Idle Hands Malden update?

According to their twitter account, 32 oz crowlers (called"Freshies") are available at Idle Hands starting today!
No pricing information, hope they stick to/near their old 32oz growler prices (or "squealer", as I think they called them).
I love the program they have going for the return of their old glass growlers/squealers. Turn one in and get a punch card worth $1 off of a Freshie, 5 punches per card. Presto, you get your $5 back and it's seems less painful for them than to hand over $5 a whack, all in a short time point. This plan is a nice balance for the brewery and consumer, IMHO. No idea if the punch card ever expires? Or how many you can get. (I think I have 3 or 4 Idle Hands growlers)

Can't wait for Freshies of Adelais!

 

How many punches on the card for an empty 1/6BBL?

Glad to hear they are moving forward with the to-go option, makes the visit that much more enjoyable knowing I'll be bringing something home other than a full bladder. ;-)

 

Yeah, I think I heard Chris say something about the city of Malden not allowing them to refill growlers people bring in. Might have had to either prefill growlers or always have a clean swap out with an in house cleaned one.
And their new bathrooms are nice and clean, so feel free to pee before leaving ; )

 

Got a chance to stop in this afternoon to turn in one of my growlers. Quickly handed a card for $1 of 5 Freshies, and told I could use them all at once, or one at a time, whatever works for me. Also told that I will get additional cards for additional growlers exchanged.
Not sure about Jason's 1/6 bbl keg though!

Only bummers really (start jokes here):
I couldn't get a commitment to when Adelais might be ready.
Crowlers don't reseal between pours
No commitment on Klara
No more Enlightenment beers (out of respect for Ben, cool)
No 32oz cookies, the condensation todY is CRAZY

Looking forward to more stuff from them.

 

Stopped by for the first time on Sunday at noon. It's a great space. Really cool vibe, great bar, picnic tables inside, etc. Really attentive bartender on Sunday morning who's name I didn't catch, but nice guy and engaged with all the customers. Food being supplied by local restaurant Mystic Station, which has some of the best food in Malden in my opinion. They were doing bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches Sunday shortly after noon, which I thought was pretty cool.

The Change Up was a pretty good session IPA, but I really liked the Zwickl Lager, Emelyn. Really tasty and a style I wasn't all that familiar with.

I probably wouldn't visit on a 90-degree day again -- very hot in there, though they do have the fans working. Wish they were able to do garage-door style entrances so it was a little more open.

I can't remember the price point back when they were in Everett -- I want to say between $12 and $15 for a 64 oz. fill of most beers -- but I thought it was considerably more expensive on Sunday, which was a little disappointing. I think it's great that the bathroom no longer looks like it is part of the movie "Saw" and you can park without the fear of being towed. The pints were all between $6.50 and $8, which is pretty standard. $13, though, for a flight of four 5-ounce pours? That's a little expensive.

But I felt the to-go prices were very high -- between $11 and $16 for 32 oz. of beer...? I'm not sure if using crowlers (a format *I love* by the way) are more expensive or have a higher acquisition cost than single cans, but I can't see myself paying $12 for 32 oz. of session IPA all too frequently. They definitely have higher overhead costs now, so that factors into it, but just was a little surprised.

All in all, this is great for Malden. The city really needed something like this downtown, and it's a brewery within walking distance of public transportation (MBTA Orange Line), something you don't see too often. Wishing them the best of luck -- I'll be back to try more beers in the future.

 

Adelais (Unfiltered German Pils) is tasting exceptional ...

 

Solid pour too, looks like it's at least a good two ounces above the half liter line (or is that a full liter? ).

That's no Somerville/Cambridge/Boston pour!

 

The wife and I had a great time at the new brewery on a weeknight. The buildout is beautiful with authentic German beer garden furniture. A huge step up from the Charlton St location. (Hopefully they can expand to include outdoor seating in front.) Attentive service staff and nice glassware. Just a short walk from the Orange line stop and a leisurely 30 min walk on the community path from Night Shift and Bone Up. Turned in my old growlers for credit against new freshies. The authentic German and Belgian styles seem to be their wheelhouse - Adelais, Emelyn and Patriarch were our favorites.

 

Damn you...this was in the tanks when we visited. Good incentive to make another trip

 

Beer List from yesterday ...

 

Wood, 5th Anniversary (Smoked Helles Lager) ... delicious.

 

Brocktoberfest (Märzen / Oktoberfest) ... one of the best domestic brewed for this style IMO.

 

I love that glass style (enjoyed them at Notch recently).

Are the indentations just decorative or are they supposed to serve some sort of function like the ribs in those IPA glasses or something?

 

Change Up #2 knocked it out of the park. Fantastic.
Also can't wait for the next batch of Proeme. -- and rumor has it there are bourbon barrels with triplication hanging out right behind the taproom wall into the brewery. Very excited for that.

 

Wait no longer... next batch hits the tap room today! Brett will be doing a quick talk about it on Facebook around noon time.

 

Awesome News!

 

Any idea what is the status of Enlightenment Ales?
Last I heard, that kid went to Denmark or something?

 

Heavily missed too, at least by me.

 

Ben's in Denmark brewing at a small farmhouse brewery... only he knows when/if he will return.

In the meantime, we have revived "Funky Town" in Malden and have applied the knowledge we both gained during the Enlightenment period and put it into a series of new Idle Hands brett saisons. The first one, Thing 1, should be out in 6-7 weeks time (depending upon how bottle conditioning goes) but if you want a sneak peak of it we'll be pouring a keg of it at Copenhagen Beer Celebration during the Saturday afternoon session.

 

I had it up at the Belgian fest and can confirm that it's quite tasty