This prompted a bit of a crisis: curry requires beer, and it was exceedingly unlikely I'd be able to taste much of what I was drinking. With no expendable beers in the house, I needed a curry lager, one where I wouldn't mind not tasting much of it, which is to say: cheap. I came up with a couple of cans of Pražský, a Czech lager by A-B InBev and one which is very popular in Ireland among less discerning drinkers. I recall someone (Evan? Al? Max?) saying this is one of the Staropramen range re-badged -- at 4.2% ABV I'd assume the světlý.There's really not a whole lot going on with it -- it's watery and with a big hollow where the flavour is supposed to go. The one distinguishing feature is a slight sickliness, presumably caused by the use of corn syrup. And yet, when put next to a curry onslaught, all those problems go away and it just becomes a boring lager like any other.
Here's to the transformative power of the chilli.
I love chilli, but a phall is just too much.
ReplyDeleteA ruby and a can of lout. Now your talking.
ReplyDeleteWhere in Dublin serves it?
ReplyDeleteIf I remember rightly it is Staropramen 10 repackaged. Although it could also be Branik, which is also an AB InBev brewery.
ReplyDeleteI take it you mean phall, Oblivious (Pražský can be found wherever tramps need lager). Spice & Rice do it -- they've branches on Dorset Street and Clanbrassil Street.
ReplyDeleteCrappy lager is the only way to go with a proper curry (i.e. one that's a bit hot). Just as well, cos in most curry houses, that's all that's on offer.
ReplyDeleteAh spice and rice have a good reputation
ReplyDeleteWhat about a nice mild with a curry, I think green kings dark mild would go well, any one able to confirm or deny this?
IMHO, you need palate-cleansing fizz with curry. And anything even remotely complex is just wasted, through a combination of the necessarily low serving temperature and big chilli onslaught.
ReplyDeleteI had a Butte Creek IPA with the Bombay Pantry House Curry the other day. There was no natural affinity owing to their genesis and I was not suprised. It was all that was in the house. Waste of lovely beer. I should have gone for the illustriously named 'Dutch Lager' I got to trap the garden slugs instead.
ReplyDeleteGenesis should have been in inverted commas there, lest I get comment-bashed about the IPA myth.
ReplyDeletePeople do tend to talk a lot about IPA and curry, and I think it must just be the name: the hops simply get smothered, in my experience.
ReplyDeleteHaven't had a Bombay Pantry curry in ages. Om nom nom nom.
I'm sure it's just the name. Boak moaned about that a while back.
ReplyDeleteA frosted glass as well? Tsk tsk!
ReplyDeleteAt least you didn't post a picture of the curry.
ReplyDeleteThe last time you did that it looked like
radioactive gunge and chips.
Things I don't care what they look like as long as they taste good:
ReplyDelete1. My beer.
2. My curry.
Phall translates as 'hell', generally restaurants don't put it on the menu as having to ask for it increases the machismo element.
ReplyDeletePhall is okay but real hot curry purists prefer a tindaloo.
ReplyDeleteIt should only be ordered in a hushed whisper.