New Delhi: Around eight years after the Delhi government decided to issue licences to microbreweries and five years after they were permitted to be set up in the national capital, the progress has remained slow with only six such establishments having come up in the city compared to the many microbreweries in Gurugram.
Microbreweries are small-scale breweries that serve fresh beer without preservatives, which is preferred by many beer aficionados. However, the microbrewery owners ThePrint spoke to said they face many challenges in Delhi, including its outdated and restrictive excise policy and the multiple civic agencies that have a say in issuing licences.
According to them, the larger issue stunting their progress stem from this one old but existing policy which leaves establishment owners with very little room to experiment — that the beer brewed can only be served within the microbreweries’ premises. This policy makes it mandatory to have a bar.
According to the existing regulations, unlike a conventional brewery, a microbrewery produces a limited quantity of beer, and in Delhi’s case, the daily limits have been fixed at 500 litres and 1,000 litres — each of which have a separate licence fee.
According to the existing policy, a microbrewery also has to follow several regulations, such as being located in a pucca (brick and mortar) building, and getting the raw materials tested by a qualified chemist holding a degree in science with chemistry.
Moreover, the microbrewery has to get clearance from the Delhi Pollution Control Committee for its water treatment system and obtain separate licences from the excise department for serving Indian and Foreign liquor and health trade licences from the municipality for serving food.
Manu Gulati, who owns a successful chain of brewpubs ‘Effingut’— a microbrewery with a bar and restaurant within the premises — in Maharashtra and West Bengal, decided to expand his business to Delhi in 2022. He was excited by the New Excise Policy (2021-22), which had given more freedom to microbrewery owners.
The new Excise Policy (2021-22), which was scrapped last year due to alleged irregularities, allowed for beers to be taken away in bottles known as ‘growlers’, for the fresh beers to be supplied to other bars and restaurants and be served at permitted events with a disclaimer about its shelf life.
However, with the return of the old policy, Gulati has been left disappointed. “This is the most backward policy, it’s draconian,” he told ThePrint, whose brewpub in Delhi is located in Saket.
Brewing beer in India is not new. According to Rahul Singh, former president and trustee of the National Restaurant Association of India, it goes back to British rule.
“Asia’s first brewery was in India. It was set up in the 1800s by the father of the infamous General Dyer in Himachal Pradesh’s Solan and produced the country’s first beer brand known as Lion Beer,” Singh told ThePrint.
Singh is involved in a project for building a microbrewery with a capacity of 1,000 litres specifically targeting a business-to-business model. However, the scrapping of the new excise policy has left things uncertain.
ThePrint reached senior excise department officials via phone calls and messages. This report will be updated once a response is received.
Gautam Gandhi, who set up Fort City Brewing at Hauz Khas Market, Delhi, feels the city itself is not fully aware of this concept yet. Speaking to ThePrint, he said that the city has a “hardened” culture of drinking cocktails, while having a glass of beer which is free of preservatives is not very popular yet, unlike cities in Maharashtra.
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Issues with old policy
According to Effingut’s Gulati, unlike his experiences in Maharashtra and West Bengal, the existing policy in Delhi has no provisions to deal with the spare beer in the tanks of the microbrewery, nor does it allow the establishment to keg the beer and supply it outside the premises.
Delhi’s new excise policy, he said, had allowed for the spare beer to be kegged and also allowed bottling.
Gulati, who started brewing beer 12 years ago, compared his experience in Delhi to Maharashtra, where, he said, the government has made gradual improvements in its excise policy since 2010. In 2013, the state brought in provisions for kegging the freshly brewed beer and slowly moved towards selling it in growlers, he said. “Soon, Maharashtra will allow bottling freshly brewed beer,” he added.
His brewery in Saket has 16 tanks and can brew 16 different flavours of beer. “We have a huge brewery in Delhi, but we can only serve the beer on-site. The financial viability is lost when we have to restrict ourselves to one place,” he said.
According to him, setting up a microbrewery with a capacity to produce 2,000 to 3,000 litres of beer per month with two to three varieties costs Rs 30 lakh.
Gandhi, too, questioned these restrictions and said, “The government needs to think on a broader horizon. There should be a retail concept where a standalone microbrewery can be set up in an industrial area so that one can keg and bottle the beer.”
What Delhi likes
Swadeep Popli, who runs the brew and dine establishment Flow, feels the city has “zero culture” when it comes to enjoying craft beer that is freshly available on tap.
While each of the establishment owners ThePrint spoke to agrees that a progressive policy is needed, Popli noted that even in neighbouring regions like Gurugram, where there are many microbreweries, the choice of flavours are limited and quality of the brews is average at best.
But Popli remains hopeful. “In my case, and even the other brewers, such as Gandhi and Gulati, we experiment with flavours. Delhi is mostly hot and humid, and the beer culture here will certainly evolve,” he told ThePrint.
According to Singh, during British rule, there were only two types of beer — lagers and ales. Moreover, one of the most popular beers today — the India Pale Ale (IPA) — was made by the British in India for their fellow countrymen, he said.
“It was also popular because it had a long shelf life as it contained hops,” Singh said. Hops are flowers which act as a natural preservative and add that bitterness in the beer.
Gulati, though, disagreed. “IPA is not widely consumed in India. I think, the Indian palate is more on the sweet and wheat side, and we have to tweak the style and accommodate this palate,” he said.
Popli, too, said that while IPA sells well in the Indian market, despite its bitterness, some of the crowd favourites include weizenbock (a dark wheat-based beer), the classic Belgian wheat beer and the pilsner.
According to Gulati, Delhi is way better than what he saw in Pune 10 years ago. “But we do need a progressive policy that allows us room to experiment,” he added.
(Edited by Richa Mishra)
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