Big week coming for 4204 Main Street with festival and new brew

It’s going to be a busy week at 4204-Main Street Brewing Company in Belleville. with their first major beer festival of the summer, followed by the release of a new, rather large IPA.

This Saturday, April 27th 4204-Main Street is officially launching their beer garden with the 2019 Ale Fest. On hand to add to the pour list will be Peel, Kaleidoscope, Komblu, Heavy Riff, Route 51, JT Walker, Effing Brewery, Old Bakery, 6 Mile, Desthil, St. Nick, Brick River, Twisted Roots, and Schlafly.

A portion of the proceeds from ticket sales will benefit the Belleville Area Humane Society. Tickets available now! https://www.eventbee.com/v/2019alefest4204#/tickets

The New Beer

Then, the following week on May 1st, look for the debut of new Rather Large American. This is one of the few beers I’ve come across where the name came first, then the brew. “We came up with the name of this beer before anything, and is a salute to the American IPA, which started so many things for the US craft beer culture,” said Lead Brewer Dustin Luber. “Love it or hate it, the American craft brewer and drinker can always come back to the love of the Pacific Northwest hop varieties. This new American Double IPA was inspired by those looking for fistfuls of choice.”

Real Big American is brewed with White Wheat and a tetrad of heavy hitting hops from the Pacific Northwest. It will be 4204’s first double or Imperial IPA that they have produced on a large scale and in cans, following the more recent releases of West Coast 2 Hop IPA, and the popular Tickle Brut style IPA brewed with white wine grapes and dry hopped. “And also soon to come to cans is our Wicked Nectar juicy IPA,” said Luber.

The story behind the label

Another element of this beer, I found interesting is the concept art you’ll find on the can.

“The idea came to us in an idea that the craft beer consumer is growing into the ones who used to shy away from the thought of drinking IPA and Stout,” said Luber. The concept and label art shows the hip and trendy big-boned American looking for the next best hop-forward creation. He is not afraid to get his hands dirty. From the hardworking tradesman to the weekend home remodeling warrior/ hockey dad.

The art is from our friends at Corporate Electric out of Edwardsville, IL. They have done some great work here.

“The initial inspiration came from Dustin, the brewer who described the beer and it’s characteristics and related the brewing process to this Larger than Life Brew and equated it with this “Paul Bunyan” Character,” said artist Jim Harper. “When I illustrated this character, I added a red beard, because I have one and I totally wish mine looked this good. I used a program called Adobe Draw and iPad Pro to illustrate the complex beard into an almost lightning bolt version, everything else was drawn around that, a flannel shirt, a field of hops, the character holding hops and wheat with baskets of his yield below.”