Is Delhi-NCR craft beer capital of India?
Delhi-NCR is the unofficial fresh brew pub capital of India. Delhi-NCR is also emerging as the capital of craft beer.
Bira started the revolution in 2015. Drinking good beer became easy, as one could stock it in their houses. In the past three years Delhi-NCR has seen more craft beer brands launching their beers.
Wittilinger was the first bottled craft beer in India. It imports as well as brews its beer in Chattisgarh.
Bira is a four year old brand, and the market leader. Today it brews its beer in two breweries. They rank amongst the top 25 in the world.
Kati Patang is the most recent craft beer brand in Delhi. It brews its beer in Bhutan. Their first offering is an amber pale.
White Rhino started in 2016. It brews its beer in Madhya Pradesh. It is challenging Bira with its high quality beer.
Simba beer started it in 2016. Simba Stout is one of their unique beers.
Update: A discussion with Tales of Froth
I posted an update on an online community of beer enthusiasts; Friends Of Froth. It’s founder John Eapen, disagreed with me. He said that maximum number of beer brands are present in Bengaluru. He also cited that Bengaluru has more number of fresh breweries. An average brewery in Bengaluru is 10,000 square feet big. Gurgaon and other cities do not have to follow this rule.
Manu Misra, another community member, pitched in with his views. He thinks that breweries in Bengaluru brew beer, which taste better. Also, Bengaluru has more number of breweries than Gurgaon. But, it may change as new breweries are coming up in Delhi.
Other than big centres such as Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai, Goa has also emerged for craft brewing. It sports brands such as Eight Finger Freddie and King’s. White Owl is a popular brand from Mumbai.
