North of Soulard but south of downtown sits the 4 Hands Brewing Company, a just-the-right-size craft brewer and tasting room. What better stop on a whistlestop date night?
Having already reviewed two of the 4 Hands beers, and as an avid lover of quality local brews, I’m quite familiar with this brewery. But physically going to the tasting room had been an elusive trip for a while.
What an awful, shadow-obscured, no flash picture of the sign. I smell a Pulitzer.
To select a beer flight, the bartender hands you a laminated deck of cards that describe each beer in some detail. At $8 for a flight of four 3 oz. beers, it’s a little pricey (although I think the beer pours were more than 3 oz. each). But, still, it was a nice experience. As you’ll read later, the food’s pretty darn good also.
Our beer menu
Yet another photo where it’s hard to see what’s going on. I’m sorry. This was our third beer-serving stop, not including our dinner restaurant that also served beer.
If you could read that menu in the bad photo, you’d see that their featured beers are (from top to bottom) Single Speed Session, Cast Iron Oatmeal Brown, Reprise Centennial Red, and Divided Sky Rye IPA. Additionally, seasonals included Contact High, Pi Pale Ale, Prussia, and Ruby Red Prussia. (Hmmm. Didn’t notice the $5 bloody mary until now… I’ll have to hit that up when I return.)
We made our selections from the left end of the bar and gazed in awe at the clean new brewing equipment that filled an old factory or warehouse of some sort.
Alcoholic alchemy
Since it had been a couple hours and more than a couple beers since dinner, we also ordered a nice hummus plate. The olives were particularly delicious.
Great beer demands good food
In short order, our beer flights arrived. My wife’s tastes are distinctly lighter than mine, as seen from her flight:
Katie’s beer flight
I went with the hoppier and darker options:
My flight
Of course, I tried them all. Each was distinct and delicious. I’ll review them right-to-left, beginning with my wife’s flight.
Divided Sky – Fruity smell, met with an equally fruity taste. Whatever hops provided the plummy aroma left a lingering hop bitterness. A cloudy amber beer with wonderful color. I swear this beer tastes like Fruit Pebbles… just like New Belgium’s Sunshine Wheat. Good beer, right up my wife’s alley.
Contact High – I’ve bought and enjoyed this one before. Smooth beer with only a light hop flavor. The fruitiness is mild and it’s a very attractive cloudy yellow. Speaking from experience, have this one with some chili dogs covered in raw onions and hot sauce. Football should be on while you eat & drink.
Pi Pale Ale – A few months ago I ran into a specialty Schlafly beer collaboration at Pi Restaurant in the Central West End and really enjoyed it, to the point that I wrote it up. This one is smooth and rich like a good ale should be, but has a hoppy fruitiness less adventurous than that of Divided Sky. I prefer the 4 Hands project to Schlafly’s, but only slightly.
Single Speed Session – Easily my wife’s favorite. Apparently I’ve negligently passed over this beer many times at the local grocer or beer shop! I thought it was mellow and surprisingly bitter for a beer my wife would like. It was rich and enjoyable, and I wound up buying a few more the following week to bring home.
Reprise Centennial Red Ale – My notes are vague, but I first wrote good red. Then I revised it to great red. Apparently this beer really grows on you, and I’m fast becoming a big fan of high quality red ales. For too long have I shunned red ales. The best beer I drank at Bell’s was a (hopped) red ale. The best at Trailhead was a red ale. Maybe I just had a few crappy ones and got turned off. My eyes are opening. This was smooth and nicely bitter. The color was great. Really an enjoyable few swigs of beer.
Resurrection IPA – Amazing smells of tart pineapple and the bitterness was sharp yet subtle. What an amazing IPA. Probably the best beer here. I drank it too fast to really reflect on it’s complexities but bought more when I went to the grocery store recently. Wifey barely got a sip.
Cast Iron Oatmeal Brown – Heavy burnt smoke aromas, rich in texture and flavor. There’s a nice cocoa finish that rolls over your tongue. I’m not a huge brown fan, but this was pretty good. A little heavy on the roasted malts, though you need to take into consideration my personal preference. Perhaps a porter fan would go nuts for this beer.
Prussia Berliner Style Weiss – I reviewed this a few weeks ago and made the horrible discovery of it’s sub-3.5 ABV. Still, my wife loved it nearly as much as the Single Speed. It’s a tasty beer that’s fresh and clean. Went well with the hummus.
With a birthday coming up, my wife wanted to buy me a raglan t-shirt. I just need to act surprised when the kids give it to me to unwrap.
I pay them to be a walking ad for them? Makes sense.
The whole tasting room experience was great. Quaint space with character, and not very crowded for 9-ish on a Saturday night. We found seats at the bar with no issue. No loud noise or smoking or music. Everyone was friendly. My wife demanded an imminent return trip. Fine by me!
simpson bbq 