getting a beer

hi, i do like to have the occasional cool beer at the end of the day! is it possible to get a beer in hotels or cafes?
thanks.

i should add that the question is specifically around udaipur, jaipur, varanasi and agra. its good to mix with locals and travellers just to swop tales and advice whilst sharing a beer or two!

You'll find alcohol in all those cities but in that part of India places serving them are nowhere near as widespread as, say, Europe. In some cities (Varanasi especially out of your list) there's more of a reliance on alcohol shops rather than bars... though they still exist - and a few are in the high end hotels - just don't expect one around every corner!

In some places you get it in tea cups..

In Rajasthan beer shop close at 8p.m but beer bar close at 11p.m so if you want to buy beer you should buy before 8 p.m and you can drink at your hotel room.

Depending on city, state, and local whims, the alcohol shops redbutton mentions are often called Wine Shops or English Wine Shops.

In most places there's no problem getting a beer with dinner – just ask. In any city with a claim to special holiness, we've found it tougher. Varanasi and Pushkar, for example, are especially strict. In pure-veg Haridwar, where we caused a scandal by asking for an omelet at breakfast, we didn't even bother to try.

We find that looking hopefully at the waiter and optimistically asking "Beer is possible?" works best. Since foreigners are understood to be ignorant and insensitive, the worst you'll get is a look of shock and a polite refusal. Most often you'll get a wink-wink-nudge-nudge-say-no-more sort of response and the beer will eventually appear in a pitcher or glass wrapped in paper napkins, or some sort of opaque crockery, or a fergawdssake teapot. In Udaipur they simply sent a boy to run to the nearest wine shop and bring a bottle back, but we were expected to keep the bottle hidden behind a nearby drape.

We've generally been able to get beer at wine shops, though in one or two places the wine shops and beer shops were entirely different undertakings. If you want to be guaranteed of a beer at the end of the day, you'll perhaps want to lay in one or two in your hotel (out of sight).

To get a cool beer is another problem. Since you're from the UK, it's likely you don't need it to be icy. In that case, you can cool it in a basin of tap water (but for heaven's sake dry the bottle carefully and don't drink the water!). As 'Murricans, we like it colder. The best we've managed is to wrap a wet hand towel or T-shirt around the bottle and set it in the wash of a fan or, better still, an a/c.

I stayed at Hotel Sarin Inn in Varanasi. They didn't have beer readily available in the hotel or their restaurant but any time I wanted a beer I just asked the front desk. They would send one of the hotel boys out to get me one or two, didn't take but a few minutes. I think most places are used to foreigners and while they may not have beer for sale all you have to do is ask.

I did run into a few places in the south where it was quite challenging to find a beer, and some times it was served in a tea pot (in restaurants).

I don't think you'll have any problem.

I agree!!

thanks to everyone,
take care.

You can get it in Kashi Guest House in Manikarnika Ghat Varanasi provided you are staying there. Other option is to buy cans in the market.

In Agra we asked for a cold beer on one of those spectacular rooftop-restaurants. The waiter told us: we are not allowed to sell beer but I can bring a fruit juice that you will like. It will taste just like beer. He was very charming!
:-) And the cold "fruit juice" was just what we wanted!

It can be as good an experience as having a beer at any of the finest places in the world .... or it can be a real Charlie Brown.

Having a warm beer in a warmer teapot with the lights dimmed down might seem like something straight out of the pre-electricity - prohibition era ..... but the humor of the scenario is that needed spoonful of sugar.

On the other hand, do drop in for an ice cold lager at the Rambagh Palace's Polo Bar when in Jaipur. Sit be the fountain with the 19th century ceramic tiles & study the walled memorabilia from the days of yore while you sip you ice cold brew in a equally/appropriately chilled stein. Perfect!

This is a funny one. I had beer (KF)at Pizza Hut in Agra. The taste of pizza with beer brought back memories "back in the USA" (as the Boss sang).

OK, it was chicken tikka pizza, not the stuff I love - salami, pepperoni, bacon, ham are the toppings I want......wow, I got to go to Kolkata tonight to get some of that stuff at New Market. I really miss Miss Piggy.

Cheers

Nattusbs

Only Indian beer I have tasted is Kingfisher and I am not really found of it.

Doing research on Google it seems Haywards Black comes recommended. Are there any other local beers that are good?

we went for a beer last night in the bottle shop and everyone was drinking down an alleyway. Lol! We went to get food and when we came back to buy some to bring some back to the hotel surprise surprise the price had gone up to 125 for a bottle of kingfisher which we paid 110 for an hour before. I acused him of ripping us off and now we are barred from the only bottle shop we can find. Oops! I think my boyfriend is still pretty mad at me. Ha @ha!