Tree House Triple Shot Beer #: 1,145 Style: Imperial Stout
From the Brewery: 2014 saw the creation and evolution of one of our proudest accomplishments here at Tree House: Double Shot. Over the year we often wondered how far we could push the coffee and still maintain a balanced and delightful beer. In the spirit of maintaining the integrity and refinement of the original Double Shot, we created a new base beer to withstand precisely double the coffee addition Double Shot receives to satisfy our curiosity. The result is something quite surprising and completely original! More milk chocolate than coffee, and more brown sugar than molasses, Tree House Triple Shot conveys a super unique flavor profile that explodes with complexity as it warms. The crew here tastes “straight chocolate syrup”, ”chocolate covered raspberries”, “sweet espresso”, and “chocolate Charleston Chew (seriously)”. A truly rich treat that begs to be shared – we’re psyched to shared it with YOU!
From Me: Tree House Triple Shot was the highlight of my trip to the brewery, maybe the beer highlight of my year. It was only a 10 ounce pour but I wanted it to last forever. Truly decadent filled with whirling complexity, flavor packed with super chocolate, complimentary espresso, some cherry notes and a lush mouthfeel. This rushes to the top of my beer list at 98 points. What’s the only thing that keeps it from a perfect 100? – the fact that I had to drive 3 hours for just 10 ounces. Sigh!
Beer-wise, we certainly are spoiled in the northeast. While the rest of the country jealously pooh-poohs New England style beer as being too hazy and too modified, we just shrug and go on enjoying fantastic juice bomb after juice bomb. A recent trip to Arizona and Utah took me back in time to a craft beer landscape filled with west coast style IPA complete with crushing bitterness.
First Stop: Phoenix Beer #: 1,140 Arizona Wilderness July 11th IPA
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A few weeks before our trip, a friend in Phoenix asked me about the best beer in Arizona. Arizona Wilderness was the name that came up most often in my pre-trip scouting report and on arrival in Phoenix, my friend gave me enough of their beer to carry me through my ten day adventure.
July 11th IPA is quite interesting. It’s a collaborative brew with Cycle Brewing (Florida) and this particular IPA is brewed with lactose and dragonfruit. It pours a pinkish color and is certainly cotton candy sweet over some succinct juniper hops Not quite the milkshake beer they claim it to be, but enjoyable nonetheless. In conclusion, the trip is off to a good start, 88 points.
Next Stop: Petrified Forest, Painted Desert, Route 66 and Winslow.
Beer #: 1,141 Arizona Wilderness Refuge IPA
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Sometimes the events shape the experience. Here we were in Winslow, Arizona staying at La Posada (a must stay if you’re driving on Rt. 66 or visiting the Petrified Forest & Painted Desert). After a long day, my family was starving and we spied a little Mexican restaurant kitty corner to the hotel. As soon as we enter, Avengers: Infinity War is just starting on the restaurant television. My sons are pried to the screen the whole meal. Me, I’m partaking in some enchiladas and this west coast style IPA. Very straightforward but like La Posada, from a bygone era. 86 points.
Next Stop: Four Corners, Monument Valley and Grand Canyon Beer # 1,142 Arizona Wilderness Headin’ West
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Rainy evening at the Grand Canyon calls for a hotel room beer. Headin’ West yields yeasty clove, spice, wheat. Tons of pine and some cracker-like grains. I’d say this Belgian-style beer is a mediocre 84 points.
Next Stop: Page, Lake Powell and Zion Beer #: 1,143 Squatters Hop Rising
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After a couple days in Page, Arizona, it’s on to Zion National Park. My son’s 14th birthday so he picks the dinner spot. He picks pasta (what else) and it’s back-to-back nights at Zion Noodle & Pizza (I highly recommend).
This is a hefty 9% ABV and is certainly old-school west coast style. Filled with caramel, overdone toast, citrus rind and a boozy burn to boot. Really not bad but I’m starting to miss the juice bombs of the northeast. 86 points.
Beer # 1,144 Red Rock Elephino
From night number one at Zion Pizza & Noodle. This one is just bad. Checking the date, it’s about three months old which is borderline drain pour in my book. Oxidized hops, doughy and boozy. I call them as I have them…70 points. Luckily, my pasta dish carried the meal.
Fermentaria? Brew Cafe? General Store? Dispensary? Where do I go to buy some Tired Hands cans? Honestly, I was a little perplexed until I decided to go there and figure it out for myself. Hopefully, I can detangle some of your questions.
Want to buy Tired Hands cans?
The Fermentaria is the main hub and that’s the place for can releases. The Fermentaria also has a full menu of food and drafts. If you want the flag ship pale ale, Hop Hands, it’s a six minute walk or three minute drive to the General Store from the Fermentaria. The Brew Cafe is right next door to the general store. Think coffee shop except with beer. The Dispensary is the brew house, except the location is unadvertised.
Tired Hands can release
Your first stop is to follow Tired Hands on Instagram. Like most of Instagram, it’s hard to decipher the time of the post. From what I’ve seen, releases occur mid-week on Wednesday or Thursday at the Fermentaria, typically at 5 p.m. and of late it has been three different beers. I’ll also note that some (non-milkshake) beer will be available into the next day. So, if you cannot make it for the 5 p.m. release, be sure to get the Fermentaria around opening on the next day (they open at noon seven days a week).
Fermentaria: 35 Cricket Terrace. 484.413.2983. There’s a decent amount of parking right in front. I’d guess about fifty metered spaces. I parked a block away on the street and fed the meter. Don’t worry, it’s a city grid town and you’ll find a spot and a sidewalk.
General Store: 20 Ardmore Avenue. 484.413.2978. No limit on Hop Hands. They may move some cans from the Fermentaria to sell after release day. They also have some bomber-size bottles of Saison for sale along with typical t-shirts, hats and decals. Parking is rough. There’s a dirt lot, but most of the spaces there are permit only. If it’s a nice day, bring a suitcase trolley and make the six minute walk from the Fermentaria. It probably took me 15 minutes to drive there and ultimately find an open spot.
BrewCafé: 16 Ardmore Avenue. 610.896.7621. Site of the original brewery. It’s small and opens up at 4 p.m. No cans, but drafts and a cafe menu.
My Haul
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Tired Hands (l to r) Alien Church, Hop Hands, Ergot, Gatherer and Hand Bier.
Alien Church Beer #:1,136
If Hop Hands is their flagship pale ale, I guess Alien Church would be their flagship Imperial IPA. Wonderful fruit, lemon, mango along with a pithy bitterness. Really nice 92 points.
Hop Hands: I’ve had Hop Hands 89 points before but a first in cans. Actually, I enjoyed the can version better than the growler experience. If I had to go it over, I might push Hop Hands up a couple ticks to 91 points.
Ergot: Beer #:1,137
Massive ABV of 14%. Made with cacao, honey and then refermented/conditioned atop cacao pods, fruit juice and then conditioned further on cacao nibs. Think pineapple and vodka creamsicle. Interesting beer, one is enough…91 points
Gatherer Beer #: 1,138
Tired Hands teams up with 18th Street Brewery (maker of a stout called Hunter) on a seemingly related stout called Gatherer. In the Tired Hands version, it is a brew made with locally foraged items like: Appalachian all spice; wine berry leaves, This one is very interesting but overrun with the all spice. Like a pumpkin stout. As it warms is does open up to some interesting coffee, roasted flavors. I’ll say 90 points.
Hand Bier Beer #:1,139
A sessionable ale…just 4.5% ABV. It’s typical with big hop profile, not much balance behind it. Nothing wrong with taking a break from the high ABV beers and nothing wrong with this beer. A respectable 87 points.
Witch’s Hat Night Fury Tasting: July 21, 2018 Style: American-style Imperial Stout made with molasses and lactose ABV: 10.2% Beer #: 1,135
Women, Ale Wives, Witches and Brewing
For thousands of years, women were the primary brewers of beer. Makes sense, as the traditional roles had men doing the hunting and women doing the cooking and everything else.
The Sumarian goddess of brewing was Ninkasi and a 12th-century German nun, St. Hildegard of Bingen is the first person recorded to have recommended hops for brewing. St. Hildegard recognized their “healing, bittering, and preserving” properties.
So, how did we get from a noble endeavor to the familiar pointy hats and cauldron stirring witches?
It is said women brewers (or Ale Wives) of the Middle Ages would advertise themselves as brewers in markets by wearing pointed hats. Published drawings show brooms would be placed outside doorways to signify that a batch was ready. Of course, much like today, cats were needed to protect the grain stores from vermin.
But how did we turn Ale Wives into spell casting witches?
I have read conflicting pieces on how the negative connotations of these witches. They range from medieval temperance, to male brewer’s mud-slinging campaigns. I can see competitive male brewers telling tales that the boiling cauldrons of their witch-like counterparts contained adjuncts like eye of newt.
Of course, there was a magic in medieval brewing. You see, it wasn’t until Louis Pasteur’s 19th century work that solved that the tiny microbes were responsible for fermentation. Until this point, it was only known that the magic sludge (yeast colony) was needed to be transferred from successful batch to batch.
An image of Mother Louise, an Alewife in Oxford in the 1600s.
Ale Wife depiction c 14th century
Over time, men became the dominant influence in beer in western culture. It may have to do with the societal idea that young women should be pursuing more “lady-like” endeavors. In 1540, the city of Chester banned women between the ages of 14 and 40 from being alewives.
Witch’s Hat Night Fury
This Michigan beer delivers massive roasted flavors. At first, very obtrusive, muting any other complexity this imperial stout might have to offer. I do have to say that once my taste buds became accustomed and the beer warmed, it started to show some nice molasses sweet undertones and that roasted bitterness gave way to fudge and chicory. I’ll put Witch’s Hat Night Fury at 92 points.
