Craig’s tasting


With the 2009 London G20 summit winding up, what better time to do a review on Kingfisher. As the world teeters on the brink of financial implosion, beer sales continue to rise. Unfortunately while this is the case India will be doing well to hang on to its G20 seat if they keep producing below benchmark beers.


Unfortunately the brewers at United Breweries seem to have missed the fact that producing average beer was never cool. And just like men wearing bike shorts while not in the saddle on the tour de France is in fact offensive to most people.


To be fair the beer i was forced to taste was an Australian (brewed under licence version). While I will never avoid an Australian made beer dressed up as an imported beer I am sure i would rather have the crap beat out of me by a drunk leprechaun then grind out a session on Australian brewed Kingfisher Lager.


I try to cook the occasional butter chicken or Rogan Josh and every time I do it turns out shit. Believe it or not its got nothing to do with the fact I am not a trained chef or the fact that I have never been taught to cook a curry, its because I cooked it in Australia with Australian made ingredients. The other problem is that I have less Indian in me than the a steakhouse on $10.00 rump steak night.


It is at this point that I am going to beg Kingfisher to start importing its Lager to Australia rather than producing it here. I know you can do better than this. I want to love your beer like I love so many others.

Danny’s tasting


Kingfisher is a widely available lager here in Australia but I have to wonder if it's India’s equivalent of Fosters, a beer more recognised outside Australia and probably easier to purchase overseas than here in Oz. Perhaps one of our Indian readers or travellers to the sub continent could enlighten us on this point..................... or not.


No pressure, I just thought you might like to help us out that's all. No no, don't go out of your way or anything. Fine. Be like that then. Don't care now.


I've tried Kingfisher in the heat of Asia and thought it was one of the better brews. This could be as a result of the occasion ie on holidays in a foreign country, hot day and a freezing cold beer might just taste that bit better. Whatever you say about Asian beers they generally know how to serve them, large,cheap and ice cold. It could also be because what you're drinking was actually brewed and bottled in India which leads to me a interesting question. Are beers brewed under licence in Australia the same as in the country of origin? In my experience I would have to say that on more than one occasion I don't think so.


The Kingfisher I tried here was quite a disappointment. So much so that I bought another one for another try a week later such was the difference in my tasting experience compared to the memory of my buy in Asia. I'm sorry to say it hadn't improved so I will have to rate it on the more recent taste.


Getting back to my earlier question of beers brewed under licence in Oz. Have you noticed that you pay more for them even though they've been brewed at the same place as your Carlton or other local brew. I personally don't mind paying a premium if I know the beer was flown or shipped out here for my personal intoxicational pleasure but if they've just been brewed locally and thrown on the back of a truck in Melbourne and delivered to Dan Murphys then that's a bit rich. I'm glad I got that off my chest. Might have a pill and a little lie down now.


Anyway, what do I give Kingfisher apart from temporary use of my liver and kidneys? If you try it overseas I'd say as high as 7.5 but if you have one here on a hot day, the first one is a 7 and the second and subsequent ones are no higher than a 6 (might appeal on a random occasion)

Kingfisher Premium Lager


Kingfisher Lager is brewed by the United Breweries Group and first appeared in the 1960’s. The brewery itself is the largest producer of beer in India, with almost 48% of all beers consumed being from United. Founded in 1857 by a Scotsman the brewer now has interests in Aviation, Pharmaceuticals and Fertilizers.


Origin: Bangalore, India

Alcohol/vol: 5.0%

Style: Lager


Average Rating: 5.75 

May appeal on random occasions. Not all the time.