Return to Tired Hands

Not exactly the most timely post, but, well, it's finally done and that's what counts. After visiting to pick up my bottles of HandFarm, a few days later I saw that Jean tapped MotherAnimal, a beer I really wanted to try. It's a coffee and vanilla English style barleywine and boy doesn't that sound delicious. So, I decided I'd take another trip on Septa to Ardmore to visit sooner than I figured but that's not a bad thing.

When I arrived, I saw they had some other new beers available and considering the strength of MotherAnimal, decided to start with one of those instead. The Singel Hop Saison made with Amarillo just seemed too interesting to be second.

I unfortunately haven't had any of the other singel hop versions so I can't compare this to them, but this one was real good. Not a strong nose, but very bright and citrusy. Body was similar in that it was just super solid and straight pleasant. Lightly herbal and sweet up front with a lightly bitter citrus hop finish. Very tasty.

After that awesome beer, I ordered a glass of MotherAnimal and was very excited to do so.

Oh man, the nose on this was great. Very, very smooth coffee flavor with a little sweetness. Great mouthfeel too, thick without being syrupy. My notes make it clear I was impressed since I wrote that it was "seriously amazing." Caramel sweet coffee up front with some berry vanilla in the finish. Somehow the coffee just sat in the back of every sip without overwhelming and allowed the other flavors to shine at different points. The vanilla started coming out a ton as I neared the end of the glass, too. Now, there were some differing opinions from some of my friends, but I absolutely loved it. Really looking forward to seeing how the barrel aged version comes out.

And that was my other visit to Tired Hands. Finally. Always great fun and I could drink all of their beers every time I visit but, well, that wouldn't be particularly healthy. I'm actually planning another trip next Tuesday since I have some more bottles to pick up. Not sure what's available on draft at the moment, but I'm sure it's great!