True Brews: The art of craft beers

The beer renaissance in the US since the mid-'80s is a phenomenal crowd (enthusiasm) funding project. It has caused brewmasters to dredge up - among other varieties - a memory of India Pale Ale (IPA) and reintroduce it to bitter-loving beerheads. The IPA was born of desperate British attempts to produce a beer that could withstand the vagaries of time and a sea journey from London to its colony in India. Craft beers are having their moment in the sun, with many microbreweries in Indian cities vying to school your tastebuds with complex flavours and finish

Curated By: Madhu Kapparath

Published: Mar 27, 2018

Craft beer’s relationship with the US indie music scene, and the parallels between them, are l

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Craft beer’s relationship with the US indie music scene, and the parallels between them, are long and strong. Indie music of the early 1990s was considered to be music made for the sake of music and not sales. However, as indie albums began to have soaring sales— The Offspring's Smash (1994), for instance, sold 12 million copies—major labels tried to catch up, either with misguided marketing plans or just buying out indie labels. Similarly, in the early 1980s, when there were only about 50 craft breweries in the US, a revival was followed by Big Beer—comprising the Big Three (Anheuser-Busch, Miller and Coors)—buying up craft breweries.

A new industry effort since June 2017 has made more than 3,000 breweries print seals on their beers

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A new industry effort since June 2017 has made more than 3,000 breweries print seals on their beers that identify them as ‘Certified Independent Craft’. To qualify, breweries cannot be more than 25 percent owned or controlled by any alcohol company that’s not itself a craft brewer, and it’s annual production can’t exceed 6 million barrels. The number of craft breweries in the US has more than doubled to more than 6,000 in 2018, according to The Brewers Association.

Dogfish head, a craft brewery in Delaware, US, announced a collaboration ale—Dragons & Yum

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Dogfish head, a craft brewery in Delaware, US, announced a collaboration ale—Dragons & YumYums—with US indie rock darlings The Flaming Lips, slated for release in Spring 2018. In India, an example of indie music’s association with craft beer is musician-singer Raghu Dixit, along with Gaurav Vaz, guitarist for The Raghu Dixit Project, investing in Geist, started in Bengaluru by Narayan Manepally, Paul Chowdhury and Mohan Alapatt in 2008.

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Brewdog, an independent beer brand in the UK that claims to brew “hardcore beer for punks”, launched Equity for Punks in 2007, where people could buy shares in the company online. To date, Equity for Punks has raised £53,846,185 with 73,888 investors.

It’s like the 1960s’ groupies waiting for a glimpse of Jagger or Richards backstage. Ins

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It’s like the 1960s’ groupies waiting for a glimpse of Jagger or Richards backstage. Instagram and the rise of ‘hype beers’ have seen an increase in fanatical enthusiasts who wait outside brewery gates for a new line of craft beer on the day of its launch. “People spend the night in the parking lot,” said Henry Nguyen of California’s Monkish Brewing Company to The New York Times in February 2017. “It was about 15 hours of waiting, sometimes for only six cans.”

Grand Rapids in the state of Michigan have earned it the title of ‘Beer City’ because of its vibrant craft beer industry that produces small and balanced batches. Along the city’s Beer City Ale Trail there are 60 breweries, while the local calendar is filled with beer festivals, events and promotions. You can take a pick from among the Great Lakes Pub Cruiser, the Grand Rapids Motor City Brew Tour from Detroit, or a GR Hopper Pass.

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The term ‘Bed & Brew’ was coined in 1994 by Fredericksburg Brewing Company in Texas

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The term ‘Bed & Brew’ was coined in 1994 by Fredericksburg Brewing Company in Texas at its brewpub where guests had pint on the house before retiring upstairs. The concept has gained popularity since then, and includes Glenwood Canyon Brewing Co at The Hotel Denver (in photograph) in Colorado, Woodstock Inn in New Hampshire, Calistoga Inn Restaurant and Brewery in Napa Valley, Jasper Murdock’s Alehouse in Vermont, and the Seneca Lodge in New York.

And now here’s a beer that is cashing in on the alleged role of Russia in the US presidential

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And now here’s a beer that is cashing in on the alleged role of Russia in the US presidential elections. Pravda brewery-shop in Lviv, Ukraine, launched a craft lager called Trump in May 2017, with a portrait of Donald Trump and the tagline, ‘President of Divided States of America’, and a cheeky note demanding ‘Free Melania’.

Belgians are more loyal to the yeasty, earthy notes of traditional ales brewed by the trappist monks

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Belgians are more loyal to the yeasty, earthy notes of traditional ales brewed by the trappist monks of Belgium since the 18th century (when the wandering monks fleeing the French Revolution settled in Belgium). Anyone who has drunk a Chimay Blue or Duvel would know them by their pedigree. Brewed within the walls of a monastery and principled as a non-profit venture, the revenue from the beers cover the living expenses of the austere monks, and the rest is donated to charity. The slightly sweet beer has a relatively high level of alcohol, with flavours of spices.

Craft beer labels have become as unique as their ingredients, with artwork fit for galleries. For in

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Craft beer labels have become as unique as their ingredients, with artwork fit for galleries. For instance, Neshaminy Creek features gnomes on its labels, drawn by JP Flexner, while Omnipollo features Karl Grandin’s work. Collectors of labels believe they are a medium for artists to explore their talent.

Japan has not been as open to the possibilities of craft beer. Laws prohibiting the practice of home

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Japan has not been as open to the possibilities of craft beer. Laws prohibiting the practice of home-brewing and a large tax on drinks with higher malt content have made beer expensive. Some brewers resort to being inventive: They used peas and corn to cut the amount of malt, while others circumvented laws that prevented the use of fruit extracts, spices and other ingredients in beer. Following the loosening of brewing laws in 1994, there has been a rise of craft beer in the country, with breweries such as Coedo Brewery in Saitama making beer from sweet potato.

When the British were expanding their power over the Indian subcontinent, George Hodgson, a London b

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When the British were expanding their power over the Indian subcontinent, George Hodgson, a London brewer in the 1700s, used his connections to dominate beer export market to India. To preserve the beer for longer periods in hot conditions, he brewed it with extra hops and with higher alcohol levels. It made other brewers in England brew a pale ale that displaced the London brews and came to be called Indian Pale Ale (IPA). In the Indian subcontinent, IPA is not common, and the launch of Little Devils in 2009 in Delhi by TVB Craft Breweries was a sort of homecoming. In 2017, two more IPAs were launched: One from Gwalior-based White Rhino Brewing Co, and the second being Bira 91s.

The association between India and Britain over beer has taken on myriad forms. One example is Bundob

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The association between India and Britain over beer has taken on myriad forms. One example is Bundobust, a collaboration between restaurateur Mayur Patel and Mark Husak of the Sparrow Bier Cafe of Bradford. With outlets in Manchester and Leeds, it serves raft beer from local breweries like Manchester's Cloudwater, and complements the drinks with vegetarian food.

Hops, one of the four main ingredients - along with water, malted barley and yeast - of beer, has be

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Hops, one of the four main ingredients - along with water, malted barley and yeast - of beer, has been declared the 'herb of the year' by International Herb Association this year. Hops, which adds the bitter taste and aroma to beer, has been added to beer since 7th millennium BC. In later times, it was cultivated in Germany and used in French and German monasteries. Prior to hops, beer was flavoured with spices and herbs such as juniper, coriander, cumin, nutmeg, oak leaves, lime blossoms, cloves, rosemary, gentian, gaussia, and chamomile.

India's first microbrewery - Doolally - opened in Pune in 2009, and in Mumbai in 2015. With a no

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India's first microbrewery - Doolally - opened in Pune in 2009, and in Mumbai in 2015. With a noted German brewmaster, the chain offers quality artisanal brews, notably a fine apple cider and Hefeweizen (German wheat beer) to music from rock and classic pop.

One of the trends to look out for in 2018 is lambic beer. Lambic is a Belgian beer made from malted

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One of the trends to look out for in 2018 is lambic beer. Lambic is a Belgian beer made from malted barley and unmalted wheat, fermented by natural, airborne yeast and sometimes flavoured with fruit. It is brewing at its rawest, with the liquid laid bare to the weather in oak barrels, resulting in funky, earthy and sour flavours.

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