OnTap Magazine

ontapmag.co.za | Spring 2025 | 41 toasts became more elaborate and non- sensical (kindly translated by my Russian- speaking friend), and we were only able to make a getaway after 6 shots. Luckily, we left laden with apples, cakes, and a wonderful sense of Kyrgyz hospitality. Unfortunately, my only experience of the Buff Beer was after this vodka-bombing, and so my recollection of the flavour is somewhat hazy, and despite what the label on the vodka bottle promised, it was not hangover-free. If the beer in Kyrgyzstan is somewhat lacking, the scenery more than makes up for it, and drinking a beer on the shores of the lake Issyk-Kul, with the Tian Shan mountains in the background, is a life-affirming experience. The same can be said of getting a beer at the Hotel Uzbekistan, an imposing InTourist building, in the very centre of the capital, Tashkent. Here you can take an elevator to the top floor, drink a Tuborg (oddly a very popular brand in Uzbekistan) and watch the insane driving around the Amir Timur roundabout. When the sun sets the almost Dubai-like light shows on the skyscrapers begin, man-made mountains counter the incredible natural beauty of the region. Uzbekistan feels much more developed than Kazakhstan or Kyrgyzstan, and there is a clear tourist industry, complete with tourist traps and elevated prices. This growth drives other industries, and as tourists love a beer, the beer in Uzbekistan turns out to be very good - albeit sold from a plastic bottle. Beerkovich, a blissfully air-conditioned bar near the centre of town, sells a selection of their own beer on draft, cold cans and bottles, and a surprisingly good range of Scottish whisky. They have an entire fridge dedicated to varieties of chechil (a type of cheese), so you can always have a perfect beer and cheese pairing. We got trapped in the bar for a few hours due to a sudden sand storm that rolled in, fuelled in part by the dust from the huge amount of construction taking place across the city. Stepping outside before the storm hit was a truly unnerving, yet humbling experience, an oppressive heaviness hung in the air, and the sky began to turn a deep maroon I’d never seen before. Luckily, the friendly staff, realising that we’d all be stuck in the bar together for some time to come, poured some shots of their home infused lemon vodka, and despite not sharing a common language, the uniting nature of the situation and a rather large slug of booze confirmed that we were in a safe place whilst nature ran rampant outside. Food in Central Asia is well matched to beer. The diet is heavy in meat, with delicious dumplings filled with beef, belt-like noodles, and pilaf dotted with delicate quails’ eggs making up a large chunk of the cuisine. The BBQ is also exceptional, and roasted lamb directly from an underground tandir oven in the foothills of the Fann mountains is a perfect accompaniment to an ice cold Tuborg. Although it’s unlikely that Central Asia will become a craft beer destination anytime soon, there is excellent beer that isn’t very hard to find, and even if you end up with a rubbish pint, the local hospitality makes up for it in bundles.