Spring of the "New England Style" IPA: Tired Hands Strawberry Milkshake

By: Jack Horzempa
(Originally posted on Beer Advocate) 

The past few weeks I have been ‘visiting’ New England (Massachusetts – Tree House, Trillium and Night Shift and Maine – Bissel Brothers).

This week I will be coming ‘home’ to drink a Tired Hands beer – Strawberry Milkshake.

The Tired Hands Milkshake series of beers are kinda interesting. These beers were first brewed in collaboration with Omnipollo Brewing (a Swedish Brewery):

“If there’s a Thomas Edison when it comes to this new style, it would be Jean Broillet IV, owner and brewmaster at Tired Hands Brewing Company. In March of 2015, Broillet teamed with the inventive Swedish brewery Omnipollo to produce something they called Milkshake IPA. (Omnipollo had produced a “Smoothie” IPA the previous year.) The seven percent ABV beer was brewed with oats and lactose sugar to create an initial heft. Then, wheat flour and 50 pounds of pectin-rich green apple puree were added. (Pectin causes an intense, almost gel-like thickening within beer—an effect most brewers try to avoid lest they accidentally make a can of jam.)”

http://punchdrink.com/articles/meet-the-milkshake-ipa-tired-hands/

Below is a description of Strawberry Milkshake via Tired Hands:

“Strawberry Milkshake IPA is brewed with oats and lactose sugar. Conditioned atop Madagascar vanilla beans and heaps of strawberry purée. Hopped intensely with Mosaic and Citra. This is the one that started it all! =) Dreamt up in tandem with our main dudes at @omnipollo! $22/four pack.”

A side story to Tired Hands Milkshake beers is that they are EXTREMELY popular with Tired Hands customers. When the Tired Hands weekly can release is announced that a Milkshake beer is available the BA thread for Tired Hands (Mid-Atlantic forum) is a whirlwind of activity and buzz where the glee and extreme exuberance of the Tired Hands fans are in full regalia.

A few BAs have posted that they have overheard other people in the long lines to buy Tired Hands beer discuss Tired Hands Milkshake beers. One person reportedly stated: “I love these Tired Hands Milkshake beers because I can get whatever beer I want via a trade”.

So, what does a world revered beer like Tired Hands Strawberry Milkshake taste like?

Served in my Gulden Draak tulip glass:

Appearance:

Golden colored with a turbid/murky appearance. A BIG fluffy white head.

Aroma:

The aroma is a combination of tropical fruits, some citrus and a bit of strawberry.

Taste:

The flavor follows the nose with an enticing combination of tropical fruit, citrus flavors and some strawberry. It has a low-moderate bitterness.

Mouthfeel:

The mouthfeel of this beer is very soft and velvety.

Overall:

I think this beer is very, very good! The strawberry aspect was muted in comparison to the tropical fruit/citrus flavors but that is A-OK with me. This beer has the quality that the ‘crhazies’ would describe using the word “juicy”.

Jack Horzempa is a longtime friend of the store and an extremely knowledgeable home brewer, brewing some of the best beer I have ever tasted. Jack's palate is well seasoned and he has been a valuable source of beer expertise to the store. He has graciously allowed us to re-post his review/posts from Beer Advocate where he has achieved Poo-bah status. Since joining Beer Advocate 12 yrs ago, Jack has posted more than 20,000 times and earned over 25,000 likes.