Float

We have been visiting pubs every weekend now but this time we thought of exploring Micro Breweries. And it’s time for me as well to revamp my oeuvre and emphasize only on the type of beer the breweries or pubs serve and their serving style. This search for micro-breweries took us to Float last weekend.

On Tap:

Belgian Wit [A/V – 5.5%; IBU - 9]

Marzen Munich Lager [A/V – 7.8%; IBU - 16]

Bavarian Hefeweizen [A/V – 5.4%; IBU - 12]

Triple Wit IPA [A/V – 7.5%; IBU - 19]

The Adventure:

Deciding to use the Zomato Gold 2+2 offer on drinks we chose to opt for 2 mugs Marzen Munich Lager first and then 2 mugs of Triple Wit IPA. They opted for a frosted glass as well and we had to ask them to serve in non-frosted glasses. Frosted glass is a foe to craft beer and its high time breweries learn that lesson. It’s not about how good you brew, its mostly about how good it reaches to beer lovers.

Marzen Munich Lager –

[A/V – 7.8%; IBU - 16]

Float mentions that they brew this traditional Dunkel [dark lager] according to the German Purity Law. The Reinheitsgebot is a series of rules that limits the use of ingredients to brew Beer. This Bavarian law came into existence in 1516 and according to this law Barley, Hops and Water were the only three ingredients to be used for producing beer. Yeast became another active ingredient much later in history after its importance was known to men. 

This beer in Float with an A/V of 7.8% and IBU of 16 was definitely a strong one and had a beautiful aroma of the toasted crusty malts with a pinch of hops. Seemed like a perfect companion for summer evenings which can give you a slight kick as well.

Triple Wit IPA –

[A/V – 7.5%; IBU - 19]

IPA or Indian Pale Ale originated in England and it’s a hoppy style beer which goes up to 7.5% A/V. A double IPA is a step above Standard IPA with more than 7.5% A/V. More amounts of malts and hops make a double IPA into a triple IPA and its bit obvious that this results in higher A/V and IBU. This trending beer style is at the apex of hop bitterness and flavour. 

The Zach-Approved™ definition of triple IPA puts its A/V well above 9.5% which contradicts to the triple IPA served at FLOAT. With only 7.5%-8% A/V I would probably call it a double IPA and definitely not a Triple IPA.

Beer Nerds believe that a Double IPA should have a minimum IBU of 60and a triple IPA should comfortably sit with an IPA close to 100 but that’s not the case here.

Saying all this, I must admit that so far Float served me the best IPA I ever had. Citrus and Mango mixed aroma with mild hop flavour takes this beer to a whole new level.

See you soon, Team FLOAT!!

Barley & Grapes - Bangalore

Quite like watching the sequel of a movie after you have watched the prequel, we decided to visit Barley & Grapes after Blyton’s last week. Both have the same ownership and are situated on the Sahakar Nagar Main road like Siamese twins, sharing the same campus. A small yet beautifully decorated place with friendly and courteous staff, this pub attracts quite a nice crowd every evening.

Ambience:

This Quaint, rustic and cozy little pub ideally can be distinguished in two different sets –

• An open roof area with huge umbrellas covering the sitting area, a palm tree growing right through the pub and
• Another with wooden flooring and set right in front of the bar counter with beautiful overhead lights.

The music is light and lights are dim. Absence of loud music and dance floors makes you feel it to be more of a café than a pub. The crowd here likes this subtleness and keeps the evening calm and going. Just order your drinks and the evening passes by slowly and magically leaving behind empty glasses. Rainwater Harvesting is the most unique feature of this place, they literally use rainwater and an automated sprinkler to keep the temperature of the place regulated. We decided to sit outside and enjoy the cold breeze while sipping on our beers. Ideal for a little unwind and catch up with your near and dear ones. 

The Menu:

Do spend some time going through the left hand side pages of the Carte du jour, believe me, it’s fun. The Menu is basically continental and Italian. Although options are quite less, they do have enough to offer in chicken and poses a good wine selection. Quesadillas are just delectable here. The dainty fries are not something to be missed at all, even the pastas are ambrosial [I won’t recommend the pizzas though].         

The beer menu is good and it ranges from King Fisher to Hoegarden with a couple of uncommon names like Asahi, Estrella, and Stella Artois etc...

The draught chilled section offered King Fisher and Budweiser and to add the elation in our eyes they also offered Geist.

Being Micro Brew lovers, we wanted to go with Geist and they had two options for us.

·         Geist Weiss Guy [A/V – 5.3%, IBU – 10]

·         Geist Stouter Space [A/V – 54%, IBU – 29]

Two micro brews made us think hard and we were in between Scylla and Charybdis. Propitiously our attendant noticed our quandary and got us samples [Shot glasses for Beer – in case you didn’t know] to try and decide - ‘Our knight in the shining armour’. We tried both and a 29 on the IBU was certainly not we had in mind that day so we went with Weiss Guy.

A/V – 5.3%, IBU – 10

Weiss Guy – The German Hefeweizen. This golden beer goes very well with spicy side dishes and is the perfect concoction for the weekends. The taste of banana and clove in the drink is like an added aromatic supremacy to the froth making it the perfect summer afternoon companion.

The quanta this time was simple... The BnG mug, The Bruce three Pitcher, The Five Wire Pitcher, and finally the Antoine’s Pitcher which is basically their way of saying a tower [9 pitchers] plus complimentary French fries. We [me and my friend] decided not to drink a lot and so ordered the Antoine’s Pitcher.

Unfortunately enough they almost served our beer in frosted glass, when we asked them not to, they changed our glasses.

Overall, it was a lovely place and a lovely evening spent. We had a word with the manager in charge just before leaving and shared our views. When he heard that I am a blogger he quickly noted down my Instagram id and the blog link to follow [not sure why I am feeling so proud].

Hasta la vista Barley & Grapes... We’ll meet again.

Blyton's - Sahakar Nagar, Bangalore

It was the very first day of the year 2020 when I and my friend decided to explore a new place in North Bangalore to grab some Beer, knowing very well that there are not many places in this part of the city and of the few places, we chose Blyton’s pub located in the heart of Sahakar Nagar. There was no particular reason of choosing this pub, but I think that’s what you do when you opt to explore, you just walk in.

Blyton's:

Ambience –

BLAST FROM THE PAST, the phrase that can be rightly used for this place. A place, where all your childhood memories comes back to life. Decorated with gramophone records, newspaper cuttings of Mogambo and Shakaal, old box TVs and huge radios and reel cameras, old coins, comics and articles, every inch of this place give a retro feel. Even the music takes you back a few decades with mind-blowing numbers from Elvis, Bob Marley and the 80-90’s Bollywood era.

The entrance is an au-natural lane with 5-6 tables in a row that ends with a left turn that leads to the lounge and a staircase to access the second floor. The second floor is adorned with portraits of famous celebs of yore; the railing designs giving you a feel of the past, cinematic lights all across and mirror covered lights over every table. It felt like we walked right into a time machine destined to travel to the 1980’s.

Carte du jour –

This is where the magic started. Well the menu does have regular names but you are bound to find a few names here that you have only heard of from your elders or in movies if you have never been to a restaurant specialized in items from the past. It’s eclectic and offers multiple portion sizes which are noteworthy for the solo souls and spinsters.

We did try a few fares and loved the 80’s cream of mushroom soup and Prawn Cocktail which were simply moreish. Wish we would have tried a few more provender and desserts but the concoctions awaited.

An Abyssmal of Geist Witty Wit is what we ordered - a tower of Belgian style Wit Bier.

A/V – 5%; IBU - 9

Known for the orangy flavor with a dash of coriander the Geist Witty Wit is a light gold lager ideal for the summer afternoons. Not many pubs in Bangalore serves Geist, which makes Blyton’s a definite go to if you love craft beers. Titanic Mug, Aliens Mug, Terminator and the Abyssmal are the four different quantum you can order your beer in.

Although looked mouth-watering, coquettish, the iconic chilled frosted glass they use to serve beer was the only big “NO” for me. If you are serving macro brewed industrial lagers the concept of a frosted glass holds good perfectly, but for craft beers like Geist, flavor is the main element and a frost mug is its foe. The volatile aroma of crafted beers goes away with frost mugs when served too chilled. Apart from this, there was nothing else that would stop me from visiting this place again.

Well known for its Sunday Flea Markets, Pet Adoption Events and Halloween parties, this pub surely does have a unique appeal. Stepping into the past with simple music and its retro ambiance, it defines the ingenuity and makes you feel to come back every time you visit this place.

Blyton’s, see you soon!

Byg Brewski, Hennur - Bangalore

That's how the pub looks every night.

They do have an amazing way of stacking bottles as well.

Byg Brewski Brewing Co. 

Magnum opus - Rumors has it that this might even be the largest brew pub of Asia however it's for sure that this pub which spreads over 65000 sq feets and is set to host over 3000 people at any time, is surely the largest one in India. With 3 man made water bodies inside the premises along side an amphitheater and a nightclub this place is Humongous. The architecture is jaw dropping, every stone seems to be creating a medieval ambiance. 

Menu - Yes, the most important part of any pub or bar.. Carte du Jour.. The point when you think of asking the person serving food "what do you have in store for me?"

Well, lucky for you, me and everyone else, this place has decided to go "byg" on everything. They serve Pitchers of Cocktails... (never seen that anywhere else) and unlike most pubs they don't have the habit of saying "we are running out of stock" for any brand of liquor whatsoever. 

What's more awesome is their list of brewed beers... 

Every brewery has a separate page dedicated to the 4-7 types of beers they brew.. But "byg brewski" decided to go "byg" here as well. The list is never ending and one of the following two scenarios are likely to happen when you get to see their Beer menu...

1. If you are not a beer person and still want to order a beer (either to impress someone or to justify your visit to a brewery) - the menu can, very well, leave you in a state of utter confusion unless you gather your guts and walk up to the counter and say smartly.. "A mug of your strongest brew please..." which just might save the day for you. 

2. If you are a beer lover.. It's like seeing a treasure.. Baffled and bedazzled, not sure which one to try and would like to try everything..

Have you seen a kid in front of a toy store... (Somehow restrained myself from using the example of a dog in front of a dinosaur skeleton) and then you end up walking up to the counter and saying smartly.. "A mug of your strongest brew please..." which just might save the day for you anyway. 

The food is just lovely.. Right from the Non Veg Kabab Platter to the dessert called Loki's Delight. Do try the Kolkata Chicken Cutlet with kasundi... You will me mesmerized. 

Ambience - The dj is well versed with all kinds of music, Hollywood, Bollywood or EDM. If you are a regular here you will often see those famous dj names performing live. Outside the dance floor it just seems to be a different world altogether. Medieval torches and the amphitheater, seating arrangements beside the water bodies, the cold breeze with a soothing music just makes the place stunning taking you back a few centuries. People say that Norwegian mythology inspired this brewery into existence. Nordic symbols all around, wooden shields, metal ramps, outdoor seating arrangements - gives you a royal feel of the Scandinavian kingdoms [have you seen Game of Thrones or the Vikings, yet?] They do have five different experience zones and the Barbyric, the Colosseum and the Syn are noteworthy to pay a visit. The friendly staff and the luscious food keeps the throng lively and you wish to come back over and over again.

Escapade - Short and indelible. Happened to be the night when rj Tuhin from Red FM was hosting the night alongside a popular dj. It was a Bollywood night and I simply loved the way the evening unfolded. I was there with a couple of my friends and we wanted to try all the types of Beer they had, however we stuck to the very first type as it turned out inexorable. Phenomenal handcrafted beers at its best, the list went up to 16 different kinds but we stuck with the Belgian Wheat Beer with their famous Non-Veg Kabab Platter and decided to go back to try something else the next time and that's why I made it a point to say the bartender before leaving, the most famous dialogue, "I'LL BE BACK!"

SkyDecks by Sherlocks - Bangalore..

I just realised that writing your first blog post isn't as easy as it seems to be. Had so much in my mind but am feeling so void right now. 

SkyDecks by Sherlocks... 

SkyDeck by Sherlock's is a place to go to in Bangalore..

A pub sky high.. Looking over the ever busy and glamorous MG Road in Central Bangalore. Watch the metro zooming right beside you while sipping on your chilled beer and munching the delicious food. 

This, is indeed a very Nice place to hang out with your friends, eat, drink and groove to the beautiful music, especially if you are there during one of those million events they host. 

Contradicting the location the prices are indeed pocket friendly, liquid or solid whatever you order. 

And if you are going for a Date, be sure to sit at the rooftop under the starry sky and feel the air around you and enjoy the cold breeze whisking past you while giving that spine chilling emotion, bargaining for some warmth with your special someone. And this is so unique to the weather of Bangalore all around the year, well imaginably the best when you are sitting on a roof top, sipping that beer and holding the hands of your loved one. 

I was there with a friend of mine who was visiting Bangalore only for a day and he looked more than impressed. All that we ordered were Pitchers of Kingfisher draught and Peanut Masala.. Which by the way is a must try here. We also tried the Cheese Omelette and the Pepperoni Pizza. I must admit that Cheese and Beer is quite an addictive combo. 

Skydeck ain't a brewery but a pitcher of Budweiser or Kingfisher can quench your thirst for sure.. 

P. S.. You can always go for a tower if you want. 

Be sure to try out the munchies and the lovely cocktails named after the famous detectives you have always read about.. Sherlock to Byomkesh. 

This ain't the place you go once and forget.. The friendly staff or the ambience will keep that tingling sensation alive in you to visit again and again.. 

All in all, you will be surprised every time you visit this place..