BEER REVIEWS: Kings County Brewers Collective Can Round-Up

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

I admit that I fall for the beer can marketing. Before even reading what style beer is being sold, I am attracted to the colorful designs on the cans. I feel like one reason I buy the beer is to just have the cool artwork in my refrigerator.

KCBC (Kings County Brewers Collective) has some of the most captivating artwork among the local breweries. The hardcore cartoons are done by comic artist Earl Holloway and I always spot a KCBC beer among the other beers on the shelves.

And so, like an avid comic book collector, I have been racking up cans from KCBC. And believe it or not, I’ve actually consumed a few of them. Here now is another round-up of some of the cans I tasted from one of Bushwick’s coolest and most artistic breweries.

Zombies seem to be a motif when it comes to KCBC’s fruited sours. The Yacht Zombie Apocalypse is no exception. This light blood red sour packs a punch of berry fruits immediately on the nose. It was a bright citrusy summer sour with notes of blood orange. It was rather too much fruit for me, reminding me of a kids’ fruit punch but a bit more sour and sweet. I did like that it was rounded out by vanilla and milk sugar which gave it another dimension.

The Kung Fu Karaoke cat could possibly save us from the zombies. Especially if you prefer IPAs to sours. I happen to like both, but this double dry hopped IPA was totally rad. It reminded me of the big craze of IPAs in the late 90’s/early 2000’s with tropical juicy notes but its subtle bitterness put it in league with the now popular NE-style. There was a touch of sweetness at the end rounding it out to make it a very drinkable beer.

My son was fascinated (and a little scared) by the character on the Lazer Grazer beer. I also let him get a sniff of this one, but that’s as far as I allow my three year old get to beer (for now). I was also taken with this fruited sour. Bold ruby hues and a creamy pink head fell into the glass. Funky yeast notes made their way into the aroma and the flavor was pretty intense. Juicy sour cherries were dominant with a bold and aggressive backbone. It’s a nice end-of-summer baked cherry pie type of beer, but I have to be in a specific frame of mind for this one.

So we’ll end this round up with another IPA. That seems to be what KCBC does best – sour, IPA, sour, IPA. Viking Roller Boogie is another double dry hopped specimen. This one was much hazier with a bright yellow vibrancy. Pineapple was strongest on the nose and palate but a dank herbal bitter finish revealed itself. It’s 7.2% ABV also gave off a decent amount of heat.

I do like most of KCBC’s beers so I’ll keep buying them, but I have a feeling even if I didn’t, I might collect them just for the can art work. I feel bad putting each one in the recycling bin after they’re empty. But I bet my wife would not like if I hung them on the walls.

Is Kings County Brewers Collective’s Yacht Zombie Apocalypse the best beer in NY? Though it was rounded out by some milk sugar, it was bit too fruity for me erring on the side of a child’s fruit punch instead of a sour beer. 7 out of 10.

Is Kings County Brewers Collective’s Kung Fu Karaoke the best beer in NY? I loved it. It was a nostalgic IPA with big tropical hop notes balanced with a subtle bitterness. 9 out of 10.

Is Kings County Brewers Collective’s Lazer Grazer the best beer in NY? The baked cherry notes were a bit too intense for me so I give it a 7 out of 10 since it requires a very specific frame of mind.

Is Kings County Brewers Collective’s Viking Roller Boogie the best beer in NY? Fruity and dank with big pineapple notes, I enjoyed this and give it an   8 out of 10 but I wouldn’t have mind a little less heat on the back end.