Fermentaria: Ardmore's Tired Hands opens a brewpub

Set up a working brewery next to a restaurant setting with food - well-thought-out food, at that - and you call it a brewpub.

Jean Broillet and Julie Foster decided to coin a word to properly brand their follow-up to their Tired Hands Brewing Company, a brewery/cafe in Ardmore:

Fermentaria.

Why Fermentaria? "It takes inspiration from the art of fermentation, sounds Spanish and is feminine - which is challenging to most in our manly beer world," Broillet said, dryly.

Fermentaria (35 Cricket Terrace, Ardmore, 484-412-8743) opens officially on Friday, April 24.

It's two blocks from Tired Hands, in a long-ago trolley-repair shop at the rear of Schauffele Plaza, off Lancaster Avenue. And it is vast: Its capacity of 260 people, with dining room seating for 180, is roughly the size of the new Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant in Ardmore Plaza.

Broillet, Foster, and their crew removed a second floor from the space and punched holes in the ceiling/roof to allow light. Brewing began about three weeks ago.

This expansion ramps up Tired Hands' production considerably. Where the cafe at 16 Ardmore Ave. now produces about 1,500 barrels a year, Broillet estimates that Fermentaria will put out an additional 3,500 barrels in its first year. In 10 years, Broillet hopes to reach 10,000 barrels at both locations.

Fermentaria has three beer towers at its concrete bars, each with 12 taps. The restaurant will open with eight of 10 beers on tap. ReAnimator Coffee and housemade soda round out the lines. Broillet said he also planned to serve Karamoor wine, from Fort Washington, on tap.

Head chef Bill Braun and Fermentaria chef Kyle Yates serve tacos, "but not Mexican tacos," said Yates. "We're using the tortilla as a platform." Also on the menu will be salads, raw seafood (oysters, crudo and ceviche) and larger plates such a braised lamb shank, fried chicken platter, and smoked-fish boards whose rye bread will be baked in-house.

Desserts include doughnuts - one variety at a time (opening with orange-chili glaze on a yeast-risen doughnut), Mexican chocolate pannacotta, and banana spring rolls topped with cilantro-lime whipped cream.

Fermentaria is closed Tuesdays. As the Tired Hands cafe is closed Mondays, this will allow staff to enjoy days off without the need to shut down the operation entirely.

Fermentaria will be open from noon till "when we have to close," said Broillet.

Menu basics are here.

Fermentaria's opening beer list:

HopHands: an American pale ale

Saison Hands: saison

Rutilant: IPA

Shambolic: hoppy spelt saison

Thesaurus: orange-hued saison

I'm Sad: a robust coffee/honey porter

Vaporizer: IPA

First Kiss: oak saison

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For tastes of HopHands, Saison Hands and Rutilant, note that Broillet and company will be out and about Saturday, April 18 at the following bars - all Tired Hands customers:

Local 44 from noon to 1 p.m., Strangelove's from 2 to 3 p.m., Standard Tap from 4 to 5 p.m., Memphis Taproom from 6 to 7 p.m., and Alla Spina from 8 to 9 p.m.