Nicaragua Craft Beer Co. Panga Drops Keller Pils

Since the beginning of the pandemic, my beer buying has truly been limited almost entirely to supporting local breweries by purchasing directly from their taprooms. As the year has stretched on, and we’ve seen no shortage of craft beer casualties, this remains the most direct and effective way you can help keep the lights on at your favorite breweries. As a result, I’ve had little bandwidth for grabbing unfamiliar, non-local beer off store shelves. But even in this setting, you occasionally run across something so novel or perplexing that you just can’t help yourself.
Nicaragua Craft Beer Co. was one of those odd little mysteries you run into the beer aisle. What was the story behind this Nicaragua-based brewery, I wondered? Why was it sitting on a store shelf in Virginia? Why did its pilsner come packaged in 8 oz cans? Why is its pilsner 6.2% ABV? The hell is going on here? Suffice to say, there were enough lingering questions that I couldn’t help myself—I had to buy a six-pack of this, look up the company and sample the beer. I could not resist this level of idiosyncrasy.
Taking a gander at the NCBC website makes things snap into place—the company was founded by U.S. craft beer geeks Brandan DeBlois and Matt Greenberg, who were regular travelers to Nicaragua for its famous, surfer-friendly beaches. While visiting, they came to believe that the country’s most famous beach town, San Juan del Sur, should have a craft brewpub, and the rest is history. They’ve now been in operation in Nicaragua since 2013, alongside third partner Bobby Hottensen, making a wide variety of styles such as The Bloom IPA and Popoyo passionfruit ale.
Only one makes the trip back up to the U.S., however: Panga Drops Keller Pils. This brand is clearly meant to be a volume seller in the U.S., now apparently available in 35 states, and it sets itself apart in a few interesting ways. First there’s the beer itself—an unfiltered pilsner that is a bit stronger than typical at 6.2% ABV. But that aspect is balanced out by the smaller can serving size of just 8 oz, which is apparently intended to allow a beachbound drinker to plow through a can more quickly, while it’s still cold.
“When you’re drinking a beer in the Nicaraguan heat, the last four ounces tend to get warm,” said President and Co-Founder Matt Greenberg. “So, we moved those ounces to the next can to keep them cold. The 8-ounce squat cans chill faster to help keep you cool and refreshed.”
Makes sense to us. And personally, the 8 oz can is something I’ve been in support of for years—yes, for high-gravity styles and barrel-aged beers, but for basic styles as well. Small serving sizes are a great option for those who are prioritizing novelty or trying to control their alcohol intake more closely, and I would very much welcome seeing more cans like this in the market.