Cobra Beer is a British beer company founded in 1989 by Karan Bilimoria. The company is based in Fulham, southwest London. Originally brewed in Bangalore, India, for export to the United Kingdom, the company now has contract brewing operations in the UK (Charles Wells), Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands and India.
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History
Cobra Beer Ltd. was founded in 1989 by Karan Bilimoria, then aged 27 and £20,000 in debt. A Cambridge law graduate and qualified Chartered Accountant, Bilimoria launched Cobra Beer after spotting a gap in the market for a less gassy lager. Cobra was first brewed in Bangalore in 1990 and imported to the UK for seven years. In 1997 Cobra commenced brewing under licence with Charles Wells in the UK. A 125 year old, family run brewery and the largest independent brewery in the UK, Charles Wells brew leading international beer brands including Kirin from Japan and Red Stripe from Jamaica. Currently, Cobra Beer is stocked in over 6,000 restaurants and in most major supermarkets and off licence chains in the UK. Cobra Beer has also increased its presence in mainstream retail outlets and is available in nearly 6,000 pubs, style bars and clubs. It has been exported to more than 45 countries worldwide, and with subsidiaries in India, South Africa and the US.
European operations
Recently, Cobra commenced brewing with Browar Belgia in Poland, to meet the demands for Cobra in the European and worldwide market. Part of Belgium’s Palm Breweries, Browar Belgia is one of Europe’s leading and most modern breweries and Poland’s fourth largest brewer. Recently, two of Browar Belgia’s brands, Frater and Wojak, were both awarded with gold medals at one of the most prestigious beer competitions in the world – the Brewing Industry International Awards 2004. Cobra Beer has also partnered with Mount Shivalik Group, the largest independent brewing company in India, to brew Cobra under licence for India’s rapidly growing domestic market.
CobraVision Short Film Competition
In 2005, Cobra Beer, created the CobraVision Short Film Competition. The aim was to give aspiring filmmakers the opportunity to get their work shown by screening their films during the commercial breaks of the movies on UK TV channels ITV2, ITV3 and ITV4. Filmmakers submitted 10 five-second films to be judged by industry figures, and the best were screened to a national television audience. In 2007, CobraVision introduced a new 50-second format, screening films uncut before movies on ITV4. All films entered are eligible for monthly and annual prizes. Each year, CobraVision holds an awards show in London for the annual CobraVision Awards. In 2006, the show was held at the Curzon Mayfair theatre and was hosted by June Sarpong and Iain Lee. In 2007 the CobraVision Awards were held at the British Film Institute on London's Southbank, with hosts June Sarpong and Martin Freeman. [1].
Products
Currently, Cobra presently produces five varieties of beer:
- Cobra 5% Premium Beer
- Cobra 0.0
- Cobra Lower Cal
- King Cobra
- Cobra Bite
Cobra 5%
A blend of barley malt and yeast with maize, hops and rice with 5% ABV. It comes in two sizes, 660 ml and 330 ml.
Cobra Lower Cal
Cobra Lower Cal is double-filtered, with fewer calories and fewer carbohydrates than regular Cobra. A 330ml bottle of Cobra Lower Cal contains less than 100 calories, zero fat and 4.1 grams of carbohydrates – around half the amount in most regular lagers. Cobra Lower Cal is 4.3% ABV.
Cobra 0.0%
Cobra 0.0% is described as a "premium quality" alcohol-free beer.
King Cobra
The world’s first double fermented lager, King Cobra is presented in a champagne-style bottle and available in 750 ml and 375 ml sizes.
Cobra Bite
Cobra Bite is a range of four fruit-flavoured premium lagers, launched in May 2007. The range includes Sweet Lime, Blood Orange, Apple and Lemongrass flavours. Cobra Bite products are available in 250 ml bottles at 4.3% ABV strength[2].
References
- ^ CobraVision Short Film Competition' publisher = Cobra Beer (2007). Retrieved on August 14, 2007.
- ^ Cobra Beer - Corporate Fact Sheet' publisher = Cobra Beer (2007). Retrieved on August 9, 2007.
