The name is our take on a family named brewery. My last name is Lemp, so I couldn’t have a Lemp brewery. The Lemp Brewery was the largest brewery prior to Prohibition. We are not related to that Lemp family, but share a last name. So, the 4 Hands represents my wife, our two sons, and myself.
Kevin Lemp, Founder of 4 Hands Brewing Co.
4 Hands hails from my hometown of St. Louis and I’m lucky enough to know some of the financial backers. My wife and her family attended an event at the brewery and wrote about their experience. (P.S. 4 Hands’ Reprise Centennial Red Ales is one of my favorites.)
Why It’s Named … is an ongoing feature about the stories behind brewery names
One-legend goes that Geddes, on a routine jaunt from here to there, was stopped by Jamaican Police (whose uniform, it must be noted, featured a red stripe running down the side) for a routine check. Just then, a voice rang out from the brew house, “Boss, we need a name for this ale?” Geddes paused, glanced at the officer, and without much in the way of deliberation decided on the brew’s name.
Story#2 — a tale with every bit as much credence as the previous one, gives credit to Eugene Desnoes. Shortly after he and Geddes brewed their first batch of ale. Desnoes won a 10,000 pound prize in something called a “Green Stripe” Sweepstakes. History does not afford us into whether or not Desnoes was a superstitious man, but it does suggest he decided to keep his good luck rolling by naming his beer for the new benefactor.
So, one way of another, Red Stripe gained a name and business boomed.
Red Stripe Consumer Representative
Famous for their stout bottle with the bold look, Red Stripe definitely exhibits the free spirit of Kingston, Jamaica. Learn more about the beer and the company on their official website.
Why It’s Named … is an ongoing feature about the stories behind brewery names
Two Brothers Brewing Company was founded by Jim and Jason Ebel in late 1996. The business was envisioned by the brothers based on their entry into entrepreneurship with The Brewer’s Coop, a retail store catering to home beer and wine making. In 1993 The Brewer’s Coop opened its doors in Naperville, IL selling retail ingredients and equipment for the homebrewing community.
The more they were surrounded by brewing, the more passionate they became about opening their own microbrewery. In early 1996 they decided to take the plunge and start writing a business plan. Several months later their dream became reality. Two Brothers Brewing Company is still 100% family owned.
Two Brothers Brewing Company website
Two Brothers in located in a non-descript industrial complex in Warrenville, Illinois, just a little west of my hometown. Their beers are conveniently sold at Costco in cost-effective 24-packs for only $24. A buck a beer cannot be beat!
Why It’s Named … is an ongoing feature about the stories behind brewery names
When Ben presented the opportunity to join with him to help Finch’s Beer Company become a reality, Paul realizing Ben’s passion for the craft brewing industry saw it as an opportunity to do something fun and different. This endeavor has opened his horizons to great craft beers and the great community of craft brewers.
Finch’s Beer Co. website referring to its owners, Benjamin and Paul Finch
Paul is actually Ben’s father, not the putt-putt lovin’ Paul Finch from the American Pie movies. Finch’s is a promising up-and-coming craft brewer in Chicago. I have tasted their product on many occasions and have never had reason to complain.
Why It’s Named … is an ongoing feature about the stories behind brewery names
Three Floyds Brewing Company LLC was founded in 1996 by brothers Nick and Simon with their father Mike Floyd. The original brewery was built by Nick and Simon in a run down warehouse located in Hammond, Indiana. The first beers brewed by the brothers were designed to be a departure from the fairly bleak craft brewing scene in the region. Nick and Simon brewed intense balanced beers that were and still remain “not normal” by conventional standards.
Three Floyds Brewing Team
Now located in Munster, Indiana, Three Floyds is infamous for their overwhelmingly popular annual Dark Lord Day festival, traditionally occurring in late April.
Why It’s Named … is an ongoing feature about the stories behind brewery names
From its earliest time under the Shiner Brewing Association in 1909, to that fateful day in 1914 when Kosmos Spoetzl saw an opportunity to bring classic Bavarian brewing traditions to his fellow immigrants, through the Great Experiment of Prohibition and the Great Depression, the Little Brewery has stuck to what they know the best — handcrafting the finest beer! Tucked away in the scenic Texas Hill Country between Houston and San Antonio, Spoetzl Brewery is the heart of Shiner.
Spoetzl Brewery website
If you’re like me, you know Spoetzl Brewery better by the name of their flagship beer, Shiner Bock. Now I’ve learned that Shiner is actually a town in Texas. Beer road trip, anyone?
Why It’s Named … is an ongoing feature about the stories behind brewery names
The Boulevard story begins in 1988, when founder John McDonald started construction of the brewery in a turn-of-the-century brick building on Kansas City’s historic Southwest Boulevard. A vintage Bavarian brewhouse was installed, and the first batches of beer were produced in the fall of 1989.
Boulevard Brewing Company website
Boulevard is located in Kansas City, Missouri, and has grown to become the largest specialty brewer in the Midwest. Their most well-known beer is their Unfiltered Wheat Beer … and I can attest to its tastiness. Plus, I hear they offer an amazing brewery tour, which I need to go on someday.
Why It’s Named … is an ongoing feature about the stories behind brewery names
Located in beautiful Bend, Oregon, Deschutes Brewery overlooks the wild and scenic Deschutes River. It’s home base to our adventurous, award-winning lineup of pioneering beers.
Deschutes Brewery website
Named after the river that “bends” near Bend, Oregon, the Deschutes (pronounced “duh-SHOOTS”) brewers must be inspired by nature’s beauty to produce such quality beers.
Why It’s Named … is an ongoing feature about the stories behind brewery names
As has been reported elsewhere, Goose Island will be offering cans of their top-selling beer, 312 Urban Wheat Ale, very soon. I, for one, am excited about this. I personally think that cans are a great beer receptacle and would love to see more beers offered this way.
Furthermore, in combination with Goose Island’s much-publicized sale to AB-InBev, I see these 312 cans as a potentially clever vehicle for spreading this quality wheat ale to the rest of the nation. In my mind, I could totally see this logo with a huge 314 with the St. Louis skyline featuring the Arch in the background. Or a big 206 with the Seattle cityscape and the Space Needle poking up.
In addition, the 312’s description as an “Urban Wheat Ale” also fits in with this area code plus city skyline motif. It all just seems to make sense. To me, at least.
Want to learn more? Check out the scoop from the Red Eye newspaper in Chicago with some early glimpses of the actual physical cans. Can-tastic!
My husband, Randal (Randy) Sprecher, started Sprecher Brewing Company in 1985. It is the first brewery established in Milwaukee since Prohibition.
Randy moved to Milwaukee to brew for Pabst. He’d been a homebrewer for many years then studied fermentation science at UC-Davis, which is where Pabst found him.
Anne Sprecher, PR and Marketing at Sprecher Brewing Company
Sprecher is located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and are as well known for their great craft beers as their delicious sodas. I especially enjoy their famous root beer in a homemade float. Mmm!
Why It’s Named … is an ongoing feature about the stories behind brewery names
