Nepalese fury at beer named after late king

A CRAFT brewery in Switzerland provoked a diplomatic row and street protests on the other side of the world after it named a beer after a former King of Nepal.

The Turbinenbräu brewery in Zurich name its new beer after Nepalese King Birendra who died in 2001.

The brewery was last week contacted by the Swiss ambassador to Nepal with an urgent request to take down all online advertising. There were unconfirmed reports of protests outside the embassy, and threats of a “hard campaign” by royalists.

Adrien Weber, the brewery’s managing director, told Switzerland’s Tages-anzeiger newspaper he chose the name because the beer contained a spice associated with Nepal and Birendra sounded similar to beer.

The beer was adorned with labels showing the late king enjoying a glass and the slogan “Beer is King”.

Birendra, a popular ruler, was killed in 2001. According to the official version of events, the king and eight members of his family were gunned down by a mentally disturbed Crown Prince Dipendra, who then turned the gun on himself.

But many Nepalis do not accept this account. It left Birendra’s brother Gyanenda to take the throne. He proved a deeply unpopular king and was deposed in 2008, bringing an end to the Nepalese monarchy.