Guilt-free Chinese beer Tsingtao comes to Mumbai

Here in Mumbai we're a little behind on Asia's beer revolution.

Over the last year dark ales and microbreweries in Shanghai are leading China's foray into beer, in Japan a small but vibrant craft beer scene is flourishing, Bangkok has several beer gardens and Thailand has produced more than a few really funny beer commercials.

On Chinese New Year Tsingtao beer launched in Mumbai, bringing with it an idea that Indians have just been waiting to be sold: that beer is a healthy food group.

Tsingtao, pronounced "ching-tao," is one of the top consumer product exports from China and is the only rice-based beer currently available in India. 

More interestingly, Tsingtao's marketing campaigns frequently highlight its zero percent fat content and an old Tsingtao television commercial hails the brew as "the bread of a liquid diet."

According to the ad, drinking their rice-based beer can supplement Vitamin B and even cure rheumatism and intestinal diseases.

Considering Tsingtao is recommended as "best with spicy food" by Duttprasad Kapur, whose company brings Tsingtao to India, if it can combat tummy trouble alongside, well that's doubly useful then.

But the Chinese can't take all the credit.

Tsingtao Brewery, located at Qingdao in China’s Shandong province, was founded at the turn of the 20th century by The Anglo-German Brewery Co. Ltd., an English-German joint stock company based in Hong Kong.

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Priced at Rs 150 Tsingtao beer is available in Mumbai, New Delhi, Gurgaon, Pune and Kolkata.