Buoyed by 'tremendous' response to its trial marketing, the lady Bird Bio Beer, a herbal and vitamin-rich beer produced by a Bangalore-based researcher, would be launched in more states this year.

Test marketing of bio beer was done some two years ago and there was tremendous response in several places, Dr B Srinivas Amarnath of Advaith Biotech Bangalore, who produced it after several years of research, said in Puducherry on Saturday launching the beverage in the burgeoning beer market of Puducherry.

A recipient of President's Award for research in alternative medicines, Amarnath said the bio beer had been produced using 12 different medicinal herbs, including first quality aloe vera, ashwagandha.

Made from finest malt and also from imported German hops and enriched with bio concentrates of the extracts of the 12 herbs, the biobeer comes in two varieties -- 'strong' with an alcohol content of around eight per cent and 'Premium Lager' with less than five per cent alcohol content.

The beverage, manufactured in a brewery in Goa, smelt and tasted like regular beer, but had several theraupetic qualities, he said.

He claimed the bio beer 'protects liver by improving its function, reduces blood cholestrol and does not let the tummy grow as it generally happens with other varieties of beer.

The launching of bio beer in Goa has been slated for September. It would also be launched in Chandigarh and New Delhi subsequently. Other states would be covered in a phased manner, Amarnath said.