Krait Prestige (US) / King Cobra (UK) is Cobra Beers newest entry into the high quality beer world. Cobra beer, started in 1989 in the UK by Karan Bilimoria, a Cambridge law student, brews Indian style lagers. While not many of you may have heard of the brewery, they produce excellent beer that is now exported to over 35 countries. In 2005 and 2006 they won countless awards including 12 Gold medals in 2006 at the prestigious Monde Selection in Brussels- The World Selection of Quality competition. Unable to use the Cobra trademark in the US they launched Krait, a snake in the Cobra family, in 2004. They are available in around a dozen states so far.

Cobra Beer is having Poland's Browar Belgia and the famous Rodenbach brewery in Belgium make a special pilsner style lager for them. What is most interesting is that this 8% abv. brew is re-fermented in the bottle for natural carbonation. Now this is done with quite a few other fine beers, but they say they are going for a product more similar to "champagne" and is sold in a similar style bottle. I haven't tasted it myself but in the Beverage World article they claim that it looks and has a head like a "champagne", and the taste is "extra smooth, soft, slightly fruity, and it's incredibly drinkable." Reviews I trust such as this one from The Beer Advocate who say it tastes "very dry, medium bodied with subtle flavors" make it sound pretty tasty to me.Well, this beer sounds interesting to me. I'll be very honest and say that I don't care much for most pilsner style lagers or light lager beers in general, especially those available in Europe or the US. They don't always have much character to them, as opposed to some of the pilsners and lagers I've tried in Asia, India, and Africa which have a higher abv. and the corresponding character and flavor. Cobra / Krait is going for this higher abv. Indian style lager, combined with bottle re-fermentation and conditioning.

I believe this will be a tasty brew that will go great with all types of food, whether a mild dish like fish, or with complex foods, and even spicy curries. I will assume that this brew will be at its best chilled to the same temperature you would for a sparkling wine, a bit colder than I usually like my beer. I look forward to trying it as soon as I find a bottle or three.