Date Night at Tired Hands Brewery

Erik and I had a rare treat of a date night together yesterday evening!  We've just started a date night swap with some friends of ours who also have a 2 year old daughter. :)  So, we dropped off Meredith to frolic with her little friend, Leah, and her family while we enjoyed several hours to ourselves.

The Tired Hands Brewery is in Ardmore, PA—just west of Philadelphia, off the main line.  Erik heard rave reviews about the local brews as well as the homemade and local farm fresh food they serve.  

A perfect combination for us!

We had a lovely time sipping, chatting, chewing and savoring the time and meal together. 

(yes - that is a pile of celtic sea salt and spices served along with their homemade bread and butter - yum, yum!)

Here's what we tried over the course of the evening (written and reviewed by Erik):

I started the evening with their two most popular beers:

Farm Hands (4.8%) - This was an interesting "four-grain" Saison, brewed with rye, oats, wheat and Cascade hops with notes of lemon zest, barnyard, hay and funk.  A good opener with no surprises.

Hop Hands (4.8%) - Brewed with oats and hopped with a blend of Amarillo, Simcoe, and Centennial, this beer had a excellent aroma of citrus, fresh cut grass, kiwi and pineapple.  Very refreshing, with just the right finish.

Jane got a house-made cranberry almond soda and with this first round, came a section of their rustic, homemade bread (see above), and half-sour Whiskey Dill Pickles.  

The second round of beers:

M.A.P. (6.0%) - Another Saison, this time brewed with 30lbs of lemons, sage blossoms, Spanish lavender and wild rosemary flowers.  A wonderful side to the bread as it tasted of earth and everything you'd find in the breeze passing over.

Slava Oner (3.5%) - This was by far the most exciting find of the evening.  Brewed with over 25 loaves of their house-made bread (soured for nearly three days), the taste included sour lemon, earthy grain, tangerine, and bread crust.  This was an awesome spin off of traditional Russian Kvass--a great way to end the night.

These two beers were enjoyed with the Beautiful Bacon & Blue Panini--a Lancaster county double smoked bacon from a nearby farm, caramelized shallots, arugula, local roasted apples and an apricot/cherry dijon.