The 2010s have been a giant beer decade in St. Louis, and one of those at the forefront of the craft beer explosion in this town is 4 Hands Brewing Company. One of the breweries that make up the Class of 2011, 4 Hands has brought a standard of quality, creativity, and fun to the local scene, with their iconic beers such as the Madagascar series to their annual festivals such as Lupulin Carnival and the recent Slipping Into Darkness festival.
But perhaps the most impressive accomplishment, and this is just my subjective opinion, is that 4 Hands has captured what I’ll call “Go-To” status with their City Wide American Pale Ale. Meaning, in this city, the city of Anheuser Busch, saying I’ll have a “Bud Light” as a go-to option is as mindless an act as there is. Now, those of us who don’t want a mindless beer, but rather crave a craft “go-to” now have it. City Wide just rolls off the tongue, and frankly, you see it now just about everywhere you might find a macro light.
And, 4 Hands is rounding out the ’10s with another strong year that was 2019. But, how do you follow a year in which, as a local craft brewery, you continued to brew popular beer, grew your 1220 spirits brand into a cocktail-in-a-can business and partnered up to deliver a new variety of frozen pizzas that are packed with flavors of the 314?
You start off by introducing Madagascar in 12-ounce cans on NITRO. Yes, that is what you do exactly.
Madagascar In Cans
We have added a few NEW additions to this years MADAGASCAR release… save the date! January 12th! pic.twitter.com/iQL2jTchK8
— 4 Hands Brewing Company (@4HandsBrewingCo) January 1, 2020
This will be one of three new exciting extensions of 4 Hands’ Madagascar line up. They will also be releasing a Cobbler version with Madagascar vanilla, blackberry, raspberry, and cinnamon.
For the 2020 Double Barrel Madagascar, 4 hands is doing a collaboration. They selected a bourbon barrel-aged Rum from Papa Pilar Rum for this year’s double-barrel release.
First Releases of 2020
- Madagascar Maple
- Madagascar Coconut and Cacao
- Madagascar Single Origin Coffee
- Madagascar Cobbler, which will feature Madagascar vanilla, blackberry, raspberry, and cinnamon.
First Time Releases
In March look for a special collaboration with St. Louis’ own Strange Donuts. The beer will be a BIG Imperial Stout. Look for additional collaborations later in the year. A partnership with Hop Butcher, of out Darian, Illinois will take place just in time for Lupulin Carnival.
A special summer collaboration that could be interesting involves Mondo Brewing Company of London. This collab will center on the summertime series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs, June 13-14 of 2020.
And, although I could not pull any additional info from him, Kevin did mention plans for a collaboration with Side Project. Stay tuned.
The popular summer seasonal wheat ale, Contact High series will get a makeover. The popular variant Juiced will fade away but will be replaced with two variants. Brewers are still working to figure out just what they’ll be in the final form. Stay tuned.
Under 4 Hands’ 1220 Spirits brand, keep your eyes open for the release of a bourbon barrel-aged Spettro Amaro. This spirit should be hit shelves in late February.
Expect The Unexpected
- More barrel-aged spirits from 1220.
- For the Slipping Into Darkness Festival, expect a HUGE release of stouts.
- Those stouts could become part of the seasonal lineup, which will also include dry-hopped lagers, sour IPA, and BIG IPAs.
Did Kevin mention anything about using Four Roses Barrels for any of these projects similar to the Whistle Pig release last year?
Scott, I spoke with Kevin Lemp about your question, and he reminded me that 4 Hands as worked with Four Roses before in previous projects, and hopes to again. But no plans have been laid out thus far.