Chicagoist's Beer Of The Week: 4 Hands Single Speed

By Jason Baldacci in Food on Aug 22, 2014 9:05PM

While the weather can't seem to decide what it wants to do lately, we've committed to drinking like it's summer for the time being. This week, we found a great beer for this mindset.

Single Speed Session Ale comes to us from the crew at 4 Hands Brewing Co in St. Louis, Missouri. This blonde ale is brewed with jasmine flower, which is nice and present on the nose. On the palate the Pilsner malt in the grain bill keeps things light and crisp overall, while lending a nice, biscuity backbone. The hops and jasmine kick in during the mid-palate with a pop of herbal spice and lemon verbena and linger a little on the backend. At 5 percent alcohol content, Single Speed is a beer that could take you safely from mid-day through the late evening.

We're normally really picky about beers that are brewed with additional ingredients. We're certainly open to the idea, but we like them to be balanced in the recipe and add just enough character not to overpower the malt, hops and yeast. At the end of the day we still want our beer to taste like beer. Single Speed is an excellent example of this practice. The jasmine is present and plays off of the earthy hops very nicely, adding an extra layer of complexity that makes this low ABV beer just a little more food friendly than it would have been without. Try Single Speed with grilled chicken, a cheese plate or even with vanilla ice cream.

Single Speed is available in bottles and on draft, check beermenus.com to see where you can grab some this weekend.