Visiting Tired Hands Brewing – The Beer Cafe

Nestled in what can only be described as the adorable town of Ardmore, Pennsylvania, Tired Hands Brewing Company is a comfortable yet eclectic spot for great beer.  We visited the Brew Café and had such a great time we didn\’t make it around the corner to the Fermenteria (we\’ll be back!) 

Tired Hands serves two kinds of beer classic French and Belgian farmhouse brews and crazy American IPAs. 

We started off with one of the crazies – the Bill Braun\’s Ass Kickin IPA. The name was a reference to the hot sauce added to the beer and it does not lie. This beer quickly kicked my ass and my pallet and was promptly set aside. 

Next up was Chat Room which was a substantially less ass-kicking and substantially more interesting IPA brewed with spelt and 100% equinox hops. It was my first time to try an all-equinox beer and it was not exactly what I was expecting. I got a lot of fruit pith and grass on the nose and citrus pith in the taste. The spelt gave a creamy mouth-feel to top this captivating IPA.

Signature Beers

Before getting too many beers deep we wanted to taste the breweries signature beers – Hop Hands and Saison Hands. These two earned their place as signatures. Hop Hands is a 5.5% pale ale brewed with a high percentage of oats. While the color is a turn off (\’grayish pee\’ was a descriptor used at the table) the silky mouth feel more than makes up for it. The beer holds on to a sweet fruity nose and lots of floral and fruit flavor with a dank bitter finish so well it was hard not to chug my whole pint. This was my personal favorite of the day. Saison Hands is one of the most well-done examples of a French farmhouse beer I have tasted in a brew pub. An exciting prickly mouthfeel paired with a classic lemony hay flavor made for a seriously enjoyable beer.

Tips for Your Visit:

• Come with an Open Mind: The ingredients and brewing styles are eclectic, but well worth the try! Tired Hands doesn\’t do flights but they do have smaller glasses for sampling – try them all!

• Parking: There is a lot right next to the beer café, DO NOT park there. You will get towed. Then you will be sad.

• The Food: HOLY CRAP! Do you like delicious house-made bread, handpicked local cheeses and meats and rustic preparations? Of course you do! The food here is awesome. Come ready to snack or come hungry and get a sandwich. You won\’t be disappointed.

• Bring a Growler: They sell growler fills of pretty much everything on tap and you are going to want to share these brews with your friends at home!