BEER REVIEW: Hessian in Paradise from GUN HILL BREWING COMPANY

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

This is not exactly the time of year for sours. Those lemony funky tart-bombs are usually reserved for the warm months. But I cooked a very light citrusy salmon dish and I found this can in my refrigerator and thought it would be a decent pairing.

Gun Hill is one of the most exciting breweries in New York and I’ve started discovering more and more of their beers in cans. And when I do, I usually pick one up.

That’s how I discovered the Hessian in Paradise, not one of their more common beers. This is modeled after a German Berliner Weisse, almost a prelude to the modern day sour. As with most of their beers, they’ve tied this name into Revolutionary War history. Turns out the Hessians were German soldiers hired by the British to fight in the war.

The beer, which gets its influence from Germany, is more rooted in this country. It’s a unique spin on the sour beer with the addition of limes, nutmeg, and cinnamon. These were also all important ingredients historically in our country.

As for the beer, the first few sips (and smell) were way too intense for me. It was as tart as it got with not much sweetness. The more I drank it though, the more I really learned to like it. The initial shock wore away and I started enjoying the deep lime acidity braced by a smattering of hop notes. I didn’t get much in the way of the spices except maybe to subtly round out the lime.

You could think key lime pie without the sweet crust. And as suspected, it goes great with food. And no special cicerone certification is needed to figure that one out.

Is Gun Hill Brewing Company’s Hessian in Paradise the best beer in NY? It’s a bracing tart sour but has some unique lime notes once it opens up. I’m kind of amazed it turned into an 8 out of 10.