OKTOBERFEST!!! (Kelso’s Kellerfest at Sunswick 35/35)

My search for the best beer in New York continues….

Oktoberfest, the annual beer festival in Munich, has officially come and gone this year. I imagine most of you (myself included) missed the costume parade and the gun salute. The good news, however, is we can still enjoy copious amounts of Oktoberfest-style beers. Traditionally, these lager beers were brewed in March before the summer days got too hot to brew beer and then stored at very cold temperatures until festival time arrived in the fall.

In this country, most breweries try their hand at an Oktoberfest beer and they appear at beer bars across the country. I already got to sample Brooklyn’s Oktoberfest, which I quite enjoyed. And most recently, I stumbled upon Kelso’s Kellerfest. This must be a take on that same style. And it turns out the name Keller, while probably also referring to brewmaster Kelly Taylor, means cellar in German. How appropriate!

I discovered the Kellerfest at Sunswick 35/35, a divey sports beer bar in Astoria (where 35th Street and 35th Avenue meet) that I had been hearing lots about over the last year or so. The raves pretty much referred to their unbelievable craft beer selection. They have 25 rotating draft lines and they’re all dedicated to craft beers. Budweiser is a dirty word in these parts.

The bar wasn’t exactly what I was expecting from a hip craft beer bar in New York. It had a very divey feel with cheap tables and chairs. I wouldn’t have been surprised if this bar was located in a small town in middle America. Except for that awesome beer list.

The bartender and the few other customers made us feel very comfortable as we quickly began chatting about the beer list. Any feelings of being out of place quickly subsided once I got a sip of the Kellerfest.

One of the most interesting things about this beer is that it was unfiltered. So it had a slight cloudiness to its amber color. It had a tight head and some strong oatmeal and apple aromas to the nose. I thought it tasted quite complex with a very mellow hop character and a malty, caramel finish. There was a bit of honey sweetness that I enjoyed and it made this a very drinkable lager.

So while Oktoberfest might be officially over, Kellerfest has just begun. I just wonder if any of Thomas Keller’s restaurants will be serving this beer. Then it would truly be a Kellerfest!

Is Kelso of Brooklyn’s Kellerfest the best beer in NY? It’s a very good lager with some sweet notes and the right amount of hops for balance. It gets an 8 out of 10.