Sriram Aylur of Quilon chosen as 'Beer Drinker of the Year' by British MPs
18th July 2011

Sriram Aylur, chef of the Taj Group’s Michelin one star Quilon restaurant in Westminster, has recently been named ‘Beer Drinker of the Year’ by the All Party Parliamentary Beer Group. He was presented with his award by the Group’s chairman, Andrew Griffiths, Member of Parliament for Burton upon Trent. Sriram is passionate about Britain’s national drink, and his southern Indian restaurant is a magnet for brewers from all over the world, for gastronomes and those who want a lunch or dinner with a real difference.

His beer list has evolved into a Pandora’s Box of liquid delights. The main list numbers eighteen beers, including two beers fermented with Champagne yeast served in Champagne flutes, a Corsican beer made with chestnuts, an American wheat beer spiced with coriander and oranges, and a bright red Belgium ale using cherries, strawberries and elderberries, and served in an iced Martini glass.

Not content with this exotic offering, Sriram has recently created a special five course all British beer menu to add to his five and eight course global beer menus, each course served with a different beer; and to cap all that he has recently introduced Britain’s first Vintage Beer Menu boasting nine British beers from Fuller’s of Chiswick ranging from their ethereal 1999 vintage right up to their succulent, youthfully exuberant 2010.

Chef Sriram Aylur has taken beer to a new place in Britain’s gastronomy. Realising many years ago the farce of stocking several hundred wines against just one or two token beers, he decided to complement his award-winning wine and whisky lists with beer menus of phenomenal originality and style.

He says, “As beer is Britain’s national drink, with over 90% of it produced in the UK and grown by our hop and barley farmers, I wondered why so many of my fellow restaurateurs were holding vast and expensive stocks of fermented foreign grapes? Wouldn’t customers enjoy the chance to drink beers to suit my delicately spiced south-west coast Indian cuisine? This is why I developed the Quilon beer list and it has proved to be a huge hit with customers.”

Previous winners of the Beer Drinker of the Year award which has been running for 18 years award have included an eclectic mixture including HRH The Prince of Wales; ex Prime Minister Rt. Hon. Gordon Brown MP; ex Chancellor of the Exchequer Rt. Hon. Kenneth Clarke QC, MP; chef Michel Roux; beer guru Roger Protz; cricketers Freddie Flintoff and Darren Gough; and TV personalities Michael Parkinson and Nick ‘Apprentice’ Hewer.

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