Goodbye 2017. Long live 2018 and all the brew it’s bound to bring. Especially the ones from 4 Noses Brewing Company — so named after the Bibliowiczs, the beer-loving family members who run the joint — and their Ad Hoc Series. Here, taproom release day is a can’t-miss event.
“We like to be experimental, we like to create new things and we don’t want to be restricted by core or year-round brands,” 4 Noses brewmaster Tommy Bibliowicz tells Boulder Weekly. “The idea here is to be as creative as we can, so we don’t plan it out months ahead.”
Produced using a two-barrel pilot brewing system, these Ad Hoc beers show just how creative 4 Noses can be.
Take the Double Dry Hopped ‘Bout Damn Time IPA.
“Whereas the year-round ‘Bout Damn Time is dry-hopped over one day, Double Dry Hopped is dry-hopped over two,” Bibliowicz explains. “We add exactly twice the amount of typical dry-hopping as we would with our standard ‘Bout Damn Time.”
Dry hopping — steeping hops in the beer between fermentation and packaging — adds fresh hop aroma and flavor, which the DDH ‘Bout Damn Time has in spades. Dry-hopped primarily with Mosiac and a bit of Amarillo hops, the nose is floral citrus with a touch of dankness that shows as the beer warms. The mouth is full of hops, coating the tongue and sticking to the ribs with satisfaction.
“I’m always fascinated by the capability of different hops,” Bibliowicz explains.
That’s evident, but 4 Noses isn’t a hop bomb factory. Take its other Ad Hoc IPA release, this one in the New England style: Whimsy.
“One thing I started to learn, and really appreciate, about the New England style is that they use hops in a very different way than the traditional West Coast beers,” Bibliowicz says.
Utilizing NE IPA hallmarks, Whimsy has a yellow milkshake haze with a soft and frothy head. The nose offers juice and citrus and the flavor is full of Amarillo, Citra and Jarrylo hops with a creaminess that coats the mouth.
“There’s no fruit in it, but we tried to combine hops in such a way that would really give [Whimsy] that orange character,” Bibliowicz explains. “I think it gives people a different perspective into how capable hops are and what they really can do.”
And as the American-style Barley Wine shows, IPAs aren’t the only beers that get the 4 Noses hop treatment.
“We wanted something that embodied a little bit of a hop character,” Bibliowicz explains. “Something that’s not often used in barley wine: Amarillo.”
Caramel color, clean nose, hint of sweetness, fresh in the mouth with pine and resin — the Barley Wine checks all the boxes. And the experience is even better: malty alcohol coats the mouth while hoppy bitterness scrapes it clean, making each subsequent sip brand new.
4 Noses’ Barley Wine can be picked up in 500-ml bottles, while Whimsy and Double Dry Hopped ‘Bout Damn Time are sold in six-pack cans.
On Tap: 4 Noses Brewing Company. 8855 W. 116th Circle, Suite 4, Broomfield. 4nosesbrewing.com
