Sunday, November 20, 2011

The Exotic Beer Weekly - This Week Kingfishers


This week: Slumdog Kingfisher 

With a population of over a billion people I'd be slightly worried if India couldn’t produce at least one person who knew the ancient secrets of brewing a half decent beer. Luckily it seems somebody did know how, and they called it Kingfisher Premium Lager (although it took them til 1978 to do it).

The best selling beer in India, and winner of several distinguished beer awards, it's apparently the ‘King of Good Times’, though this is as hard to swallow as water from the Ganges. As a light, full-bodied beer that has an almost fruity aftertaste it certainly goes down smooth, with almost no head at all. It definitely is a good flavour, and I did enjoy it whilst I was drinking it, as long as I ignored the bitter, almost metallic smell. 

However, the claim that it is the King of Good Times is perhaps a little exaggerated. I think of it in the same way I think of Bollywood films; sure they’re fun, whimsical and delightful, but I forget them as soon as the movie’s over. It’s just an average, run-of-the-mill lager, everything a beer should be, and nothing more. 

This isn’t a bad thing; in fact its light refreshing flavour is the perfect accessory to a good curry, or a hot summer afternoon in Delhi. And at $17 per 6-pack, and 5% alcohol, it’s certainly good value and this bumps it up half a star. If Ghandi drank beer, I’d wager he’d drink Kingfisher. 

I award Kingfisher 3.5 Taj Mahals out of 5.

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