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Kati Patang
When Shantanu and Lata Upadhyay launched Kati Patang in 2021, in Delhi, the city took to the brand like a fish to water. Since then, the craft beer label, that makes makes four delicious beers with pure Himalayan water – with a brewery and bottling chain set up in Bhutan, these all-natural malts and hops include an interesting and crisp Saffron Lager, which is a must-try.
Goa Brewing Co.
A craft brewery located in Sangolda, Goa – GBC is housed in a 250-year-old Portuguese villa, and best known for its ‘People’s Lager’ and ‘Eight Finger Eddie’ brews, that are widely available in bottle shops and restaurants around the beach state. With clean, fresh beers that are brewed from natural grains, hops and fruits sourced from local farms, they also pride themselves on having a laboratory where experiments with flavours and malts are conducted frequently.
Susegado
Before Aditya Challa was credited as the man behind Goa’s first micro-brewery, he was also the force behind opening up Singapore’s first ever micro-brewery. Started in 2015, Susegado has moved on to become the brand associated with putting out some of the most interesting brews like the English Ale, Kokum Gose and Dortmund Lager. The professionally trained Challa has since then, gone on to offer six different types of brews for drinkers to pick from.
MAKA Di
Translated to Konkani for ‘give me’, MAKA Di is another Goa-based brand launched in 2020. With a fully automated system in place for brewing aromatic beers like Honey Ale, Belgian Blanche and Bavarian Keller – the microbrewery uses globally indigenous ingredients like honey sourced from Jim Corbett National Park and hops all the way from Czech Republic. They are also in the process of launching two new experimental brews that is expected to hit the markets soon.
Simba Beer
A premium-segment craft beer made at a state-of-the-art brewery in Durg, Chattisgarh – Simba was the first brand to launch bottled stout in India. Known famously for their Belgian Wit beer, a light, amber brew now also offers light and strong brews, based off of individual taste preferences. The brand that launched in 2016, sells bottles of their craft brew across most major cities in India, like Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi and Chennai.
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Crafters
What started off as a taproom in Powai in 2018, is now a widely available brand of craft beer that serves up crowd-pleasers like the Belgian-style Wit and the Hefewiezen – a German-style wheat beer. Along with this, the brand also offers experimental flavours like Cucumber Lager and Coffee Stout, from time to time, where ingredients like figs, cucumber and cantaloupe are infused into brews.
Arbor Brewing Company
Positioning themselves as India’s first American craft brewery, Arbor Brewing Company first came about in 1991, when Matt Greff began making his first batch of homebrew. Since then, Gaurav Sikka, a patron of Michigan-based Ann Arbor brewery, brought his love for craft beer to India and set up ABC in Goa during the year 2018. Some of their specialty brews like Beach Shack IPA, an Indian pale ale and Bangalore Bliss Hefeweizen, are also available in old-school beer cans for purchase.
Briggs Brewery
What’s a list of homegrown brands if not featuring a Bangalore-based craft beer producer? Offering up four classic styles of beer, the brewery was the brainchild of “a group of awesome and hilarious dudes who imagined a world where their beer could bring people together.” From Willy’s Witbier – a light-bodied brew to Stout Alchemy – a dark Irish stout with notes of caramel and coffee, there is something for everyone to try.
Kimaya Himalayan Beverages
Delhi-based Kimaya, that also sources Himalayan water for its brews, first launched in 2019 with two specialty craft beers – Bee Young, India’s first crafted strong beer and Yavira – a Basmati pilsner made with premium grains of the widely eaten variety of rice. Founded by Abhinav Jindal, the brand has also expanded to countries like Hong Kong and Singapore.
Great State Aleworks
This Pune-based craft brewery prides itself in creating brews made with locally-sourced ingredients. With an emphasis on juicy IPAs and millet-based ales, the brand is always producing small batches of experimental brews – where the focus is to work with indigenous ingredients like bajra, jowar, hibiscus and kokum. Some of their bestsellers include Brightside, a Belgian witbier, Helles – a Munich lager and Hazy Daze – a New England IPA.
