Nargis Kebab Mania

Sausage has drawn to my attention some kind of weird symbiotic relationship between Tickers and the Nargis Kebab. Prescotti even runs a website dedicated to the strange exotic delicacy. Sausage has quietly penned a song called Nargis Kebab nights which is free to download from the link below. Enjoy.

Bangla

As my brother in law is in town with his girlfriend for a few days we decided to take them on a trip to Brick Lane to sample some of London's finest curry. Our destination was Aladdin, which apparently was praised by Prince Charles at some point or another. The other benefit of this particular establishment is its BYO - or Bring Your Own grog for those philistines who would not be familiar with the term!
I snuck out to the off licence nearby and picked up a few bottles of Bangla (5.2% abv) which I thought was a little more authentic than the other usual Indian inspired choices. I have to report back that This beer is really nice compared to your generic Indian lager. It's thick and malty in mouth feel and texture and has a crisp bitterness which cuts through the spice and oil of good curry. My only criticism is it did have a slight acetaldehyde aroma and taste, but then again lots of Real Ale has this as well, especially if it has not been kept properly or is served too early. Anyhow, more information is available at their website. http://www.banglabeer.co.uk/

Kingfisher - 2

Yes, I know another repeat. It was pretty miserable over the weekend and it was the final of the 6 nations Rugby. I had a curry from 'The Raj of India' and a pint of Kingfisher. You can read about it here. Apparently brewed under licence by Shepherd Neame!

Kingfisher

Kingfisher (4.8% abv) is another Indian Lager which I suspect is also made in the UK. Again it is billed as a “Premium” lager which I think everything that comes out of India claims to be! It is kind of bland and plane after having the Cobra, and didn’t really have the nice firm bitterness that the Cobra had. A little bit of background is supplied below from the Kingfisher website. An Indian mate always raved about UB which stands for United Brewery’s and apparently they brew kingfisher as well??

The inspiration for the choice of brand name was certainly influenced by the great numbers of these beautiful and strikingly coloured birds which abound in India where over 70 different varieties/species of kingfisher can be found - more than in any other country or continent in the world.Kingfishers are particularly prevalent in Bangalore, the garden city of India, which is also headquarters to The United Breweries Group, brand owners of Kingfisher Lager. The new distinctive Kingfisher brand logo incorporates a visual of an Indian Kingfisher. From modest beginnings where Kingfisher Lager's distribution was somewhat confined to Southern India, it has grown to become India's leading brand of premium lager with share now approaching 36% of the total beer market.The brand is owned by the UB Group of India, a multi-divisional conglomerate operating in over 20 countries across Europe, North America, the Caribbean, the Middle East and Far East.UB Group activities include pharmaceuticals, engineering, fertilisers and information technology, but its traditional and core business is in the drinks sector where beer and spirits divisions dominate the market with famous lager brands such as Kingfisher, UB Export and Kalyani and numerous category leaders under the Mc Dowell and Herbertson spirits brands.For the UB Group, brewing was where it all began and the history of the group is synonymous with the history of beer in India.

Cobra

While I was over brick lane way last week I also stopped into one of the famed curry houses for a bit to eat. Ok well I had more than a bite but I also had a couple of beers to go with it! The first was Cobra (5% abv) which claims to be the best beer in India, but I suspect that my pint was brewed much closer to home! The beer is a nice bitter lager and doesn’t leave any nasty chemical like aftertaste which some generic cheap lagers can give you. This may be why it is billed as a ‘premium’ lager? But that doesn’t really mean very much when it comes in a cheap curry house. This beer was nice and refreshing and hit the spot just right with a nice korma. The bitterness was very pleasant and stood up to the heat of the curry nicely. I think this is now my preferred curry house beer.