Country Roads was the first microbrewery in the city of joy, it was set up when most of the city dwellers were not even very conversant with the term ‘microbrewery’. After Country Roads came into picture more two microbreweries started their operations and within couple of months Kolkata boasted of having three microbreweries which is quite a feat in itself. So since this kid and the concept are pretty new in town, let me just run through the information what a microbrewery is supposed to be. As the term goes, microbreweries are small brewing units independently owned and much smaller in size when compared to giant corporate breweries. In encompasses the concept of Craft Brewing that gives the importance to high quality and essence of crafted beer rather than concentrating on the quantity produced. If I just tend to be a little more eccentric I can coin the term Craft Blogger here keeping in mind the same concept :) Let us call those bloggers Craft Bloggers who concentrate more on the content and produces quality stuff rather than concentrating more on the quantity! It’s quirky, but it’s my way of relating most unrelated topics :)
Cheers!
Anyway, coming back to the concept of microbreweries, these
are the places that manufacture or rather brew their own beer and sell them to
their guests and customers on their premises itself. Though it seems ‘micro’ in
microbrewery only emphasizes on the size of the brewery but it actually
indicates toward a movement that in turn talks about the freedom or flexibility
to play with the beer, its flavor and quality to serve their customers having
varying cravings for the taste of beer. In the US, the term microbrewery has
got a formal definition and it reads, any brewery can be termed as a
microbrewery if it produces less than 15000 US barrels of beer annually that is
close to 1.8 million liters.
Now let us discuss about my latest tryst with the pioneer
microbrewery in Kolkata that has loads of promises to make and immense
potential lying deep within. I was truly honored to be invited by the
management of this microbrewery along with my fellow food bloggers from the
Panchphoron group. Country Roads is housed in the Galleria mall (opposite Axis
mall) in Newtown Action area-1. You can easily park your car for free inside
the mall, so that’s not an issue. The microbrewery is the biggest attraction of
this mall which otherwise remains desolated for lack of proper stores, eateries
and shops. The ambiance of Country Roads is pretty fitting and indeed it looks
class apart from any other regular pub in the town. This brewpub has got the
visual treat of the enormous brewing barrels and tanks which sits right beside
the comfy couches in the seating area separated out by a glass wall. The look
of these gigantic tanks is definitely an USP of this place. It encourages
people to transfer the liquid floating in those mammoth barrels directly to
their tummy before the world ends :)
The overall ambiance is pretty relaxed
with overhead lights and high ceilings creating some dramatic shadows and feel.
Apart from the couches you have got high chairs and other seating arrangements
giving you enough options to select your favorite nook to unwind. The music
which was being played was circling around the Hip Hop genre which went well
with the whole setup and the ambiance.
At Country Roads, you not only get freshly brewed beer
directly from the tap but you also get other branded beers and spirits. Their
bar counter is again pretty impressive and they serve some of the most amazing
cocktails in town. We tried them all here along with few signature pub grubs
which are worth remembering.
So, here are the items I had tried at this place that day –
CRAFTED BEER
a) German Wiezen – To start with, I had tried all the three
varieties of freshly brewed beers available at this place, and out of these
German Wiezen was surely worth mentioning. It is a wheat based beer and pale
yellow in color with very mild bitterness and almost no froth in it. The
bitterness never overpowers the fruity flavors in these crafted beers; in fact beer
had never tasted so good and so yum! This beer is generally brewed with
a large proportion of wheat relative to the amount of malted barley.
This is one of the most typical German beers which is also termed as wheat beer
or ‘white’ beer and marked for its low hop bitterness and high
carbonation.
b) Belgian Blond – This was a typical light golden colored
Belgian beer with a hint of fruitiness in it. Belgian blonde ales have a
typical frothiness and flavor and color and are made with pilsner malt. Though
it has a low malt aroma that has a spiced and fruity-ester character. This one
was medium in sweetness and not as bitter as Belgian-style triples or golden
strong ales. It is usually brilliantly clear and sparkling golden. The overall
impression is balance between light sweetness, spice and low to medium fruity
ester flavors. You really can’t miss this was as well!
c) Scottish Ale – As we know, the Scottish ales are also
known as Wee Heavy which are pretty strong ales. These pass though a long processing
in the tanks for a caramelization of the wort. This is thus a deep copper
colored brew which is not so sweet, and has a hint of roasted malt in it with
high alcohol percentage. The bitterness was on the higher side in this Scottish
Ale as expected when compared to the German and Belgian variants. If you really
wanna unwind fast, try this one guys!
PUB GRUBS
a) Fried squid with Garlic Mayo – the finger food or snacks
which were served here along with the beer and cocktails were really nice. Most
of them being seafood pub grubs which promises to be exquisite all by itself.
The Fried squids were soft and fresh inside but the outside was bit too crispy,
though I guess it can be justified since it is a fired variant and you can
expect some good crispiness here. The garlic mayo provided along with it was
just fitting.
b) Calamari Salt & pepper – To many the term calamari
seems to be more palatable than squids, and this quick preparation of squid was
nice as a finger food though it cries more some modification and innovative
fix.
It was briefly tossed rendering a dry texture to it which was okayish but
not that great to savor.
c) Schezwan Fried baby Octopus – This was a remarkable dish
and surely the best of the evening. The baby octopuses were mighty fresh and
perfectly textured when savored.
It was tossed with some fresh veggies in
schezwan sauce and tasted really great with that right tang to it. Overall more
of such starters will take Country Roads to greater heights. Must try!
COCKTAILS
a) Watermelon Spritzer – This was a beer based cocktail
prepared with freshly brewed beer and fresh watermelon juice. As expected the
flavor of watermelon juice dominated it all, was not very sweet and the punch
from the freshly brewed beer made it even more interesting. The presentation
with a thin slice of watermelon on top of the glass was not very out of the box
though. The long glass of the cocktail had enough quantity in it to satiate
your cravings for this watermelon based drink.
b) Phuchka Shot – As the name goes, these were amazing
looking and an innovative way of gulping down your spirit, quite literally. It
was basically phuchka with traditional tamarind water and vodka mixed in it.
But somehow the tanginess of the whole stuff was missing and it tasted pretty
bland to me.
c) Blue Berry Blush – No prizes for guessing the color of
this drink, but yes it was not completely blue as one might think. It had a mix
of white rum and blue berry syrup, tasted quite good and attracts to a great
extent for the apt presentation.
d) Tango Twist – This was one drink that had loads of tang
in it and didn’t go very well with my taste buds, unlike most cocktails it had
a strong fruity and spicy flavor. Actually it is a mix of cranberry juice,
vodka and capsico sauce.
e) For The Angles – It has got a lovely mix of tamarind
water and tequila with a salt rim. It was served in a thick scotch glass. I
quite liked this drink and its simplistic presentation.
f) Flaming Lamborghini – This was a special drink that was
served quite late at night :) It emphasizes on some superb showmanship that
involves some display of lighting up a stack of glasses with fire; and in the
end the glass of the cocktails placed down below tasted awesome, to say the
least. The cocktail contained Kahlua and Bailey and blue curacao and sambuca
was poured from on it to set it on fire, or rather on some soothing blue
flames! The ultimate drink in those cocktail glasses with that scent of coffee and
mix of Irish cream tasted amazing and ended this brilliant evening on a rather ‘high’
note :)
So, to wrap things up I must also mention about the service
which was courteous and prompt, but they need to be tad more attentive. The
management was very helpful and informative, and surely these are the keys to
bring people back to your place again and again. Overall, I will rate this
place 8.5 on 10 as of now, hope they will carry on the good work. They have got
a huge elaborate menu, so they need to keep in mind all the items mentioned
there are available in stock. Wish them all the best; surely they will scale
greater heights in the coming days. And yes, thanks for introducing Kolkatans
to the amazing world or microbreweries, much appreciated.
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