In its effort to share more knowledge about the beer industry in India, Bengaluru-based Geist Brewing Co. hosted an online educational session on International Beer Day to help elevate everyone’s knowledge about craft beer.
The session was led by Narayan Manepally, Founder and CEO of Geist, who spoke about the beer industry in India, the different varieties of beer, collaborations in the industry – and announced the arrival of the new Geist IPA.
With India slated to become the third-largest economy, it is well-positioned to become one of the world’s largest beer and craft beer markets. According to Statista, the beer industry is a US$ 45-billion market opportunity, and there are 2.5 billion beers served daily.
It comprises a pyramid with mass-market beer (Rs 130 and below) at the base (contributing to 85%), followed by premium beers, super-premium beers, and craft beer at the top.
Craft beer makes up less than 1% of this market, amounting to 2 lakh litres per month in sales. While the market size is still very small, it is growing at almost 80% year-on-year, compared to mass-market beer, whose growth rate is 6-7%, according to Statista.
Beer 101
You can bucket beer styles under two main categories: ales and lagers. Ales are made from ale yeast strains. They are fermented between 19-21 degrees centigrade and usually complete fermentation much faster when compared to lagers, taking around 14 days. Due to the higher temperature and more rapid fermentation, ales have a rounder mouth feel.
Lagers are made from lager yeast strains and are fermented in colder temperatures of 9-15 degrees centigrade. They usually take between 21-25 days to ferment. They tend to be crisper and have a lighter mouth feel.
India is home to 300-odd micro-breweries, many of whom tend to make ales. Since there is a quicker turnaround time in tanks, making more ales enables smaller breweries to keep up with changing customer demands, especially the demand for new and exciting things.
According to Narayan, they are also producing a variety of different styles to introduce new beers to the consumer. Breweries today are mixing the process and creating hybrids these days. An example of this is fermenting ales like lagers and vice versa.
Beer collaborations
Today, we are witnessing collaborations not just within the beer industry but across industries. A collaboration between Moonshine Meadery and Geist Brewing Co. has given rise to ‘Show Me The Honey’, a limited-release braggot-style beer.
“World Beer Day and World Mead Day are one day apart, and it only makes sense to celebrate the two beverages,” Narayan said.
Enter the honey ale made using a combination of honey and grain – the best of both worlds. This collaboration was the perfect way to collaborate and celebrate the core ingredients of the two brands.
Magnolia Bakery and Geist Brewing collaborated to curate a line of dessert-inspired cocktails. The collaboration includes three of Magnolia Bakery’s signature desserts reinterpreted as cocktails: ‘Going Bananas’, inspired by the banana pudding; ‘West Village Whisky’, a chocolate buttercream Old Fashioned inspired by the chocolate buttercream cupcake; the ‘New York City’, inspired by the caramel pecan cheesecake; and a bonus tequila, buttercream and Kahlua shot called ‘New York Minute’.
New IPA
On the occasion of International IPA Day, Geist launched the ‘Geist Picket Fence’, a white IPA. “We wanted to create a beer that was interesting and intriguing. The White IPA combines the drinkability of a Belgian-style Witbier and the hop expression of an American IPA, making it an approachable IPA,” said Narayan.
Geist beer can be found in kegs, bottles and cans in more than 90 stores in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Puducherry.
“Over the years, IPAs have evolved and will continue to evolve. What started as a West Coast IPA in the US has laid the foundation for further innovations like the East Coast IPA (also known as the New-England IPA or NEIPA), a Belgian IPA, a German IPA, a South African IPA and so on,” he added.
Brewers are now trying to use experimental hops from countries like New Zealand, South Africa, the US and Australia to create interesting new IPA tastes and flavours. This allows them the opportunity to get customers to keep coming back more frequently, according to Narayan.
