octoberfest !

You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline. It helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer.
Frank Zappa

Few months have a festival named after it , few beverages instill the kind of brotherhood and bonhomie as beer. 

October fest celebrated by the world citizens in Bavaria,Munich, Germany is the largest congregation of people. It started out as a mark of celebration in honour of the then princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen   in 1810, and over the years has morphed into a festival steeped in culture, traditional foods, traditions and general happiness and goodwill, not to mention large quantities of October fest beer ( staggering 7 million litres in 2007 !) 

Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is beer. Oh, I grant you that the wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza.- dave barry . A mosaic of the brews available in Goa.

Which brings me to the second edition of- being Goanese. Being a Goanese does not need you to be born or brought up in Goa, the only criteria is a love for good fooed, the sea, live music, lazing on the beach on a Sunday. An integral part of being goanese is the slight tipsy alcohol induced personality, made popular by bollywood. “My name is Antony Gonsalves excuse me pleeeeze.” 

beauty lies in the eyes of the beer holder.At chapora fort, looking down at vagator beach Goa.

Home to the kingfisher villa- owned by Vijay mallya of the United breweries, Goa is a much loved haunt for beer lovers. Few places in India have more number of ‘wine shops’ on a single street, few places have  families of locals bringing out home made bottles of brew for consumption, few places have the kind of laid back vibe of Goa. 

Time is never wasted, when you are wasted all the time- catherine zandonella. On the white sands of south Goa beaches.

Why is Goa so popular to beer drinkers? Well I could speculate that it must be because it once was a union territory and enjoys some exise exemptions, much like Daman and diu and pondicherry, which incidentally are popular drinking destinations. A large Christian community who are more tolerant to alcohol as compared to the other Indian religions could be another reason. The happy holiday mood of the place as well as the thriving tourism brings out the Goanese in people. 

some of the hard to resist offers in Goan eateries

a rare photo on a dry day. ;)

.

Whatever the reason- here is to October, to Goa and being Goanese, and the wonder of Lager and Ale.

black label beers anyone ? :)