Tap Handle #753: Four String - Dan Cochran Signature
Rarity: brewery closed
Mounting: internal 3/8" nut
As a hobbyist guitar player I enjoy picking up a guitar-themed tap now and then. I acquired this Four String tap directly from the brewery several years ago, and it fits the guitar theme well, as it features the likeness of the head and neck of a bass guitar. On the head of the guitar is a label bearing the brewery's logo, their name, and that it was based in Columbus, Ohio. On the back is a nearly identical label, except that it is cut into a different shape. Tuning keys and fret bars round out the additional details. Labels featuring the beer variety where placed lengthwise along the guitar neck (see example to the right). I'll be profiling their Switchblade IPA. The tap has appeared on the secondary market with less frequency since the brewery closed its doors, but it can still be picked up for a fairly inexpensive price.
Click through to read more about Four String Brewing, their Switchblade IPA, and to see more photos of this shreddin' tap...
Four String Brewing Company was founded in 2011 in Columbus, Ohio by Dan Cochran. A musician who played bass for the band Big Back 40 and later The League Bowlers, Cochran had also been an avid homebrewer since 1994. With extensive national touring and recording in the ‘90s and ‘00s, Cochran saw the national trend of craft brewing firsthand, and was inspired to open his own brewery. He started planning in late 2010, building the brewery primarily using repurposed commercial dairy tanks and other salvaged equipment. He named the brewery Four String, based on the fact that he was a bass player and a bass guitar has four strings. Initially Four String was a production brewery that only serviced local accounts, but in 2013 Cochran added a 400 square foot tap room, with rock and roll inspired decor. There were 4-5 beers on draft, growler fills, food trucks, and free tours.
In 2015 Cochran hired Larry Horwitz as Four String’s new brewmaster. A Columbus native, Horwitz had over 20 years of brewing experience, working previously for breweries like Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant. Horwitz, who served as a consultant on Four String’s original facility, is a certified beer judge and serves with the Brewer’s Association and Master Brewer’s Association of the Americas. The hiring coincided with the addition of a 25,000 square foot production facility on Columbus’ West Side. The new space housed a 30 barrel brewing system, which represented a 300 percent increase in capacity for Four String. The expansion also included a canning line and a sensory analysis laboratory. The increased production allowed them to distribute their beer statewide and introduce new beers to their portfolio. The original brewery and tap room become the home for the brewery's more limited and experimental brews.
By 2017 Four String had begun offering contract brewing thanks to the expansion that had increased tank space. This service also included packaging since Four String had a canning line that could handle 12 ounce and 16 ounce cans in either four packs or six packs. Their quality control lab allowed them to produce a consistent product with high quality. This paid immediate dividends when Four String began to contract brew for Royal Docks Brewing, quickly reaching 6,000 barrels per year. At the time, Four String was producing three core beers of their own, along with seasonal offerings. But when they released Hilltop Heritage Lager, an American Lager, it easily became Four String's best seller in 2017 and by Fall of 2018 had already surpassed its 2017 sales volume. In 2018 the brewery released Hilltop Light Lager, which became their third best-selling beer.
In late 2018, however, the brewery suddenly and shockingly closed. With the popularity of the Hilltop beers, it wasn't exactly clear what forced Four String into closure. There was some speculation that the $2 million expansion in 2015 may have saddled them with significant debt, so when sales began to flatten out in 2018, while at the same time Royal Docks ended their contract in order to produce beer on their own equipment, it may have been a "perfect storm". Fortunately for fans of Hilltop and Hilltop Light, a new brewery, Hilltop Brewing Company, relaunched the beers in 2018. Recognizing the market potential, Hilltop Brewing’s owner, Blake Squires, teamed up with a small group of passionate Ohio investors to save the brand and relaunch it. Squires worked hand-in-hand with Cochran to reproduce the recipe, as the two were old friends dating back to Cochran's homebrewing days. Cochran felt it was important for the brands to live on and wanted to get it back to the market as quickly as possible, including serving as brand ambassador for Hilltop Brewing.
In 2019, Wolf’s Ridge Brewing Company leased the 25,000 square foot building that formerly housed the Four String production brewery. Wolf's Ridge also purchased much of the equipment, which included the brewhouse, an assortment of fermentation tanks and the canning line.
Four String's Switchblade IPA is #17 in their Solo Series of brews. Explosive notes of ripe tropical fruit and citrus dominated the aroma, with savage amounts of hops used in both early and late additions. This dry-hopped American IPA could close out every show the way rock intended…guitar smashing and hoping for an encore.
Ratebeer: 3.22 out of 5
Beer Advocate: 85 out of 100 (very good)
Since the brewery is closed, no address or website has been provided.
Source Material
On the secondary market, there are guitar-themed taps for many of the large domestic beers (bud, bud light, coors, rolling rock). Do you know if those designs were actually issued by the breweries years ago or are they more breweriana items created after the fact?
ReplyDeleteHey Joe, most of those guitar taps date back to about 2005-2006...mainly Bud, Miller, Busch, Coors, and Rolling Rock. As to why they all came out around that time, I couldn't tell you. Most likely one was made first and the others followed suit to compete.
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