The coastal city of Vizag in Andhra Pradesh officially loves beer, as 1.4 lakh boxes of it were sold from October 1 to October 25 this year, compared to 1.2 lakh boxes of all the other liquor combined, excise officials said.

A report in Deccan Chronicle adds that a majority of the consumers are youngsters and college students and the city has emerged as the highest grosser for the excise department from the sale of liquor in the state. 

Deputy commissioner of prohibition and excise, Vizag, C. Vivekananda Reddy told the newspaper that the sale of beer was about three lakh boxes in a month during summer and around two lakh boxes, even in winter.

The rising humidity level in the coastal city is considered to play a part in this trend.

This comes, even as the city is all geared up for micro-breweries, as part of the state's move to boost tourism.

“We have identified Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Tirupati and Guntur as the cities to set up micro-breweries. Bangalore has 17 such kiosks and we may start with five at Visakhapatnam as a pilot project,” Excise Commissioner Srinivas Sri Naresh, earlier told The Hindu.

The micro-breweries will be automated kiosks that will serve different flavours of fresh beer.