I know I’ve talked about it ad nauseum, but I’m just so, so amazed how much awesome beer stuff has been happening in St. Louis in 2011. One of the coolest things has been that we’ve seen four new breweries open in our area this year.

Well, tonight we can now say there are five new breweries that have opened in 2011. I’m happy to announce that 4 Hands Brewing will be opening their tasting room on Thursday, December 15th at 3PM.

Moving forward the hours of operation at 4 Hands will be Wed-Fri 3PM – 11PM and Saturday 1PM-11PM. They will also be cash only their first week of operation with credit cards being accepted as early as next week.

While many of us had a sneak preview of their pilot beers at their soft opening back in November, this is official opening and your first chance to try their production beers. While all of their beers won’t be available at the start, you will be able to sip on the Reprise Centennial Red, Cast Iron Oatmeal Brown Ale, and Divided Sky Rye when the doors open. Here are some descriptions of three of their four core beers:

Reprise Centennial Red Ale – The Centennial hop is the centerpiece of our American Red Ale. Reprise pushes the limits of a single hop with an amazing bouquet and stunning bitterness all the way through. The citrus character provides an experience you will want to repeat. Reprise is crimson in color with aromas of citrus fruit and biscuit malts.

Divided Sky Rye IPA –This beer brings together two of our favorite ingredients; Hops and Rye – Serious hops up front provide a pungent, floral, and citrus character. We use Centennial, Cascades, and Columbus in this hop lovers dream. The rye provides a slightly spicy flavor and a full mouth-feel. Divided Sky pours straw in color with notes of tangerine, grapefruit, and pine.

Cast Iron Oatmeal Brown Ale – This is one monster of a Brown Ale! We used chocolate malt and roasted barley to give this beer a cast iron backbone. Our Oatmeal brown pours a dark mahogany with aromas of dark chocolate and coffee

If you’re looking for a little sustenance while drinking on these tasty beers, 4 Hands has set up food trucks on Thursday (Guerrilla Street Food from 4:30 to 8:30 ) and Friday (Seoul Taco). There will also be live entertainment from 8PM to 11PM on Friday and Saturday.

And now that the doors are open, the next thing we’ll see is distribution in the area. Smartly, 4 Hands will be waiting until after the holidays to begin rolling out their beer on draught to the St. Louis area and then shortly after we can begin seeing it in 22oz package on store shelves.

Five new breweries in 2011. It’s been a great year for beer for all of us. I can’t wait to see what 2012 has in store.