First Look: 4 Hands Brewing Co. at The District in Chesterfield

4 Hands Brewing Co.’s second location, 4 Hands at The District, opens today, Thursday, Aug. 31, at Suite 17073, 17081 N. Outer Road, in The District of St. Louis complex in Chesterfield today. The 10,000-square-foot tasting room features 4 Hands beers on tap and food from Hi-Pointe Drive-In, as well as showcasing other products from the 4 Hands umbrella, including hard seltzers, 1220 Spirits cocktails and whiskey from Withered Oak. 

This new 4 Hands is the brewer’s first expansion into a new space since opening its LaSalle Park taproom just south of downtown St. Louis in 2011. The tasting room has space for around 350 guests, with a vibrant, modern design by architects CannonDesign bringing the space to life. Picnic-style tables and benches are spread out across the high-ceilinged space, with both the main bar and the kitchen’s walkup counter just a few steps away. The space also features an area for playing vintage arcade games like Mortal Kombat II and NBA Jam, as well as an array of screens that will be used to show live sports. A retail area in the corner of the space sells an assortment of 4 Hands merchandise in addition to packaged beers, seltzers and cocktails for customers to take home.

4 Hands owner Kevin Lemp said he believes one of the tasting room’s greatest attributes is how comfortable it feels. “During our soft openings, we noticed that when there's 30 people out there, it doesn't look empty. And when there's 150 people in there, for some reason, it also doesn't look overly full, which I was really excited to see,” he said. 

The large 360-degree bar pours around 20 different drinks across a total of 48 draft taps. Most of the taps serve 4 Hands beer, but Lemp plans to also offer a hard seltzer and a cocktail on draft. The full lineup of 1220 Spirits products is also available behind the bar, and customers can order cocktails mixed from scratch or also order one of 1220’s canned cocktails. Lemp plans to highlight the diversity of 1220’s range of gins by offering gin and tonic flights, and Withered Oak’s whiskeys are also available at the bar.  

A large mural by local artist Killer Napkins (a.k.a. Jason Spencer) unites characters from signature murals Killer Napkins created for both 4 Hands’ original location and Hi-Pointe’s downtown restaurant, adding a striking flourish to the space. Hi-Pointe’s menu for the space includes a lineup of their trademark burgers and shakes, but they’ve also created an exclusive selection of “pub grub” items. These include the Frycuterie Board, a rotating selection of shareable snacks, each fried in a distinct seasoning, that currently includes sweet potato tots, Buffalo cauliflower, spiral cut fries and regular fries. Other snackable items exclusive to this location are tasty street corn deviled eggs, the Heartichoke Attack – deep-fried artichoke hearts stuffed with a cheesy spinach dip – and the Mozzy Osbourne’s two huge fried mozzarella sticks, served with marinara sauce. 

The menu was designed to be conducive to snacking and thoughtful about what a customer might want to eat alongside a beer. “We’ve never been in a space like this,” said Hi-Pointe co-owner Ben Hillman. “It's a different environment from our restaurants, so we wanted something that pairs really well with beer. My chef spent a ton of time tasting beer and pairing things with certain beers, so we thought this was a perfect environment to add those things to the menu.” 

4 Hands at The District is also equipped to host events, with a private event space that can welcome up to 75 seated guests or around 100 standing. The event space will also be used as overflow space for the tasting room, and has its own screens and even its own arcade games. In addition to events booked by clients, Lemp said customers can expect to see 4 Hands organizing its own events and festivals at The District. That could include live music, beer and spirit tasting events and more, but Lemp said for now the focus will be on getting day-to-day operations up to speed.

4 Hands is the latest addition to The District’s lineup of entertainment and cultural destinations, including live music venue The Factory, Topgolf, an art gallery and more. 4 Hands’ patio overlooking The Hub, The District’s outdoor gathering space, is certain to become a popular spot, equally welcoming for families with kids or for friends gathering around a picnic table to grab a drink and some food before a concert at The Factory. “Downtown we really didn’t have a patio, we have a sidewalk,” Lemp said. “Here we have this expansive patio that then expands into The Hub area. Another thing during the soft openings that I loved was in the evening it felt really good in here, you’d walk out the front doors and both gazebos had families in there, kids running on the astroturf passing a soccer ball, and it really turned into a park out there.” 

The Hub is still a work in progress, but is equipped with a huge screen, a stage and more seating for spending a laid back evening or weekend afternoon lounging around. The Hub is surrounded by a number of other spaces that are expected to be leased to restaurants – one space will be occupied by Napoli Bros. Pizzeria and Pasta, but look out for additional announcements in the coming months.  

Lemp also confirmed that construction is now underway on 4 Hands’ forthcoming Kirkwood location, which will feature food from Peacemaker Lobster & Crab Co. He said that location is on course for an opening in the first quarter of 2024. 

4 Hands at The District is open on Sunday to Thursday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. and on Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to midnight. 

Editor's note: This story was edited on August 31, 2023, to reflect a change to 4 Hands at The District's hours of operation.