Idle Hands Craft Ales
Microbrewery
in
Malden,
Massachusetts,
United States 🇺🇸
Associated Venue: Idle Hands Craft Ales
Established in 2011
Contact
6.8/10
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Appearance 7
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 7
Overall 6
Can pour at Idle Hands, pours a d ark amber brown with a small beige head. Aroma has plenty of bready malt, toasted caramel, and some almost estery like sweetness. Flavour has a solid malt base, with lots of bready malt, toasted caramel, light-to-moderate sweetness, and some cotton candy. Pretty solidly made, maybe a bit too sweet. Good.
Tried
from Can
at
Idle Hands Craft Ales
on 06 Aug 2026
at 01:37
6.4/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
On tap at Idle Hands, pours a clear copper golden with a small white head. Aroma has some spicy yeasty notes, some esters that shouldn’t be here, and gentle peppery citrus. Flavour more or less follows, with a bit too much banana esters, some black pepper, spicy yeast, and dry biscuity malt. Better than most North American saisons, with a nice, spicy, peppery yeast expression, but still too much estery character. Decent.
Tried
from Draft
at
Idle Hands Craft Ales
on 06 Aug 2026
at 01:36
6.8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 7
On tap at Idle Hands, pours black with a small tan head. Aroma has a surprisingly deep roasted malt character for such a low ABV beer, with light earthy, slightly fungal notes. Flavour is dry, with earthy, toasted malt, light fungal notes, and not much else. Finishes bitter and bone dry. Pretty solid for the style, certainly above average, but just not something I’m that into. Good stuff, especially for what it is.
Tried
from Draft
at
Idle Hands Craft Ales
on 06 Aug 2026
at 01:33
7.6/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
On tap at Idle Hands, pours a clear golden blonde with a small white head. Aroma is legit, with a subtle, slightly spicy, somewhat grassy hop character, with a crisp biscuity malt base. Flavour is completely legit, with an assertive spicy, grassy hop character—perfectly harnessing that Noble expression—with a crisp biscuity malt. Wonderfully hopped, good balance. Top-tier German pils.
Tried
from Draft
at
Idle Hands Craft Ales
on 06 Aug 2026
at 01:31
7.6/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
On tap at Idle Hands, pours a clear blonde with a small white head. Aroma reveals a great farmhouse character, light buggy but mostly just rustic, along with a crisp biscuity malt and some spicy hops in there. Flavour is definitely more farmhouse than anything, with a clean, yet pungent farmhouse character, crisp bright hoppiness, and a dry biscuity malt base. Balanced, clean, quite complex. This is frankly excellent.
Tried
from Draft
at
Idle Hands Craft Ales
on 06 Aug 2026
at 01:30
8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Can pour at Idle Hands, pours black with a small tan head. Aroma reveals a smooth, complex woody oak character, plenty of roasted malt, and a touch of vanillin and cocoa. Flavour is smooth and balanced, with lots of woody oak, moderate roast, and a touch of vanillin. Velvety palate. Everything is blended and balanced smoothly—no harsh hedges. I won’t say the complexity is through the roof, but this is just a really nicely calibrated blended oak-aged impie stout. Excellent.
Tried
from Can
at
Idle Hands Craft Ales
on 06 Aug 2026
at 01:28
7.4/10
—
Appearance 7
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 8
On tap at Idle Hands, pours a clear golden with a small white head. Aroma has a nice doughy malt base, gentle spice, and thankfully no bubblegumy esters. Flavour is dry and not estery at all, with a nice spicy Belgian yeast expression, doughy malt, and dry biscuity malt. They used the Belgian yeast admirable, unlike 99% of North American breweries. Basically bone dry, nice spice character; could use a little more aggressive carb but that’s a minor gripe. Very good.
Tried
from Draft
at
Idle Hands Craft Ales
on 06 Aug 2026
at 01:27
7.6/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
On tap at Idle Hands, pours a clear dark amber with a small off-white head. Aroma reveals a nicely assertive campfire smokiness, with a dry bready malt base. Flavour is legit, with lots of ashy, campfire smokiness, bready malt, and just enough subtle sweetness to balance. Great American execution of rauchbier. Real solid.
Tried
from Draft
at
Idle Hands Craft Ales
on 06 Aug 2026
at 01:27
7.3/10
—
Appearance 7
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Can pour at Idle Hands, pours a clear blonde with a small white head. Aroma has gentle grassy hops, straw, and crisp biscuity malt. Flavour is nicely biting, with a clean, grassy hop bite upfront, and a crisp crackery malt base. Very nicely constructed.
Tried
from Can
at
Idle Hands Craft Ales
on 06 Aug 2026
at 01:20
7.9/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 7.5
Texture 8
Overall 8
Draft at brewery. Fine dark brown pour and sudsy head. Nose is malty and bready. Tastes of dark bread, malt, plum, hint of umami, rootbeer. Medium bodied. Little boozy. Quite enjoyed.
Tried
on 13 Jun 2026
at 16:48