BEERY GOOD
After the city got its first brewpub, now several bars are also preparing to serve a new local beer. Could this be the beginning of a new trend? We explore the possibility
As a new local beer makes it to the menus of city pubs, we speak to brewers about a possible new trend
Things have never been better for beer fans. After the city got its first brewpub in the form of Lower Parel’s The Barking Deer; Yeast India Company brought to us Iron Maiden’s beer, Troopers, along with the promise to bring more such good beer from across the world to Mumbai. A popular chain in Delhi, The Beer Café, is also set to make its way here. Now, in what seems like the beginning of an exciting trend, several city bars will also serve a new brand of craft beer soon.
The new brew
Produced by the Gateway Brewing Company, this fresh beer will be available at Woodside Inn, Colaba; Bonobo, Bandra; JamJar Diner, Versova and Woodside All Day in Andheri around Christmas. “We’ve already signed on about 10 to 12 bars in Mumbai. By January or February, we will have more,” says Rahul Mehra, who co-founded this company with two partners, Navin Mittal and Krishna Naik, in 2011. Earlier this week, they finished installing the draught beer equipment at the four pubs.
But the precedents set by the Gateway Brewing Company and The Barking Deer have not been without trouble. The long-drawn process of getting legal permissions from government offices was just half the problem. The fact that there were no proper policies for craft beer altogether was the main challenge.
Know the difference
“There was no microbrewery policy for Maharashtra. For a year, we were just lobbying for that,” says Mehra, adding, that “they (the state) just had a brewpub policy and that’s where the differentiation came into play, because a brewpub is restricted from selling their stock outside their premises.” Mehra’s company, however, is a microbrewery that primarily produces, packages and sells their beer at other bars.
Even then, the process was no simpler for Gregory Kroitzsh, co-owner of The Barking Deer. “New manufacturing is quite limited in the city and we were seen as manufacturers, so we had to explain to them that this (the brewpub) is just a dining concept, it isn’t a factory,” he says.
Thankfully, things are now looking up for these entrepreneurs. With a clear and burgeoning demand, the Lower Parel pub is also increasing its production. Chances of expansion haven’t been ruled out either. And going by the number of people who are keen on learning how to brew their own beer, the market in Mumbai might soon even have more than just two craft beer producers.
Home brewing picks up
“We’ve been approached by a lot of people who want to learn how to brew beer, so we had a workshop some time ago. The next one will be in January,” says Mehra, who also runs a blog called Indian Beer Geek with his two partners, all of whom started out as home brewers. “There is enough space for more breweries, and having more will help the overall business of everyone involved,” says Kroitzsh. Even the founder of The Beer Café, Rahul Singh, was quoted as saying, “…craft beer would have more growth than commercial beers.”
Nonetheless, there are a few deterrents standing in the way of this industry’s growth. “There isn’t enough money in it. It’s a retail product and needs to be sold at a competitive price, which is tough to do because there are lots of hidden costs. For instance, there is a dearth of experienced brewers. Expat brewers are expensive to work with,” says Mehra, adding, “We fought for a policy because we want more people to enter this space, but at the end of the day, no one’s ready to put their money where their mouth is.”
Here’s hoping for that to change soon, because this trend has sure started on a positive note.