After my long days when I work my day job and at the local homebrew shop I don't feel like cooking. From time to time I'll stop at Himalayan Grill next door to the shop to grab some food before going home. I get to try the Indian beers while waiting for my food to be prepared. The restaurant mostly stocks lager beers, but they are trying to expand there repertoire they even have added Oak Creek Amber recently. Great food too so if you are in Flagstaff and looking for Asian food give them a try. Tonight I stopped in and tried the Flying Horse Royal Lager.

It is a standard Lager pale, crisp with a clean finish. There was a clear hop character in nose at first but faded over time, it was not unlike a Czech Pilsner but not quite the spiciness of Saaz hops. It was very smooth and went well with the crackers and toppings they offer as appetizer at the Grill. Considering it was brewed in India in August of last year according to the bottle code and shipped here it had traveled in great shape. I noticed was the bottle was a bit larger than a half Litre bottle typically used internationally. Upon closer inspection it was actually a 650ml so they do deliver quite a punch in that sized bottle. The beer is owned by United Breweries Group but was brewed by Blossom Industries Ltd I don't know if Blossom is a subsidiary of UBG or simply has a contract to brew there beer. That said it would seem odd to me if Anheuser-Busch hired a small regional brewery to make a secondary label for them, but who knows for sure.

While I wouldn't reach for a Flying Horse everyday it does go really well with Indian food and worth trying at least once.