A war is brewing in the ever-rising microbrewery scene of Bengaluru, and nothing encapsulates the nature of their battle as the Olympian spirit of Citius, Altius, Fortius. It's no longer just about serving beers to the patrons, but there's also a race to provide larger-than-life experiences, with these microbreweries taking great pride in being the largest, the highest, the sexiest, and other such superlatives. When Byg Brewski unfurled its lavish 65,000-square-foot premise, it became the largest brewpub in the entire country. Ironhill, in 2021, came up with a microbrewery spanning across 1.3 lakh square feet, but even their record didn’t withstand for long. The distinction for Asia’s largest microbrewery now belongs to Prime Golf, a lavish, expansive venue that seamlessly brings the leisurely vibe of golf to the high art of craft beer.
Spread across a staggering 1.5 lakh square feet on a rather quiet stretch of the Whitefield, the Prime Golf oozes with extravagance. It’s unlike any other microbrewery in the city, not only in terms of its size but also its aesthetics. The meticulously carved ceilings, embellished with elegant pendant lights, illuminate the vast space; the bar in the centre is minimalistic, and a generous sprinkle of leafy plants gives an earthy touch to the opulence. It’s hard not to get awestruck by the sophistry of the architecture, which is a perfect blend of modernity and tradition. But it wasn’t really a conscious decision to become the largest microbrewery, tells Dabbara Mallikarjuna Naidu, the brainchild of this venture. “It just happened. We need a minimum of 10,000 square feet to get a microbrewery license in Karnataka. We wanted to bring the thrill of golf, and since golf is a premium sport, we didn’t want to compromise on the lavishness of the setting,” he adds.
Bangalore has always been the beer capital of the country. Long before the breweries started proliferating, the city has been the home to the OG of the commercial beer – Kingfisher. As the summer keeps getting longer and harsher, the appetite for beer among its populace is getting larger. When the temperature became uncharacteristically unbearable this summer, the rapid spike in the demand caught many breweries and mass manufacturers off guard. Some breweries saw their demand quadrupling in no time, and they had to stop promotional offers. Not only beer is the new coffee, but “people in Bengaluru understand their drinks better than in any other city,” says Umang Nair, the award-winning brewmaster who has been at the helm of setting up multiple successful breweries. “The young generations are not satisfied with whatever they are being sold at liquor shops. They are willing to spend, and they are eager to try something new, something exciting,” adds Nair, whose passion for his craft shines through his words.
An extensive report on the beer industry in India, published by KenResearch in 2019, too affirmed that the consumption of the craft beer is only going to rise, fuelled by growing young population, and the disposable income. The strong-beer segment still dominates in terms of volume, but the freshly-brewed beer is making its presence felt. For many first-time drinkers, the bitterness of bottled beer might be unappealing; they are more likely to enjoy the diversity of craft brews. Utsav Singh, an IT professional working in Bengaluru, reminisces how he never understood the appeal of beer, until he tried a fruity beer at Arbor Brewing Company, one of the oldest players in this industry. “I tried a mango-flavoured beer at Arbor, and that was unlike anything I had tasted before. I never knew beer could be this smooth and pleasing. I started frequenting other brews, and slowly got fond of even the stronger variants, like IPAs,” says Singh.
When Nair started his profession over a decade ago, there were a handful of players making a splash in the craft beer scene. Today, Bengaluru boasts over 100 microbreweries, and the number is only going to rise. Thejaswi Udupa, the quizzer, columnist, and beer connoisseur, has watched the evolution of craft beer in Bengaluru very closely. “When Biere Club, Arbor, and Toit started in 2012, I was quite thrilled but not very surprised that Bangalore was the first Indian city to take craft beer seriously,” says Udupa, adding that he picked up his fascination for craft beer in California when he went there for work in the late noughties.
Most of these establishments are strategically situated close to the IT hubs of the city, where there's no dearth of white-collar workers. They have the purchasing power, and a willingness to indulge in new experiences, and the grandeur of these large-format pubs is too irresistible to overlook. “Our core demographic is 35-40 salaried professionals. These people are pocket money givers, not the takers,” quips Naidu, the owner of Prime Golf, adding that they also get corporate bookings on weekdays.
Unfettered from the constraint of mass production, every microbrewery gives unique offerings. They are not afraid to be bold with experimentation. Reinheitsgebot, the German purity law for beer, that mandates brewers to use just four ingredients, malt, hops, yeast, and water, is no longer sacrosanct. “We have done beers with millets as well, says Nair, who dreams of coming up with Indian-style witbier someday. To incorporate the regional flavours in the beer, the brewmasters exercise full freedom, playing with seasonal fruits and spices to give a unique twist to the hoppy drink. “We are blessed with spices and herbs, we should build something of our own,” he adds. Belgian witbier and German witbier – the usual suspects – still dominate the market, predominantly due to their relative lack of bitterness, but people have opened up to different styles too. As a brewmaster, you can’t simply disrupt the people’s palette. “The change has to be subtle, yet perceptible,” says Nair, and the Hefeweizen he has brewed at Prime Golf attests to his philosophy, leaving a distinct banana and clove undertone when you sip.
Having an impeccable collection of beer on tap, however, is only half of the battle; the other half, and perhaps equally significant, is the experience you sell. “It depends on who they want to target, and what they want to position themselves as,” tells Udupa. “Some microbreweries focus on beer. Many others focus on things like how big they are, or how Instagrammable their food and drinks are,” he adds. The much-famed Bengaluru weather aided the battle to be the largest microbrewery, as they could operate in large open-air spaces without air-conditioning. Now that the sun in the city is no longer mellow, and heatwaves don’t seem to be a distant possibility in future, the race might be over. Which bears a question: What’s the next trend in the ever-evolving craft brewery scene of Bengaluru?
