visit to Tired Hands and it reassured me about my decision to go every two or three weeks. Plus between the pickels and the panini I ordered I had plenty to eat over the three hours so I also don't have to worry about not having enough during my longer visits. I look forward to the draft list being completely different again the next time I go too. Jean said they've been going through three times as much beer as they expected so trying new stuff every time should be easy. Win win really. I'm so glad this place exists.