Cobra Beer has struck gold big time, winning no fewer than 12 gold medals for its beers at the prestigious Monde Selection, Brussels 2006. For the second year running, Cobra has been walked away with more gold medals for beer than any other company in the world.

The 2006 ceremony was held in Prague, where Cobra was awarded a total of 17 medals, including a highly coveted 'grand gold' medal for its Indian-brewed beer, a further 11 gold medals and five silver medals. These accolades are a testament to the strength of Cobra's international brewing arrangements with Charles Wells in the UK, Browar Belgia in Poland and Mount Shivalik in India, says a company press release.

Charles Wells received gold medals for each of the three Cobra products it entered and these included the Cobra draught, which made its debut at the awards. The brewery was also awarded an International High Quality Trophy in recognition of the gold medals it has won for Cobra for the past three years in a row.

Of the 17 medals, 12 went to Cobra products brewed by the Polish Browar Belgia. These included two gold medals for Krait - Cobra's beer for the American market.

Cobra's brewing partner in India, Mount Shivalik Group, entered its two products for only the second time and was awarded a first-ever grand gold and a gold for bottled 330ml and 650ml Cobra respectively.

"We are particularly proud of the success of our India-brewed Cobra," said Cobra Beer's founder and CEO, Karan Bilimoria. "When we resumed brewing in India in 2005 after an eight-year absence, we did so because we saw the consumer was crying out for choice, but also because we saw the tremendous progress that Indian manufacturing had made. These medals are proof that India is capable of absolutely world-class manufacturing."