Brewery produces beer to honor Kelly

Topeka's Blind Tiger Brewery & Restaurant announced it was introducing a new beer called "Kelly's Kölsch" to honor Gov. Laura Kelly, who was inaugurated Monday morning.

The new beer is being brewed for one time only and became available for purchase Monday at the restaurant at 417 S.W. 37th, said owner Jay Ives. It will be on tap as long the current batch lasts.

Kelly's Kölsch is a light, German-style beer that's golden in color and is brewed with wheat malt, Ives said. The Kölsch style of beer originated in the city of Cologne, Germany.

This is the second time Blind Tiger has produced a beer to honor an incoming governor, not as a political statement but as a patriotic gesture that honors Kansas.

The brewery introduced a brown-colored "Brownback Wheat Beer" shortly before the January 2011 inauguration of former Gov. Sam Brownback. His inaugural committee had suggested making the brew a wheat beer, considering Kansas is known for its production of wheat.