What Beers do you like to drink

[Suvir Saran]

Any favorites?

Where do you get them?

Why do you like these Beers opposted to others?

[M65]

Taj Mahal and Maharajah definetly are way better than any beers I have had with Indian food, Kingfisher, I am sorry since they started making it locally I feel has gone way downhill.

[deliad]

Usually I have avoided having beer with my food, as it usually kills my appetite. Having it before is OK for me. Indian beers are too heavy (atleast for me) and I dont want to develop a beer belly.

Occassionally, I like the following three :

- Corona Light ( with a lemon wedge thrown in the bottle)

- Leffe Blonde (Belgian beer)

- Michelob Ultra

Cheers!!

[Suvir Saran]

The other night at Amma, we had a table of several well respected and award winning food writers and authors of cookbooks... and the next thing we know, Julian Niccolini, one of the owners of the Four Seasons Restaurant, came in and joined a little later by his dear wife Lisa and a friend of theirs. Julian is a larger than life person... one could never imagine him denying himself any of the best pleasures life could afford him.

Feeling as if he were at home, he worked the restaurant as a general manager only can. He seated himself where he wanted to...And the next thing.. ordered King Fisher Beer. And ordered (not requested) me as a friend to send out some sexy appetizers (vegetarian only).

A man who has access to some amazing wines at his restaurant... a reputed cellar at home...and has traveled extensively in search of good wines, kept celebrating the brilliance of Indian beer that night. I was embarassed by his respect for it.. you know how it can be when someone compliments your country or things you are close to... it was that feeling. He loves Indian food...and he feels that Indian beer is amazing with it... go figure.

He fell in love with the Spinach Chaat. And when his wife and friend had joined him, he ordered one for each of them as well.

[mongo_jones]

maybe it is me but i think i could find lots of ways (and pleasure) in denying this guy fulfilment of his sense of entitlement. anyway: beers. i like beer with north indian food but i don't see much point in fetishizing indian beers over others. any good hoppy lager or pilsner or pale ale style beer works for me.

[hollywood]

India Pale Ale? http://www.beerhunter.com/documents/19133-000723.html

[tryska]

heineken.

but i pretty much drink that with everything.

[tryska]

oh my.

that doesn't sound right at all does it?

what i meant was - if i were to drink a beer with food, it would be heineken. but that is my preferred beer if i were to drink a beer in any situation.

i wonder how red stripe would go with indian food? (south indian food in particular)

Edited October 23, 2003 by tryska (log)

[rks]

to get a good idea of the scope of beers sold you should go to Bierkraft in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Richard Sholz, the owner, has compiled a menu of about 650 beers that run the gambit of flavors. some pair very well with indian food. it's one of the best places to experiment and try new beers in nyc.

[Sinbad]

A good quality lager or lighter style ale, such as (India) Pale Ale, Blonde ale etc is what I like to drink with Indian food. Leffe Blonde, which was suggested earlier in this thread, seems like a good choice, but I have never had it with Indian since I have never seen it available in an Indian restaurant.

I usually get very disappointed with the beer choices at most Indian restaurants, they usually serve Kingfisher/Taj Mahal and BudMiller etc. Most restaurants don't seem to care much about the beer selection. In a quality Indian restaurant I would typically like to see a couple of local microbrews(in NY maybe Bluepoint toasted lager), a couple of international quality choices such as Leffe Blonde and a good mixture of ales and lagers. Unfortunately this rarely happens. This is not a critism so much of the Indian beers in themself, any indian restaurant must have a few indian choices, but sometimes I would like to drink something different.

Suvir, if you don't mind I would like to ask you a question. I don't know anything about the list at Amma since I have not been there yet (but I will definitely go, Indian food is one of my favourites). When you decided on the list of beers to serve at Amma, which criteria did you go by? Do you believe that a good beer selection will attract customers or that people who actually care about it are so few that it is not really worth the effort?

Most of what I have said here applies to Thai/Malaysian/Chinese restaurants as well it, except that Kingfisher is substitued with Singha/Tsingtao etc.

Edited November 13, 2003 by Sinbad (log)

[easyguru]

Stella Artois.

Amongst Indian beer Kingfisher.

One thing I noticed on my recent visit to Mumbai was that most restaurants serve Foster beer.

Another beer I like is Gymkhana. I first tasted it in Leela in Mumbai.

[gabe]

I do like extremely hoppy India Pale Ales with Indian food (as with just about anything!), but I would have to recommend Belgian-style white ales or "Wits" as they are sometimes called. They often are flavored with coriander seed and curacao bitter orange peel and have citrusy, spicy overtones. They are light and effervescent as well, which is a nice complement to spicy food. Brands I highly recommend are La Chouffe (best. beer. ever.) and Hoegaarden, both from Belgium. Hoegaarden is easier to find, but La Chouffe is worth the hunt. American brands that would work include Celis White, Blue Moon, Victory Whirlwind Wit, or whatever Belgian Wit your local craft berwer/microbrewery puts out.

[Sinbad]

Yes, belgian Wits, how could I forget. I have had American microbrewed Wits with Indian delivery, very good match (I have had Hoegarden, but not with Indian food). Their German cousins Weissens are not as good, but I also like them with Indian/spicy food.

So many choices, which is why it upsets me even more that restaurants in general can't do better.

Btw, what is the story on Celis White, is it available again?

[gabe]

Btw, what is the story on Celis White, is it available again?

I haven't had it in awhile -- I prefer local micro Wits and Belgians, myself -- and apparently it did disappear for a few years after the Texas brewery that made it (owned by a Belgian expatriate brewmaster) got bought out by Miller. The recipe and name have been licensed now by the Michigan Brewing Company and apparently it's still pretty good. I'll have to track some down one of these days.

[Vikram]

I would have to recommend Belgian-style white ales or "Wits" as they are sometimes called. They often are flavored with coriander seed and curacao bitter orange peel and have citrusy, spicy overtones. They are light and effervescent as well, which is a nice complement to spicy food. Brands I highly recommend are La Chouffe (best. beer. ever.) and Hoegaarden, both from Belgium. Hoegaarden is easier to find, but La Chouffe is worth the hunt.

I agree, I've been beating the drum for drinking Belgian beer with Indian food, for longer than I can remember. Hoegaarden seems to be the easiest to find though not, alas, here in India,

Vikram