Tired Hands (2020)

I’m currently enjoying a glass of Iounno while the freezing rain is pattering against my living room window. I know most people don’t like snow, but as a native new englander and a skiier, I absolutely love it — even if it’s a pain in the ass to deal with. In my 4 years living here in South Jersey I have yet to see a decent blizzard. Kinda makes me sad. Go figure.

Anyway, onto the beer itself: thick, dark chocolate malt body. Notes of gooey half-baked brownies with nuts. Toasted hazelnut, cacao leads to Nutella suggestions; which seems to be the #1 adjunct flavor here. Banana is slightly there but you kinda have to reach for it (as a half Puerto Rican that’s kind of a bummer...love me some plátanos). Marshmallow is mostly non-existent, perhaps adding a bit of vanilla, which could also perhaps be the Bourbon barrel stout which was mixed in. Speaking of Bourbon barrels — that is also very faint, adding just a subtle vanilla character with maybe just a bit of booze. If I had to guess, the bourbon barrel stout which was added to it was like a 25% mix at most, which is okay with me because honestly I’m not a big bourbon/whisky fan.

Overall, I really enjoy this stout. It is not cloyingly sweet like many pastry stouts are. It has a sense of balance to it as well as being immensely drinkable for a 14% stout. Is it a cannot-be-missed, must-try beer? No. Is it worth $8 a can? If you have some extra Christmas cash to burn, sure, why not? Treat yo self. That said, I do not regret purchasing it. If you don’t care about the price, I’d highly recommend it but if you’re on a bit of a beer budget I’d say pass; it’s not worth breaking the bank for. 4.2/5

 

@tzieser

Very nice review. Gooey half-baked brownies usually gets my attention, haha. Also, glad to hear your palate didnt detect any of the banana.

 

Lancaster native here that picked up a bit today...would love to see this become a regular thing. Considering I overheard that they sold through all the walk up beer before 2pm as well, it sounds as if it was a pretty good success.

Just poured a Gather Round, Friends. Really enjoying it.

 

Sorry for the 'outsider' question but how often is Only Void released? Is it an annual thing or do they release several throughout the year with different coffee varietals?

 

With that being said, how do they typically hold up over time? If I were to try to trade for some, 2 or 3 months doesn't sound too bad for a coffee stout. Should I test the waters or just wait for the 2021 release?

 

I'll let you know this weekend, when I have one. Generally, under 6 months should be fine for a coffee stout. Just pm me if I forget to I guess.

 

In years past I have held on to OVs for a few months and perceived no dropoff in taste, even with the lavender one, which you might expect would be a delicate flavor

 

Ended up celebrating with the OV coffee. Still roasty, no green pepper. Drinking as well as fresh.

 

Austere Modular #8 - "more malt depth and textural complexity than our Pilsners tend to have"

 

This was awesome! Any chance of a return trip to Lancaster over the next few months?

 

Pretty great pickup today. I love me some Eviscerated Pathway of Beauty so of course I had to get the DDH version. I almost got two packs of Austere Modular but I hesitated and only got one (with dry January coming up, it felt unnecessary). The Saaz single-hop has my attention. Can’t wait to dig into these.

 

I would be interested in hearing your thoughts about this beer. Maybe a post in NBW?

On a related note in a few days I will be homebrewing my annual batch of Bohemian Pilsner where I use Moravian Pilsner Malt and a bit of Vienna Malt for the grain bill and that beer is very generously hopped with Czech Saaz hops.

Cheers!

 

I second the NBW @tzieser it’s a good time!

 

I haven’t really been involved in the BA tasting forums since the LNBA days. I tried a few NBS/WBAYDN posts but it really hasn’t been the same since LNBA. I trust your opinion so give it a go!

 

What's NBW?

Have a 4 ok each of DDH Eviscerated, & Austere coming my way, and definitely excited for both. Most recent pils for me was Oma from SP, and it was solid. One style that I should try/drink more often in 2021.

What did everyone think of Triple Vanilla Eggnog? I know the nog is a love/hate thing in general, and to have it in a beer form was fun. Tried my first can on Xmas, and it had a lot of dankness in the creamy finish.

 

Apparently it is the "New Beer Weekend" thread. For some stupid reason I thought it meant New Beer Wednesday, which made little sense to me; New Beer Weekend makes a hell of a lot more sense than "New Beer Wednesday" lol.

Unfortunately I will not be able to contribute this weekend @JackHorzempa @jonphisher ....my birthday is tomorrow and my usual tradition is this: eat & drink way beyond the reasonable limit and then have a "clean" January (no drinking, better eating, etc). Plus I got a baby boy on the way due in May so this will probably become more full-on lifestyle change (reduced drinking, reduced shit-eating). All that said, I'll go ahead throw my untappd notes/pics in here if you guys don't mind (and if you do mind, go ahead and don't bother reading
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Austere Modular Eight
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untappd note: "I mistakenly added this beer twice lol. Oops. Anyway, just another stupidly good pilsner by Tired Hands. Beautiful noble hop aroma. Freshly cut grass, lemon. Freshly baked biscuits, honey subdued by herbal, grassy, lemon hop bitterness. Clean, crisp & dry "



BA "Director's Cut" notes:

The nose on this pilsner is simple impeccable. It does Saaz justice, giving it the full spectrum of aromas. As I had mentioned, fresh grass but especially lots of Meyer lemon zest and lemon leaves. It's beautiful.

The description mentions more malt depth. It does show a bit of that in the flavor. Freshly baked biscuits, sure, but also just a bit of baguette in there as well. It's all smashed to pieces by the aforementioned lemony, grassy Saaz though. The malt base definitely shows some Bohemian qualities but that heavy noble hop profile and super crisp texture shows some traits of a classic German pilsner (and that is by no means a complaint from me...I typically prefer German-style pilsners). Whatever you want to call it, it's a delightful pilsner that I appreciated more than the last iteration.

==============================

Also, DDH Eviscerated Pathway of Beauty is, well, a thing of Beauty in my opinion. Too lazy to add detailed notes but if you enjoy the base version as much as I do (reg. Eviscerated is probably my favorite TH beer) I think you'll enjoy this. This one shows the full spectrum of the Citra hop: Navel orange, lychee and even adds a bit of grapefruit dankness. Malt body is a bit sweet but the hops certainly dominate right now. I enjoyed it quite a bit.






Cheers and a very Happy New Year to you all! To quote quote one of my favorite songs from one of my favorite bands (Thursday - Jet Black New Year)

 

It is always 'tricky' to achieve the target balance between malty flavors and hop flavors.

Perhaps from a targeted flavor profile this batch would have benefited from even more Vienna Malt? One indicator here is the appearance of the beer which looks like light gold to me. And each hop lot will vary and maybe the Czech Saaz hops that Tired Hands obtained was more potent than anticipated? I have brewed many times with Czech Saax hops and those hops have always been herbal/spicy forward with no citrus (e.g., lemony) qualities.

The fact that you characterized this beer via "it's a delightful pilsner" is the important/critical things.

For reference below is a photo of my homebrewed Bohemian Pilsnser next to my favorite commercial beer of this style (Golden Pheasant):



https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/new-beer-sunday-week-736.610176/#post-6441962

Thank you for posting your thoughts here.

I very much hope that you enjoy your birthday/New Years celebration and more importantly congratulations on the arrival of your baby boy! Yes, changes are on the way and that is just so exciting.

Cheers to you Pop!

 

Agreed with the grassy notes. Definitely biscuit. Aroma is more herbaceous to me than trendler pilsner. Less grassy than trendler though to me overall and is more malty relatively speaking. Maybe closer to rothaus I've had actually than trendler. Either way it's good. Apologies if I'm not as on point as @tzieser . That's a real review.