Kingfisher Premium Lager Beer

http://unitedbreweries.com/our-brands/premium

Brewed by United Breweries Group
Style: Pale Lager
Bangalore, India

First established in 1857, Kingfisher Premium Lager is an Indian beer brewed by the United Breweries Group, Bangalore. It is India’s No. 1 selling beer, as it says so on the bottle “India’s Premium Lager”, to be found everywhere in the country, and it is also sold throughout the world in, I am guessing, mostly Indian restaurants, as I have never seen it before in a bar or an off license.

United Breweries Group is a major Indian conglomerate company with its core business centered on beverages, aviation (Kingfisher Airlines!), chemicals and fertilizers, and investments in various other sectors. They even have a F1 team, Force India, and also have a football team, Kingfisher East Bengal F.C, in the Indian League, based in Kolkata.

The UB Group was founded by, Thomas Leishman, a Scotsman, in 1857. Initially the group was focused on beer and the brewing industry, and were behind the coming together of 5 breweries in South India under the name of United Breweries in 1915. The beers were extremely popular with British troops stationed in India at that time.

In 1947, the company was bought out by Mr. Vittal Mallya, the first Indian director of the group.

During the 1950s and 60s, the company expanded greatly by acquiring other breweries and also to extend its portfolio into wines and spirits. The Group also moved into agro-based industries and medicines, forming a long-term relationship with the German company, Hoechst AG, to create an Indian pharmaceutical company, Aventis Pharma, an Indian subsidiary of the global pharma giant Sanofi-Aventis.

The company markets beer under the Kingfisher brand, and owns various other brands of alcoholic beverages. It is India’s largest producer of beer. UB also financed a takeover of the spirits business of the rival Shaw-Wallace company, giving it a majority share of India’s spirits business.

Nowadays the Heineken Group holds just over 40% equity shares in United Breweries Ltd.

As for Kingfisher, there are quite a few different beers brewed by the company, from Kingfisher Strong, “Ultra”, a red and a regular lager, amongst a rake of others.

The Kingfisher beer has won “several international awards for its quality and taste”, including “Asia’s best strong lager” in the World Beer Awards in 2013.

Review: 330 ml green bottle of Kingfisher Premium Lager Beer: ABV: 4.8% vol

Like the logo of the beer, a nice and striking picture of a Kingfisher.

On pour get a decent sized white frothy head, and a golden amber coloured beer, some small carbonation going on. Some lacing on the glass. Overall, not a bad looker.

Typical lager smell, with a very particular hint of sweet malts, barley and corn, slightly metallic as well.

Taste is ….bit citrusy and very, very hoppy, not smooth anyway.
Ok not bad, got some tastes…… the malts, the corn, the citrus, and the barley, and the beer has some character, but might need to drink again for further assessment. To be honest It was not what I was expecting. I was getting ready for another generic tasting lager but this is slightly different, and it kind of threw me to be honest! The beer has a bitter taste to it that’s a bit sweet.
Wholesome taste, and for a lager not exactly sessionable, but it certainly had a bit of a kick to it. Overall, an interesting beer and one I would like to revisit again. Must try and get it the next time I am having an Indian curry! (cheesy, I know!)