Beer in Bangalore revisited 2009

Some time ago, I blogged about the beer situation in Bangalore, which was at that time pitiful.

It's changed quite a bit.  In 2005, your typical Restaurant menu looked like this:

• Kingfisher 650ml 100rs.

If they listed Fosters on the menu, it was out of stock, guaranteed.

In 2007, you had

• Kingfisher 650ml 150 rupees
  
• Fosters 650ml 160 rupees
• Haywards Black 650ml 180 rupees

In the year of 2009, you now find:

• Kingfisher 330ml 150 rupees
• Fosters 330ml 200 rupees
• Budweiser 650ml 250 rupees
• Heineken 330ml 275 rupees

And if you go to a fancy 5-star kind of place, you'll see:

• Chimay 330ml 350 rupees

So, the selection has gotten a bit broader, but the prices have gone through the roof.  Bottles have gotten smaller too. 

The good news is that if you go to a high-end liquor store here, you'll find more: Chimay, Achel, St. Feuillien, Orval, even Arabier by the Dolle Brouwers!  It's isn't quite the Wildeman, but it's not too bad.  All these are about 210 rupees per bottle. Ridiculously expensive by local standards, but not bad comparing them to the insane prices in pubs in Europe nowadays. (I paid 6.90 euros (about 500 rupees) for a beer last month in Amsterdam.)

Bottom line, I'm not complaining as much as I used to.  ;-)  At least when I'm feeling rich I can get a good beer.  Before it didn't matter how much money you had, you couldn't buy a good beer in India.

Now I relax knowing that there is an Orval waiting in my fridge at home.  It waits for Friday.

Photos courtesy of spo0nman on flickr. and Phil Chambers on Flickr