'Kotsberg Pils' beer of J&K wins silver medal at Brussels Beer Bhallenge

Kotsberg Pils, the light lager beer manufactured by Devans in Jammu and Kashmir's Samba district, has been awarded the coveted silver medal in the lager beer category at the Brussels Beer Challenge, a spokesperson of the company said.

The Brussels Beer Challenge in Belgium, now in its tenth edition, is one of the world's most important and prestigious beer competitions.

An international panel of 75 independent beer critics from around 20 different countries judged nearly 1,800 beers from 35 different countries, he said.

Sharing the stage with established breweries from across the globe – from Brussels, Brazil, Germany, Japan and China – Jammu's family-run brewery wowed judges with its entry Kotsberg Pils, he said.

The fact that a homegrown Indian brand outshone other international brands at this prestigious competition in Belgium, where beer brewing has been practised since 3 AD, is a matter of pride not just for the Union Territory of Jammu, but also the entire nation, the spokesperson said.

Other beers that were honoured with awards this year included Grimbergen (Carlsberg Breweries), Hoegarden (AB-Inbev), Bavaria Pilsner (Swinkels Family Brewers), Duvel (Duvel Moortgat).

''Devans has regularly been winning accolades for the quality of its beers. Its Godfather legendary has won gold awards consecutively for two years along with a silver and a gold for its six fields blanche and six fields cult, respectively, at the Spiritz Selection Awards — a blind tasting competition held at New Delhi, organised by India's leading alco-bev magazine Spiritz,'' he said.

The award at Brussels makes this a special year for Devans.

Devans completes 60 years in the business this year and is one of the leading liquor houses of the country known for manufacturing quality beers.

Devans had in 2014 commissioned a most modern and state of the art Brewery at Samba from where it is manufacturing international quality beers in bottles and cans and also draught beers in 5-litre party kegs and 30-litre kegs, the spokesperson said.

It exports 95 per cent of its production outside the state and about 40,000 cases a year to the US, the UAE, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Hong Kong, he said.

The brewery is managed by professionals who are experts in their fields of operation and the beers are brewed under strict quality control parameters under the guidance of international consultants.

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