A Special Breed of Beer

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Amit Adatia
The worldwide microbrewery craze arrives in Goa
The buzzword amongst beer connoisseurs is microbrewery – fresh beer on tap!  What’s more, it’s sans preservatives so it can delay hangovers by at least a couple of mugs.
Distributed in many countries across the world, it’s currently only available in four Indian states -Maharashtra, West Bengal, Haryana and Kerala.  Happily, the trend has reached our Goan shores and is sure to be a hit with the Hoegaarden and Guiness-swilling crowds.  HouseBrew, an amazing beer machine brought to us here in Goa by Abhijit Brewtech Pvt Ltd and the Global Beer Company, is now available in our state – and it looks like there’s no turning back.
The beer is easy-peasy to make; just plug in the machine, add H20 and brewers yeast to the preprocessed beer mix et viola – frothy chilled beer in approximately one week. And it’s not just any beer. This stuff is good. Very good.
The concept, developed in California in 1985, is being marketed by the Global Beer Company, which provides exceptional support to operators thanks to their 100-year expertise. The new-kid-on-the block, aptly named HouseBrew, can make upto five hundred litres per week in a brew cycle of five to seven days.  This state-of-the-art, ecofriendly system is specifically targetted at pubs and restaurants, which can have an edge over the competition by creating their own brand of beer and giving customers a unique experience.  Restauranteurs also have the advantage of putting on special promotions revolving around their own manufactured beer _ eg Oktoberfest. The machines sell for Rs 35 lakh.
HouseBrew is user friendly, takes up little room and requires minimal after-care, thus eliminating labour, space, storage and energy costs.  This latest product in the Indian F&B space is likely to revolutionize the bar & restaurant business by simplifying the beer-making process and opening a new universe for beer lovers.  Amit Adatia, who funnily enough ranks whisky as his favorite tipple, is one of the key players behind the project here in India.  He stumbled upon the HouseBrew website and he decided to place his bets by purchasing some machines.  Having used his wide circle of friends as guinea pigs and having gotten a positive response, he now plans to strut his stuff at the upcoming Upper Crust food & drink expo in Mumbai.
The Brew Meister and his support team
One of the other main attractions of HouseBrew is that one can customise beers by combining mixes of an international quality, which come from BrewMeister places like Belgium, Holland and Germany, to name a few.  For example, three parts English porter to one part honey beer equals honey porter.  Other combinations include Vienna, Pilsner Light, Golden Lager, Irish Stout and Canadian Dark Ale.
Craft beers are now being touted as more delicious than factory made stuff, plus they’re organic and have a smaller carbon footprint. An added advantage is that it hasn’t been watered down to suit the lowest common denominator.  Also, fresh beer retains its original taste right upto the time it’s poured into a glass, as compared with cans and bottles, which tend to lose their character for a host of reasons like varying temperatures and transportation delays.  To date, microbreweries are already operational in Gurgaon (Howzatt) and Pune (Doolally).
According to a recent report, India is the world’s largest consumer of beer.  And with beer consumption expected to multiply five times over the next five years, this unique technology is sure to hit the right spot.  A 100-crore project involving Germany’s  Lowenbrau is also in the pipeline to construct two beer gardens in Gurgaon; one in the open-air and the other inside a mall. Chin Chin