Tired Hands (May 2017)

I don't want this thread to become all about me but I also don't want to be rude and not reply to a question. In regards to the question of "have I frequented their places to eat" I believe the last time I was there was May 2015 for a growler. The last time I had food there was the first day the Fermentaria opened. I had the tacos.

 

Perhaps a stupid question, but I have three kids 4 and under so getting to breweries is not as easy as I'd like .

Finally getting a chance to hit up Tired Hands for the first time ever (have had their beer though - love Big Dream Sympathetic).

Anyone know if Tired Hands is kid friendly (Brew Cafe / Fermentaria) - stuff for them to eat, high chairs, etc. or am I SOL?

 

No need to get defensive, nobody came close to even implying that you should leave.

You're more than welcome to share your thoughts on Tired Hands's business practices (obviously); but, I would hope you understand why some readers might not put very much stock into your thoughts posted here given their obvious limitations...

 

That's certainly possible. I would argue that Tired Hands's prices and practices are much more a symptom of overall craft beer culture than they are a driving cause behind it; but, I realize that it goes both ways.

 

Coming from an area not far from DFH, I can say they have a huge affect on the local scene. Everyone wants to keep up with the Jones...and around here, that's Sam. To the point that big high abv and "one-off" types seem to creep around and try to become mainline drafts at some places. You know what I like? Consistency. With the odd-ball styles, the QC is lacking at the smaller places. (I could say the same thing about the 120minute...but, well, too late.) They are tough tigers to tame. The locals need to just bang out a solid quality mainline. But instead they try for the 9%/$7draft/$14 six-pack beers. That only goes so far. In Ocean City, one place had 24 styles on tap of house-brew. Not a single one was a light crisp pilsner at around 5% and $4. If I'm at the beach, THAT's what I'm looking for. Not a peanut butter porter at 8% and $8 when it's 92* out.

Luckily, a few of the local guys have found their own lane. Burley is banging out the sours. And new releases every 2-3 weeks. RAR is the hop king (like the Nanticoke Nectar better than 60 or 90 minute) and are doing releases every month or so, with slight variations to the base line. Then Evolution is just rolling along with their mainlines, which are all solid, but have very few specialty beers outside 4 or so a year that are released to stores in 750's.

I guess guys see the "frenzy" for a beer release on Wednesday and believe they can make some $$$ doing the same thing; mid-week, ?QC, price-point, frequency, etc. I'm sure that affects others in the area. Heck, just in the corridor, Veil, Aslin, Burley, RAR, Diamond Back, Manor Hill are just a few between Richmond and Philly that do a similar thing. Meanwhile there are other solid breweries that won't do the feeding frenzy releases, and still have outstanding beer.

 

Come on now, Curieux isn't "just one of their barrel-aged beers," it's the one they produce BY FAR the most of.

Even at that, Tired Hands says they now have a few hundred barrels going and 5 60 HL foudres. I'm going off memory here, but I believe the Allagash barrel room has 6 such foudres, and the amount of racked barrels looked roughly like "a few hundred." And Tired Hands also has several foudres, barrel racks, and a concrete egg at Fermentaria.

Perhaps their program has expanded in the last few years since I've been there - in fact I'm sure it has - but Allagash built their program in a brewery that is now 20 times the capacity of Tired Hands, with a beer that sells extraordinarily well across the country. So even if Tired Hands' barrel program is half their size, it's an impressive thing to have built considering the comparative volume of beer they're making.

 

The hate is (un)real

 

What about the beer? How does everyone feel about Refreshing? Had my first one today and I was impressed. I think it's drinking really nice.

-Brian

 

I enjoyed it too. It didn't "wow" me, however. I read a few reviews about how there is not much on the backend, and I agree with that. There wasn't anything that lingered to make me enjoy it like some of their other offerings, but it's still a solid beer. The mouthfeel is excellent.

 

Hard to believe, but the Brewers at Tired Hands are pretty talented.

 

I agree with the backend part. I think part of that maybe speaks to the "Refreshing" title. I don't think it's meant to be a big juicy DIPA. For me, it runs smoother than the ABV suggests, which I guess is a good argument for the designation. The description for the beer seems pretty spot on, which for me indicates the brewer executed what they were looking for. I think that alone makes it great.

Either way, it's a very good beer.

Cheers!
Brian

 

Based on the monthly threads you'd think all they did was steal people's money and possibly their line-chairs.

Funny what happens when you actually sit back and enjoy one.

Cheers!

 

And when the beers are 'on' I truly appreciate them!

When the beers are 'off'.

Cheers!

 

They should hire you Jack!

 

Sounds like I'm in the minority, but I find Refreshing confusing. To me it does not drink like any of their other beers. If I hadn't known in advance, I would never have guessed this was a 8-9% dipa. Drinks more like a session ipa. Personally I won't be paying $20 for it again. And that's a first for me...any of their other dipas I'll happily buy again at their ever-increasing dipa price point.

Granted I'm a novice at reviewing, and I don't trust my own palate. @larryi86 really likes it too so I guess I'm just weird.

That sushi rice dipa on draft at the Ferm though....DAMN. Now that's a big boy dipa I'll gladly pay a premium price to bring home.

 

What is it that you like about TH's DIPAs that this one doesn't have?

 

Fermenteria is one of my favorite places to take my two kids. They like the food and looking at the brewery equipment. Plus, it's LOUD in there...so if one of your kids is making a bit of a racket, the whole restaurant won't hear them. Always a plus. Cheers.

 

The hop character. Maybe I've been ruined by ddh beers, but Refreshing just tastes bland and muddled to me.

 

Ver

Obviously TH has the Hype around it now, and yes, many of their IPA's are similar style "Juice Bombs" but they make some other great beers as well...Their Hop Hands is a fantastic Pale Ale - Their Helles Lager is made extremely well, and some of their Bottle Stuff like the Shambolic is really great stuff - whether or not your willing to stand outside for 2hrs for IPA cans is up to you - but you can get things like the Shambolic regularly and its a lot different then things like Alien Church or the Shakes