My stylistic interests are pretty simple,” says Jean Broillet, the owner and founder of Tired Hands Brewing in Ardmore, Pennsylvania. “Dry, dry, dry; expressive, expressive.” Accordingly, Jean explains, he’s focused on yeast-forward and dry hop–forward beer styles.
The focus on these two styles is represented in Tired Hands’ two flagship beers: SaisonHands and HopHands. SaisonHands is a fruit-forward, barnyard-tasting 4.8 percent ABV beer brewed with rye, oats, and wheat, and single-hopped with Cascade hops. It’s fermented with Tired Hands’ house-saison yeast, which started from the dregs of one of Broillet’s favorite Belgian beers blended with another strain of Brettanomyces. “We cultured this base strain five years ago, and we’re still using that same yeast from that initial harvest,” Broillet says. “We take really good care of our yeast, especially our saison yeast.”
On the other hemisphere of Tired Hands’ style focus is HopHands. It’s a 5.5 percent ABV American pale ale brewed with oats, generously hopped with Simcoe, Centennial, and Amarillo hops, and fermented with an English-ale yeast strain. This beer is hazy and juicy with notes of tangelo, kiwi, nectarine, and grapefruit. “Technically this beer is a pale ale, but it drinks like a hoppy IPA,” Broillet explains.