Despite the rumor that Manhattan was named for the Delaware Indian word for “the place we got drunk that time,” New York City is hard on local breweries. 

 

There are enough new tourists coming into the city every day to keep the Heartland Brewery chain of brewpubs afloat, but the brand has not made the transition to a distributed line to pick up for the beer cave back home.

 

Heartland head brewer Kelly Taylor and his wife Sonya Giacobbe have spotted the opening, and this fall have begun producing their personal label Kelso Pilsner in cans. It’s easily one of the best most drinkable beers I’ve come across this year.

 

The origin story of pilsner is pretty great: the citizens of the Czech town of Pilsen grew more and more frustrated with the quality of the town’s breweries until one day in 1838 when the townspeople dumped the entire year’s production in front of the town hall. A brewmaster was called in to oversee a new beer from start to finish, and the result was the clear crisp golden lager we now know as Pilsner Urquell. At the time, though, no one thought to make the mark an appellation controllée, and the term (and style) pilsner drifted across Bavaria and around the world; Heineken and Budweiser are more or less in the pilsner category.

 

You would not be entirely wrong to think that aside from the Czech name bearers and a few delicious Bavarian beers, pilsner is generally a glass of fizzy cold water, slightly bitter, that you have to drink in quantities to feel. Kelso does not fit the general mode. A crisp beer, Kelso has a definite progression of flavors from a pleasant yeasty nose to a slightly sweet middle to a delicious dry finish. It has body (5.5 percent alcohol by volume) and character (23 IBUs) and it pairs well with practically every main course I’ve tried from duck to lamb to fish to steak.

 

Kelso is seeing good distribution throughout lower New York state. If you see the distinctive blue cans, do not hesitate to pick up a six pack and make a note of where you found it. One to come back to.