The Beer City of India

THE BEER CITY OF INDIA

The city of first experiences. The IT hub, the honks and long hours on road. A place with a retro culture, where you drink to the glory of pubs celebrating the era of 1980’s while re-living its music. The city with the finest breweries of the country. This city with its ever refreshing charm leaves you mesmerized as the cool breeze brushes your face, the moment you take your first step outside the “Kempegowda International Airport Bangalore.”

Each day into the city, every time you discover a new brewery, whether on 60 feet road, 80 feet road or a 100 feet road, you learn that no matter how different the air of the place is, the laughter of the people celebrating life over a glass of beer can be overheard from almost every table. You realize why your “beer” lover and “not just-any-alcohol” lover friends have loved the city so much.

Bangalore was among the first cities of India to popularise the concept of micro-breweries. The grand-daddy of the microbreweries, The Biere Club, ushered in the craft beer craze in 2010. TBC has plenty of traditional ales, stouts, lagers and wheat brews that it serves alongside light, flavorful Mediterranean food. But those with an experimental turn of mind can guzzle the Club's seasonal brews too - the mango beer is especially favored amongst the crowd.

Next, comes the rooftop brewery, TOIT, which offers you a taste of delightful experience with its bouquet of options. Windmills Craftwork is a microbrewery, a jazz bar, a restaurant and a library, all rolled into one hefty package. This is where Bangalore connoisseurs congregate for a lick of smooth jazz with a jorum of beer on the side. Traditional takes like the all-pervasive IPA, stout, pale ales alongside inventive seasonal brews such as the Coconut Brown Ale, with notes of jaggery and coconut are offered for the old monks.

My favorite was the place where you get the best craft beer- Arbor, a branch of the excellent Arbor Brewing Company in Michigan. Sink your teeth into ales of every kind - smoked, spiced, pale and Arbor's flagship brew Raging Elephant IPA; dark, chocolaty stout and crisp, honey-colored pilsner. Arbor takes it beers seriously - its menu perfectly pairs each beer with the lip-smacking food. The hearty laughs, the lights, the smiling helpers will all make your day perfect. And yes, who stops you from dancing amidst the crowd, because that is how you express your love for the experiences which you are going to enrich over the time. Hence, for me Bangalore is the “Beer City of India.”

PS: All the knowledge on different kinds of beer comes to me from my friends who have savoured the great taste of beer in the city and elsewhere. The next time you go there, try to experience the experience of these places.