Hands Not Too Tired at 96

Our family had weekend plans down to NJ for Columbus Day weekend.  My Nana was celebrating her 96^th birthday.  It was a quite party at my mom’s with family and some friends, which meant I had the opportunity to watch some football, root for the Sox, and share some good beer.  We left after school and stopped at one of my kids favorite restaurants (Fuddruckers) on the way down, even driving past Triumph brewing in Princeton so we could get to the family.  My kids love their cousins and couldn’t wait to get there, so we didn’t stop (I knew there would be a possibility on the way back) and were rewarded with some good family time (and a Sam Adams Ruby Mild).

The next morning Jenn was going off with the ladies to get her nails done and go shopping (sounds like sooo much fun), so I met up with my cousin Brian and we headed over to check a new brewpub.  We left early so we had time to stop by Pinocchio’s (http://pinpizza.com/), a fantastic bottle shop in Media.  It is fantastic because it offers draft beers while you peruse the selection.  I went immediately to the draft list and chose a Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Porter brewed with ginger on cask (awesome!).  For bottles, I like to get bombers to share and specialties to bring back to NY.  I got a Lost Abbey Saint’s Devotion and a Stone Suede Porter to savor myself, while my favorite splitter was a Flying Fish Forever Unloved (i.e., FU) Sandy, with proceeds going to Sandy Hurricane relief in NJ. 

Next Brian wanted to share with me a new place, and even though I almost got the address right, we were still able to find our destination, Tired Hands brewpub (http://www.tiredhands.com/).  OMG, what a fantastic place!  Tired Hands has been open for about two years, and already has a fantastic reputation on Beer Advocate.  Besides beer, the pub specializes in artisan bread.  Delicious hearty bread, served with fresh churned butter and coarse salt (awesome idea) and fennel (not sure about this one).  We also got the pickle sampler (loved the peppery dills) and some candied bacon as appetizers.  Tired hands didn’t offer samplers, but ½ pints were on the menu and with Brian driving, I was determined to try them all.  My favorite was the first one I tried, The Thing, a sour wheat saison with lime and passionfruit that had a 6% ABV.  Their Euphoric Sunshine Drip, a spiced saison, and their Oktuberfest, a sweet potato ale, were both quite good.  We ordered lunch, Brian getting the Lancaster bologna sandwich and I got a cheese and kimchi (a spicy fermented cabbage) sandwich that was amazing, savoring their Hop Hands Pale ale on cask, dry hopped with cascade hops, to wash the food down.  It was all awesome, and I looked forward to coming back and sharing the experience with Jenn.

That night we watched a new show hosted by the brewers from my favorite brewery, Brew Dog, as they travelled to beer centric cities in the US brewing strange beer combinations.  The show is on Esquire and is called Brew Dogs (what else) (http://tv.esquire.com/shows/brew-dogs), and I got to watch the San Diego and Philadelphia areas.  I like the show the best from the cities that I’ve been to since they mention their top 5 beer bars and top 5 breweries (and I take pride in how many I’ve been to).  Brian shared a bottle of Dark Horse Bourbon Barrel Aged Plead the 5^th Russian Imperial Stout, 14% ABV, a perfect 100 on Beer Advocate and rated as the 19^th best beer in the world (Thank You Very Much!).  I love trying new beers.

The next day we had family and friends over to celebrate my Nana’s 96^th birthday.  I spent 6 summers on the family farm when I was a kid, and even though it was hard work (blistering heat, 80 hour work weeks), I wouldn’t have traded the opportunity for anything.  My folks liked it too since they always knew that I was so beat at the end of the day that I went to bed early every night (well, almost every night, right Kenny?).  And through it all Nana took care of me.  Our celebrations are relatively low key, sharing food and beer while talking and watching sports on TV (remember Big Papi’s grand slam to tie up the game against Detroit?).  Brian shared a bottle of Midnight Sun Berserker, an imperial stout from Alaska that was aged in red wine and whiskey barrels) while I had a special bottle of Chimay Blue.  When I turned forty over 6 years ago, Jenn threw me an awesome beer themed surprise party that had guests wearing beer T-shirts and bringing beer as gifts.  My Nana gave me the bottle of Chimay, and I was able to share it with others (it aged real well).  It certainly was great having everyone together.

Columbus Day, and time to go home. We went back our route down and this time stopped at Triumph (http://www.triumphbrewing.com/) in Princeton.  The bar is cool, located down a long entrance way from Main Street.  Pricy, but both the food and the beer are good.  I had the Cheesesteak Cheeseburger, more meat than I need after my mom’s cooking all weekend, to go along with their beer.  I got a sampler, and enjoyed their Black Squirrel, a chestnut porter that was 5% ABV, on cask.  It was a nice stop in a cool town, but we couldn’t stay since we had to head home to get our dog Carlos out of Doggie Jail.

We had a great weekend, and were thankful for the time we had together with family. – 6327/14804

 
“I recommend bread, meat, vegetables and beer.” – Sophocles (Recommendation on Moderate Diet)