Artisan beer is all the rage in India

Her teacher, the great economist Joan Robinson, told Nobel laureate Amartya Sen: "The frustrating thing about India is that all you can say about India is that true.

This can apply as much to the Indian economy as to its beer consumption patterns. In a country where 95% of the beer market is represented by blonde beer and 65% of that of strong beer, it seems anachronistic that there are many artisanal beer farms.

But on a hot day, I go to Malanpur, near Gwalior, to cure one of these marks, White Rhino. Ishaan Puri, director of White Rhino, explains his choice of location: a nearby tributary of Chambal helps provide fresh water with the perfect characteristics that beer needs (neutral pH / low dissolved solids / low hardness / metals) low). Added to this is the fact that it is a rainwater river, it regenerates each year and therefore has no trace of smell or smell.

The white rhinoceros, also the second largest land mammal after the elephant, was about to be eradicated, and Puri felt that, like the animal, their adventure was also rare in its reluctance to take shortcuts. The special attention paid to the source of water was my first clue to this testament, and my second was during our first stop at the brewery, the air-conditioned malt hall that stores the Pilsner malt used in their beer Munich-style blonde, who also uses imported wheat malt and locally-sourced wheat.

The word craft is very widespread. I ask Puri, whose company is 18 months old now, how he would define it. He responds in the best possible way, by getting me into their brewery, where a fresh batch of IPA (India Pale Ale) rests dormant in the tanks. A tap on the side gives me a sample and, tasting it, I note with surprise that the taste is different from what I had tasted at Beer Café in Gurugram a few months ago.

Flavor and variety

Puri explains that crafts do not necessarily mean consistency. Aside from the quality and attention to detail, the judicious choice of water, the high quality malt – and Felix, the German brewmaster, literally carries his passion for alcohol (he has the formula of the tattooed alcoholic fermentation). on his arm) – craftsmanship is also a matter of flavor and variety. The current IPA lot that is being prepared for the domestic market will look, in its International Bitterness Units (IBU) profile, for the version exported to the United States and Nepal. A complete circle for IPA, as it is a beer style originally designed in the UK, to satisfy garrison thirst in British India. White Rhino offers its beer in barrels and bottles, and its price is premium. It is clearly a model that works; Puri says it operates at about its installed capacity and expects to be profitable in 12 to 15 months. His introduction of the IPA to the domestic market is potentially risky, because of his distinctly bitter taste, but he states: "The IPA is more about consumer education and the creation of". a community, which is very important for craft beer.

New wave of entrepreneurs

Graduate in economics, Puri was attracted by the love of beer and, no doubt, by the entrepreneurial difficulties, to follow a brewing course in the UK. His technocratic career is representative of the new wave of entrepreneurs who inhabit Indian segments of Indian beer. the industry, pockets still largely ignored by mass marketers.

The wave of craft beers really began nine years ago, with Indian microbreweries producing and serving fresh beer on site in what we call breweries. Prateek Chaturvedi, co-founder of Doolally (who is no longer part of the core team), met me in 2006 when he was struggling to secure funds and develop the country's first brewery laws. Chaturvedi and his co-founders were Singapore-based business leaders who were so fascinated by the variety and quality of beer that they drank from the iconic Brewerkz of Clarke Quay that they decided to relocate to India to replicate this experience.

Although Doolally narrowly missed the bus to be named as India's first bistro, the honor taken by Gurugram's Howugat, they helped launch a revolution that has now become more than 100 breweries across the country.

Until the arrival of the breweries, draft beer was not very popular here, perceived as being "cheap" rather than fresh or tasty. Brewpubs has done a lot to change this perception. Until then, innovation had remained virtually non-existent, with the exception of a few short-lived attempts by SABMiller, first with Hayward's Black Label, India's first robust beer, then with Indus Pride, a spicy blond beer.

The Brewpubs were still limited by the fact that you could only drink their beer on their premises. Doolally was again at the forefront of the next wave of change, when the Maharashtra government allowed breweries to start "selling" or selling barrels to other bars and restaurants, prompting Doolally to open) is set in Mumbai's Bandra, where it could serve fresh beer made at its brewery in Pune.

Of course, you do not need a brewery to make and sell craft beer. In 2011, Gateway Brewing Mumbai was born. Co-founded by Navin Mittal, his roots have been his experiences with home brewing for five years and a blog called www.indianbeergeek.com which allowed him to get in touch with other beer lovers, Rahul and Krishna. The three of them, tired of complaining about the lack of character and variety of most commercially available beers in India, have decided to set up their own microbrewery on the outskirts of Mumbai.

Mittal hopes his beer will be a "gateway" for Indians to discover the exciting and dynamic world of craft beer, which he defines as "focusing on taste and not on making the least tasty beverage and the cheapest to offend anyone. "

Gateway's current beer range includes a wheat beer called White Zen, Doppelganger (a Dunkelweizen), Citra IPA, Side Car (a cider) and Cream Stout. Some of them are available in Mumbai bars, while others are only available at Gateway Taproom in Bandra. The engine room marked the next step in Gateway's evolution and perhaps bottled beer is not far away.

Hobby has transformed his profession

Ajay Nagarajan was living in Texas, a technology professional with a master's degree in electronics engineering. Along the way, he took the brewing path, a fairly popular pastime there and something he came to enjoy. His hobby became a trade when he enrolled in one of the oldest American brewing schools, the Siebel Institute of Technology in Chicago, to learn the art and craft of brewing. He returned to India in 2011 and, with like-minded partners, he created Windmills Craftworks in the Whitefield area of ​​Bangalore.

The windmills, together with Arbor Brewing and Toit, are now considered one of the most representative breweries in the now crowded brewing landscape of the city.

Obviously, consumers love all this action and when I talk to Anasua Saha in Bangalore, a visitor goes to breweries, she says that what's exciting is "taking small samples of different beers because it helps different varieties we would not do it otherwise. She loves the fact that several breweries also produce special craft beers for different occasions and that she keeps a good memory of the apple pie beer produced by Barking Deer of Mumbai (now taken over by Thirsty Beer).

So, how is this "craft beer" "Indian"? After all, it relies heavily on imported ingredients, equipment and know-how. It is true that it is still a nascent industry, but we can hope that the next stage of growth will include more local sourcing, without compromising quality. In addition to reducing its carbon footprint, we can also expect prices to fall and then market expansion. Hops and malt (whether they are ordinary or specialty) are the main ingredients of beer, and hops are still imported because the limited amounts grown in India in the foothills of the Himalayas are of inferior quality.

Nagarajan at Windmills imports all its malt; he says that malting is a specialized skill that has been perfected for hundreds of years in the West and that it is useless to reinvent the wheel. Mittal at Gateway Brewing has, however, always used Indian malts, but is not appalled by the overwhelming use of malt imported by most craft brewers and says that what matters is that these beers are made in Canada. India by brewers passionate about craft beers around the world and put their own tower. "

Very Indian and classic

What is definitely a trend in craft beer is the increasing use of Indian ingredients and adaptations of classic styles for the Indian palate, whether using grated, roasted coconut and Dried in the mash of the Windmill Mango Pale Ale coconut carrier. Gateway also has some interesting adaptations, including their Kaapi Stout, Ale Guava, and more recently their Nimbu Pani Ale, which has been embittered with Yakult instead of a sour yeast, which makes it even more Indian. And while it is unlikely that India will soon be able to develop a new unique style of beer, as Nagarajan says, one can see the German Hefeweizen becoming a unique Indian beer, as it is the most popular style in India. .

Now it's a trend, starting with Bira, then newcomers, Thirsty and Happy Head, to brew breweries overseas and send them home. Some of you will remember a pioneer of this practice, a company based in Bengaluru that made a contract in Belgium and which is sent back to India with stocky bottles bearing the Geist mark (geist in German means the mind of an individual or group). Nearly 10 years ago, Geist was clearly ahead of his time and the project was short-lived. Geist kept his passion for brewing through bribes, but his heart was clearly the packaged beer, and the company's second coming is a brewpub near Bangalore that produces an exciting range of beers at the bars of Bengaluru. KamaCitra IPA.

Millet beer

As Narayan Manepally, one of the founders of Geist, said: "We have always believed in this category and this is the beer that India will drink in the long run. We have seen it before many others and we have decided that despite the difficulties encountered in creating a path, we will not give up. " The pace of change over the past few years has been encouraging and, by the time I write these lines, I have read that the Delhi Development Authority is helping to remove the last hurdles to creating microbreweries. This should lead to the creation of some 80 pubs in the capital in the coming years. And I do not need to be optimistic that we will see nearly 500 pubs across the country over the next five years.

Meanwhile, breweries like windmills are spreading their wings, with a brewery in Goa and other brewing pubs planned in the cities, as well as one in Texas. As regulations come to a halt, we will likely see more governments allowing barrels and allowing breweries to pack and sell their beer in bottles or "Burgundians" to take away (a practical jug used to transport draft beer). ). Windmills, in Goa, already has a beer supply and supplies barrels to Goa's hotels and bars. Beer pub chains are likely to emerge. The first steps are taken by outlets such as Roof, Arbor and Windmills, all of which have expanded outside their home towns. As Manepally says, craft beers are in fast ferment mode. Let's drink to that.

The mentor

Oliver Schauf from Doolally

Oliver Schauf

Schauf was attracted to India 10 years ago by his love for beer and travel. As one of the pioneering master brewers in India, he has mentored several others and has been a source of inspiration for aspiring master brewers in the country. He believes "there is a lot of talent in Indian craft brewing. The brewers are very enthusiastic about their work and their enthusiasm is often backed up by a solid formal education, and we will see some very good beers in the years to come.

L & # 39; Evangelist

John Eapen of Friends of Froth

John Eapen

Eapen runs Friends of Froth, India's most popular online community for craft beer lovers. "There are craft beer lovers who are serious about beer and craft beer is becoming more and more popular throughout the country. Craft is here to stay, "he says. "But brands that focus only on revenue and do not pay attention to quality and consistency will fall to the water as consumers begin to demand higher quality beers and develop palates to appreciate plethora of styles. "

The author is co-founder and CEO of Tulleeho, a training and consulting company specializing in beverages, and Bar X, a company selling bar products.