How to Buy Beer in India

I was drinking Carlsberg
when I wrote this blog. :)

Beer is the king of beverages and the golden/amber beverage is God's gift to mankind. It's popularly believed that the Brits brought beer to India. Their creation, India Pale Ale, is one of my favorite beers. However, the beer industry in India only produces lager - especially the strong variety. Looks like things will change for the better with some state governments encouraging micro breweries.

Beer has always been a common man's drink the world over. So, unlike wine, whiskey, or even cognac, very little has been said or written about choosing and tasting beer. I'm an amateur (self-taught) beer taster. In this blog, I'm going to focus on buying beer in India. We'll leave tasting for later.

Rule #1: Check the date - old is not gold
Never buy beer that old. Lager is a fairly resilient beverage and was intended for long shelf life. But unlike wine or whiskey, it doesn't get better with age - it goes stale. So anything over 2 months (that's my limit, even 4 is ok) is stale. I usually stick to beer that less than a month old. If you plan to drink beer in a pub, go well after happy hours. Beer in many cities is delivered during happy hours. So pubs and restaurants chill and serve this after happy hours. This beer is reasonably good.

Rule #2: Stick to cans
Beer (or any beverage) has two big enemies - light and air. Bottles are not "really" airtight. The caps leak air - slowly. They also let in light. While light may not be a problem during transportation, it becomes a real problem when bottles are put on display. Bottles are often cheaper. So if you HAVE to buy bottles, ask for bottles from an unopened box.
Cans on the other hand are airtight and don't let in light. They also chill faster.

Rule #3: Buy from liquor vends, not bars
Liquor vends sell at retail price while bars mark up prices. Every state has it's own liquor culture. Goa, Bangalore, Daman, Pondicherry, and Mumbai are some of the best cities for buying booze. You have swank shops with pleasant staff. Delhi and Chennai are terrible as all booze is sold through state-owned vends. Chennai is especially bad there are very few vends, they rarely serve chilled beer, and they are mostly seedy.

Rule #4 - Avoid foreign brands
They are usually smuggled and are stale. There are several legit importers, but they only import common stuff and sell them at exorbitant prices. Cheap Mexican brands like Corona sell for nearly 120 rupees per pint in Bangalore.

Rule #5 - The glycerin factor
India is a hot country and all beer manufacturers use glycerin as a preservative. Yes, most Indian beers contains glycerin. Also, as most of them import hops, the use of color and artificial flavor to control costs is not uncommon. So, if you are picky about your beer, drain out the glycerin and color by holding a bottle of beer up-side-down in a bowl of water for a few minutes.

I hope these points help.

Cheers!!