Say Cheers To Craft Beer

Goa, beer experts say, sat out the first round of the brew-pub frenzy across India바카라�s big cities for nearly a decade. But it is ringing in the second flush of these strange brews. Last month, Shenai바카라�s Goa Brewing Company dispatched to the local supermarkets bottles of its oat-cream India Pale Ale (IPA) called Eight Finger Eddie바카라�it바카라�s named after Goa바카라�s best-known hippie who, in the late 1960s, made Anjuna beach his home; an ode, so to speak, to free-spiritedness. 바카라�We are opinionated and speak our mind,바카라� says Shenai. 바카라�You could expect an interesting phase for beer in India.바카라� Indeed, beer is hot in India바카라�or cool, of course, depending on whether you바카라�re making it or drinking it.

At last count, there were 18 new beer labels in the Indian market or heading here, says Rahul Singh, who keeps a tab on new entrants from his perch at Beer Cafe, one of the biggest beer chains in India. They include all varieties from the mass-produced flavours of Bira 91, which has squeezed its way into an industry dominated by global giants in just over three years, to the avant-garde saison and milk-shake IPAs바카라�terms the average beer drinker isn바카라�t even familiar with. There바카라�s something for everyone, purist or beginner. Singh too has a brand of his own in the works, called Indie 18.

So how did India바카라�s beer mar­ket become this frothy, at least in its major cities? Clearly, craft beer has tickled the taste buds in a country that had been starved of variety for long. So, there바카라�s a rush to bottle brews that taste different. 바카라�Craft beer is the new wine. Think about it: what do wine people tell you? Pair with food, pair with cheeses...this is what is happening with beer too,바카라� says Narayan Manepally as he tastes an orange-coloured brew served in a bell-shaped hurricane glass at a tap room in downtown Bangalore. The ale called Kamacitra바카라�a wordplay on the Citra hops used for bittering, with a hint of mango and other fruit flavours바카라�is one of the four varieties of fresh brews that his brewery supplies in kegs under the label Geist to about 58 restaurants and tap rooms in Bangalore besides a few in Mangalore and Mysore. 바카라�It바카라�s not what you바카라�ve been used to for the past 30 years and it바카라�s not your dad바카라�s beer,바카라� he says.

Manepally, however, isn바카라�t rushing to bottle these beers yet바카라�it바카라�s tricky to keep the beer fresh바카라�but the plan is on the horizon. He was a techie working with Intel in Portland, Oregon, when he took up brewing as a hobby in the mid-1990s. Sometime in 2009, a few years after he returned to Bangalore, he launched Geist바카라�getting the beers produced in Belgium and then shipped in bottles to be sold in India. He had to stop in 2013 as importing costs mounted. By then microbreweries were catching up, and he too put his money into two brew-pubs. He remembers telling his partner that their 바카라�break-even point바카라� was Rs 44 lakh. In the fourth month, the revenue was double that figure and the pace, he says, hasn바카라�t slackened. Now, he바카라�s on phase three of his beer journey바카라�as the taste caught on and more hoteliers warmed up to the idea of stocking craft beer. Last year, he set up a 30-hectolitre (a hectolitre is 100 litres) brewery outside Bangalore to supply them kegs of Geist. His business proposition to restaurants is simple: you don바카라�t need to set up a microbrewery to serve craft beer.

A couple of buildings away from where he바카라�s chatting with Outlook is Arbor Brewing Company, one of Bangalore바카라�s early brew-pubs. It바카라�s now the first craft brewer in India to sell their beer in cans바카라�available only in Goa at the moment, where Arbor has built a new brewery that will also supply kegs to local restaurants. Over time, it wants the cans to reach store shelves in Maharashtra and Karnataka. 바카라�As the palate evolved and people started demanding craft beer, we had to broaden our reach,바카라� says Gaurav Sikka, who runs Arbor. 바카라�Microbrewing is here to stay, and it바카라�s serious business.바카라�

However, it바카라�s also minuscule compared to India바카라�s beer industry, estimated at 2.4 billion litres in 2017 by market research firm Euromonitor. The bulk of the beer sold in India is made at large breweries that would dwarf these new 30-hectolitre craft beer facilities. Broadly, here바카라�s the trend playing out at various different levels: a brew-pub cannot sell outside its premises or bottle its beer, so some of them are now setting up their own breweries to either keg or bottle small batches. Then, there are new beer labels that get their brews contract-manufactured and bottled on a larger scale, just like the big players do. Bira 91, for instance, was initially made in Belgium, but is now being bottled locally. Wheat, gently hopped (so, less bitter), is the taste that바카라�s catching on here, brewers say.

Here바카라�s how the Indian beer market looks: United Breweries Ltd (UBL), which sells Kingfisher and Heineken, controls half the market, while the other half is sliced up by three other top beer-makers바카라�Anheuser-Busch InBev (which now also owns SABMiller India), Carlsberg and Molson Coors. In the ring with these giants are the raft of start-ups led by Bira 91, eyeing large volumes with their new flavours winning them a fan following overnight in the big cities. 바카라�Bira has taken the wheat beer...very fruity, flavoured beer space in India, and just kind of created a demand,바카라� says Shenai.

If you walked into a liquor store in Bangalore or Delhi, you바카라�d see refrigerators stacked with dozens of brands바카라�with snazzy logos and att­itude바카라�in pint bottles, some locally made and others homegrown-but-brewed-abroad. India is still a strong beer market so the eight per cent ales muscle out the rest on the shelf. Even then, there바카라�s plenty of choice. There바카라�s solid competition in the sub Rs 100 (per 330 ml) category of lagers; Bira 91 and Simba cost a bit more and an imported Thirsty Simona retails at about Rs 275 (all prices in Bangalore), about the same as a global Stella Artois that바카라�s been in India for years.

바카라�The lion바카라�s share of growth will come out of these newer beers as the newer consumer is having those,바카라� says Rahul Singh of Beer Cafe. Naturally, one can argue, because volumes are relatively small. Nobody is expecting the market to change overnight바카라�the big players are still leagues ahead on reach and pricing. 바카라�It바카라�s like saying, can I fight with Maruti?바카라� Singh says. Also, India바카라�s low per capita consumption isn바카라�t likely to change dramatically, either because beer is still expensive owing to duties and levies or has limited access바카라�there are roughly 75,000 outlets of all kinds in the country. But these new beers have opened up some urban pockets, especially the young consumer who can afford a higher priced beer that tastes different.

Even market leader United Breweries plans to introduce its range of craft and variety beers early next year. 바카라�Though the size of this market is very small at present, compared to the overall size of the beer market, it is growing at a rapid pace,바카라� says Shekhar Ramamurthy, managing director, UBL. 바카라�This segment comprises opinion leaders of society and is, therefore, important.바카라� Over the years, UBL has been importing many premium labels it owns globally바카라�Desperados, Sol, Edelweiss, Dos Equis and Affligem. So have many independent importers바카라�for instance, the Mediterranean beer label Estrella Damm, which has been in India for about four years, is looking to broaden its reach. Now, the buzz is that Inedit바카라�a super premium created by Ferran Adrià, among the world바카라�s best known chefs바카라�will soon start retailing in Delhi.

바카라�Indian consumers are increasingly opting for beer with a smooth, light taste, finding it easy to drink when socialising. Light-tasting beers are also becoming popular among those drinking for the first time,바카라� notes a recent Euromonitor바카라�s report. 바카라�It hasn바카라�t reached the point of dark ales and stouts yet. IPA is like really far-fetched,바카라� reckons Singh, who is eyeing a piece of the action with Indie 18 next quarter. It will be contract-brewed. 바카라�In fact, we are not even calling our beer craft because craft is an abused word,바카라� he says.

Beer Cafe, with 50 outlets across 16 cities, will exceed Rs 100 crore in revenue this year바카라�a good time to launch its own brand of beer to sell ­in-house. Singh explains his plan with a fashion analogy, a hangover from his previous stint in the apparel business. 바카라�It바카라�s a private label basically, like it was done by Jabong or Myntra. At the moment, at Beer Cafe we are selling everybody바카라�s beer...we are an aggregator of beer basically. We have reached that point where we can manage minimum order quantities,바카라� he says. But nearly every day, says Singh, he also gets sounded out by youngsters who want to start a beer brand. 바카라�No exaggeration. People meet me saying, 바카라�what Bira has done, I can do too바카라�.바카라�

But beer is tough business바카라�the brew is perishable so there바카라�s a distribution challenge that바카라�s only made more complex with various state regulations. Even brew-pubs are allowed only in a handful of states. 바카라�It바카라�s a slow burner, but at the end of the day it바카라�s all worth it,바카라� says Shenai. 바카라�We are happy that the beer is good.바카라�

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Mug Menu

• 2.4 billion litres Size of the Indian beer industry in 2017, which was worth Rs 48,000 crore (Euromonitor)

• 7 per cent Average annual growth of volumes over the past five years

• 30 per cent Rise in per capita consumption of beer in India during the past five years

• 2 litres Current annual per capita consumption in India; in other Asian countries, it바카라�s about 21 litres

• 85 per cent Percentage of beer sold in India that is categorised as strong (6-8 per cent alcohol); this would probably stay that way for much longer, owing to alcohol taxing policies

• Rs 1,000 cr to Rs 4,000 cr  Projected growth in craft beer as a category during 2016-20

(Source: Company annual reports, interviews)

Top Beer Cos In India

• UBL (makers of Kingfisher claim 52 per cent marketshare)

• Anheuser-Busch InBev (makers of Budweiser, Corona and more than 200 brands)

• Carlsberg (Danish multinational)

• Molson Coors (US-Canadian company)

New challenger

• Bira 91 (claims 5 per cent ­marketshare in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore)

• New labels on shelves or in the works: White Rhino, Simba, Witlinger, White Owl, Arbor, Thirsty, Six Fields, Goa Brewing Co, Kati Patang, Happy Head, Hopper, Witty Bro, Bierdo

By Ajay Sukumaran in Bangalore