Sticky Drippy Crystals
Tired Hands Brewing Company

Sticky Drippy CrystalsSticky Drippy Crystals
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From:
Tired Hands Brewing Company
 
Pennsylvania, United States
Style:
Saison
Ranked #128
ABV:
4.8%
Score:
94
Ranked #2,699
Avg:
4.23 | pDev: 5.67%
Reviews:
25
Ratings:
143
Status:
Active
Rated:
Dec 18, 2023
Added:
Oct 27, 2015
Wants:
  5
Gots:
  18
Our oak fermented honey Saison.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by EMV:
Photo of EMV
Reviewed by EMV from Pennsylvania

4.25/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Poured from a corked bomber into a Dogfish Head tulip. Bottled May of 2018... batch #4 is my best guess.

L: Nearly clear light golden pour with 2 fingers of fizzy white head. Nice ring of lacing. A bit of haze/sediment when I poured the 2nd half.

S: Funk and oak mixed with fruit and flora.

T.F: Complex and fruity. Pear and green apple mixed with honey and oak. Some funk and spice... white grape, grapefruit, vanilla, and lemongrass. Light bodied... well carbonated. Tart without being sour.

O: An outstanding honey saison. Great flavor and very drinkable. Love the low ABV and the flavor they pull out of these beers.
T.F:
Jun 12, 2021
More User Ratings:
Photo of Holderness
Reviewed by Holderness from Massachusetts

4.36/5  rDev +3.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
Probably my favorite offering from tired hands to date. Reminds me of a slightly sweeter version of Hill Farmstead's Anna. You can really smell and taste the wildflower honey in all its glory alongside a nice balance of lightly tart, lightly funky, and lightly oaky notes

88/100
Dec 18, 2023
 
Rated: 4.25 by alexsergio from New York

Sep 10, 2022
 
Rated: 4.15 by mdfb79 from New York

Jul 10, 2022
Photo of Griffin2
Reviewed by Griffin2 from Virginia

4.21/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
Poured from a 750 ml bottle dated 7/30/19 into a stemmed wine glass.

L - Pours a clear lemon yellow color with a frothy white head that dissipates slowly, leaving a nice lacing on the glass.
S - Smells tart and lemony.
T - Tastes of grape skins, tart lemon and some honey on the finish.
F - Medium body and very effervescent with a dry finish.
O - Really love these Tired Hands Saisons.
Dec 29, 2021
Photo of ScaryEd
Reviewed by ScaryEd from New Hampshire

4.47/5  rDev +5.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
750 ml bottle into a tulip glass.

Pours a cloudy straw color with 2 fingers of sudsy white head. Decent retention. Leaves a good amount of sticky cobwebs around the glass.

Aromas of lime zest, grapefruit, funk, hay and oak as well as some white grapes and light honey.

Flavor is nicely tart and funky. Lots of lime, lemon zest and grapefruit, as well as pears, white grapes, hay, oak chips, vanilla and honey.

The feel is medium-light bodied with good carbonation. Crisp and lightly acidic with a bone dry finish.

Overall, this is an excellent farmhouse ale. It hits all the notes you expect from the style with the added subtle sweetness of the honey. Brings a foggy reminder of Anna, and that's a hell of a compliment.
Apr 08, 2021
Photo of Sheppard
Reviewed by Sheppard from Massachusetts

4.15/5  rDev -1.9%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Batch 10.

Pours a pale golden straw with cloudy pillowy white head that dissipate slowly. Farmhouse funk on the nose along with a bit of grapefruit flesh. Some mineral copper penny aroma as well. There's soft grapefruit juice on the front end but not too bitter or sour in terms of harshness which you may sometimes experience with that fruit. There's some lemon peel well. It's light and super drinkable but the bitter citrus fruit character lingers. This is a good saison.
Feb 21, 2021
 
Rated: 4.61 by Bhubbard34 from Pennsylvania

Nov 26, 2020
 
Rated: 4.5 by kcc from Pennsylvania

Aug 13, 2020
Photo of dmacxxl
Reviewed by dmacxxl from Pennsylvania

4.03/5  rDev -4.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
Welp, it's official, I have no idea what Saison is. If I'd not read the bottle I would have sworn this was a Brett.

Pours a hazy straw with a billowy head that dissipates quickly leaving no lacing. I picked up what i think of as the normal brett funk, albeit fairly subdued, with a hint of chardonnay character.

Extremely light and bone dry. A refreshing mouthfeel. Tart to a-little-too-much-tart-for-a-saison-or what-i-thought-a-saison-was. Though the tartness does seem much more 'natural' than some of the "sours" I've had (you'll probably need to contact me directly if you'd like to hear more about the unnatural tarts I've had, I doubt they allow those kinds of reviews here).

If I read the label and then close my eyes and try really hard I guess I could say I get some local PA honeybee essence, but really it's just a very tasty and well balanced sour with some white grapes for me.
Apr 17, 2020
 
Rated: 4 by TimG_0913 from Delaware

Mar 29, 2020
 
Rated: 4.35 by trevorpost from Pennsylvania

Feb 13, 2020
Photo of DaveMaciolek21
Reviewed by DaveMaciolek21 from New Jersey

3.5/5  rDev -17.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Straw-colored wheat based ale, strong sweetness from honey, but not overdone. Very lively feel in your mouth--an interesting sweet take on a Belgian saison.
Dec 25, 2019
Photo of SierraNevallagash
Reviewed by SierraNevallagash from Maine

4.39/5  rDev +3.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
Pours a seriously cloudy deep honey golden, topped with four fingers of extremely dense bone white head with almost unbelievable retention. Plenty of visible effervescence in the form of ultra-fine bubbles.

Nose: This one is very unique. There's some very expressive yeast in here, and it lends a good bit of funk. Horse blanket, musty attic, old books, leather, moldy hay, and some indescribable funk. Honey in beer can often lend some insanely dank, musty, earthy aromas, and there's no shortage of that here. Like a cave-aged honeycomb with a hint of washed rind cheese. A little swirl brings up more classic farmhouse notes, and a nice slab of oak. Hints of lemon zest, white grape, and fresh grass also mingle with the bigger notes.

Palate: This strange and unique ale greets the palate with a vibrant but loving acidity. It isn't terribly sour, but it's definitely tart. Enough to call it a sour beer without anyone thinking twice. A lemon-lime sort of tart zing kicks it off, with some whispers of sacchro, pedio, and dusty brett. Next, you get the honey in full force, but don't expect sweet sticky goo from a bear-shaped bottle. This honey has been fermented. There's no sweetness here - this is all the earthy, floral, phenolic, and dank notes that hide beneath honeys' sweetness. With that sweetness fermented out, you see the true underlying structure. It doesn't compare to anything else, so describing it is impossible. There are definitely floral influences. Magnolia, lilac, orange blossom, and some generic flower notes. The beer ping-pongs back and forth between the tart farmy base ale, and the heavy, sticky (but not sweet) honey notes before ultimately pushing out the tartness. A very faint pithy bitterness shows up just before the finish, before the dusty overripe brett notes light up. At this point, the bold flavours have fallen back a bit, and you're into the finish, which is unmistakably honeycomb. The sweetness isn't there, but all the flavour is. Ever get real honeycomb, take a piece, suck the honey out, and then chew the wax like gum? This is the wax. It's all the flavour of natural honeycomb, but no sweetness whatsoever. That faint hint of bitterness fades, and you're left with this everlasting essence of honeycomb.

Mouthfeel/Body: The ale is very light-bodied. I'm not sure what the ABV is, but it has to be low. I'm 75% into a 750ml, and I feel no warming ABV effects. Not only that, but the beer just drinks so easily. It's incredibly crisp, bright, and paired with its dry tartness, it's just downright thirst quenching. I'd be suprised if this were even 6% ABV. There's so much flavour, it's hard to tell. I'd say 3.5%-6.5%. Effervescence is lively, bright, yet soft and ultra-fine. The big star of this category is the feel though. Remember I mentioned eating honeycomb? As strange as it is, it actually has that waxy texture. It coats the palate in this waxy feel which just intensifies the honey flavour. I'm not sure what's responsible for that clinging waxy sensation, but I love it.

Overall: This was a tough call for me. I almost didn't choose this bottle, but I'm certainly glad I did. I've had a few beers with honey. In most cases, it's either invisible, or it's a mess. Tired Hands did it right with this one. All the sweetness is fermented out, leaving the core essence of wild honey, the yeast, bacteria, and barrel work wonders in terms of lending mature complexity without being harsh or overbearing in any way at all. The level of tartness is sheer perfection. The base beer is handsome and mature. The lack of strong hopping is wise, and then use of honey just really makes this ale.
Dec 23, 2019
 
Rated: 4.24 by 322wingedfoot from Pennsylvania

Dec 08, 2019
 
Rated: 3.9 by curlybird from Pennsylvania

Nov 27, 2019
 
Rated: 4.25 by paulish from New York

Nov 06, 2019
 
Rated: 4.43 by philbe311 from Pennsylvania

Oct 13, 2019
Photo of HattedClassic
Reviewed by HattedClassic from Virginia

4.21/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
The beer pours a bubbly head that dissipates very quickly. The beer itself is clear and hazy yellow with hints of orange to it. It's still clear enough to look through though.

The smell is good. After a sharp initial tart note with quite a bit of funk, the sweeter honey and malt note comes out a bit to give it a more dominant oat note as it warms. The smell has some nice orange and citrus notes underneath that funk note. The oak note is ever present but easily gets lost in the funk.

The taste is pretty good. It has a strong and upfront tart and funk note that is pretty good and a delicious honey, bready grain note, and orange note in the finish. The oak from the barrels exists and works well with the finishing notes.

The feel is good. It has more of a light body that's fairly close to medium because it has a slight heft to it from the honey.

Overall, this is a pretty good beer and fairly delicious.
Sep 21, 2019
 
Rated: 4.16 by caahare from West Virginia

Jul 11, 2019
Sticky Drippy Crystals from Tired Hands Brewing Company
Beer rating: 94 out of 100 with 143 ratings