Where Beer flows from Taps

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www.spiritz.in/emagazine/sampleMarch 2013
Cover Story
There are so many signature beer
bars opening across the country,
surely indicating a trend in Indian
hospitality sector to watch for. Time has
changed from the days when there was
no option but to rush to a usual bar,
now discerning consumer prefers to go to
a speciality beer bar to enjoy his preferred
fizzy drink in a comforting ambiance. It’s
time for the standalone beer bars, brew
pubs and microbreweries wooing young and
not so young into the exciting world of new and
unconventional beers. Though classical lagers still
rule the mass market, craft beers have made their
entry into the ever-evolving thematic beer bars.
Kritika Pushkarna explored a few such places.
from Taps
Where Beer FlowsWhere Beer Flows

www.spiritz.in/emagazine/sample March 2013
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The Pint Room
Ever searched for a space where you could catch up
with someone over a few pints without having to
shout above loud music to make conversation? Head
straight to The Pint Room open now in Delhi, Mumbai,
Panchkula, and Bangalore.
The Pint Room offers you the widest choice of
ales and lagers available anywhere. If you’re a beer
aficionado or wanting to explore the world of beer, this
is a great place to start your journey. It aims at making
fine beer as familiar and as accessible as your favourite
cup of coffee.
Owner Pradeep Gidwani says that unlike most other
bars and pubs in the city, The Pint Room steers clear of
very loud music, dim lighting and the nightclub vibe. “It
offers a relaxed meeting place where you can unwind
with friends or colleagues after work or take a break
between chores during the day,” avers Gidwani.
From the legendary Trappist ales brewed in Belgian
monasteries, Japanese ‘dry’ beer, German wheat beers,
Belgium Witbier, Stouts, European lagers and ice cold
brews from frosted beer-taps, you’ll find them all at The
Pint Room. Flipping through the menu is a treat in itself:
these people really know their beer. A bit of history
accompanies each beer. Tips on how to pronounce
those exotic Belgium names and other interesting facts
make each sip more pleasurable. With prices ranging
from Rs150 to Rs 800, there’s also a pint for every
pocket.
Accompanying these brews is fuss-free food that’s
great for sharing. The hearty platters and finger-food
go down well with beer.
What’s more, if you’re with someone who’s a
teetotaller, there’s an equally interesting range of
non-alcoholic beverages to choose from.
Pradeep Gidwani – Founder and Coach
It hasn’t been long since Pradeep Gidwani used his
passion for beer to launch India’s first beer café. Since
2010 when Pint Room opened doors in New Delhi, it
has now gone to Mumbai, Panchkula and Bangalore.
The expansion trail moves at lightning speed to Pune
and Gurgaon later this summer.
Pradeep, India’s best-known beer marketer and, till
he turned entrepreneur, was Managing Director of the
Carlsberg India operations. Pradeep has also headed
the Foster’s business in India.
Prior to Carlsberg, Pradeep lived in Dubai and
worked with Red Bull as Managing Director of its Asia
Business. His prior experience covers almost every
category in the adult beverage business starting from
tea/ coffee with Unilever’s Brooke Bond, in spirits with
UB Group, etc.
In September 2002, Business Today ranked Pradeep
as one of India’s Hottest Young Executives in its first-
ever listing of 25 of India Inc’s rising stars.
A graduate of the Symbiosis Institute of Business
Management, Pradeep has been recognised as one of
the most successful graduates by his Alma Mater.

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Cover Story
Striker is a microbrewery cum pub in Gurgaon, Haryana
serving the best freshly-brewed beer along with finest
rock music. It’s a place dedicated to grooving as well
as happening music, where you can play your song
requests, drink freshly-brewed beer and enjoy in a
comforting yet electric atmosphere.
All the beers brewed at Striker are named after
different genres of music as Striker is a music themed
pub. Striker’s signature beers include: Jazzy Light, a pale
yellow coloured mild beer with crispy taste and low levels
of bitter hops; Country Pilsner, a full bodied premium
beer with noticeable flavour of bitter hops; Weiss Blues,
a beer made with wheat & barley malt having a cloudy
appearance and a great taste; Rock Bock, made with
roasted malt and has a dark & smoky flavour with a
little bitter taste.
Ashwini Choudhary, Co-owner of Striker believes,
“Indian beer drinker are more inclined towards
freshly brewed beer rather than bottled due to three
main reasons. Firstly, the beer made in microbrewery
is chemical & enzyme free; secondly it has more
antioxidants; and thirdly beer made in microbrewery has
the ability to increase the amount of good cholesterol
(HDL) into the bloodstream and help to decrease blood
clots.”
All the beers in Striker are made from yeast, fresh
water and grains like wheat & barley, while corn and
rice are used for cheaper beers. The pub offers new
flavoured beer on various occasions such as: Chocolate,
Cinnamon, Green Apple etc.
Striker
Ashwini Choudhary, Managing Director
Ashwini Chaudhary’s passion for beer led him to
setting up Striker Pub & Brewery at Gurgaon.
After graduating as a Bachelor in Civil Engineering
from BIET, Davangere in 1998, Ashwini worked for a few
years with Esselworld, Mumbai before starting his own
consulting business of Insurance loss assessments.
After that, Ashwini started Style Design
Embroideries Pvt Ltd, a manufacturing company
located at IMT, Manesar in 2006. And in 2010, he
started a microbrewery and restaurant with the brand
name Striker. The reason he opened the microbrewery
was the growing demand for fresh beer over bottled
beer. Later on in 2011, an Indian restaurant with the
brand name ‘Namche Bazar’ was started under the
umbrella of the same company.

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The only microbrewery cum pub in Faridabad, Brew n
Barrel (BnB) is located right in the heart of the city at
sector 12 on the Delhi-Mathura highway. It produces
fresh, handcrafted beer and premium made-from-
scratch food, all served up in a friendly and fun
atmosphere. Brew n Barrel is a fine dine restaurant with
world class cuisine, the only place in Faridabad where
you can take your friends and families for great food
and the best beer around.
In a span of a year only, the microbrewery promises
to be one of the best pubs in town. From Indian menu
to pan Asian cuisine, everything is served here, taking
restaurant dining to an altogether different echelon.
The bar is in the indoor lounge serving a variety of
freshly-brewed beers that includes barley, wheat, dark
beers and Pilsner, now planning for ale as well. It is an
ideal choice to enjoy the sunset.
Anuj Batra, Owner of Barrel n Brew said, “The future
is only of brewpubs as people will forget bottled beer.”
He further adds, “It takes Rs 70lac to 1.25cr to set up
a microbrewery depending on the capacity of plant
and government should not resist away from allowing
setting up microbreweries.”
BnB promises to rock your evening! It is the only
place in Faridabad, wherein its guests get to shake
their bon-bon to their heart’s favourite music.
Brew n Barrel
Anuj Batra, CEO – Continental Group
A post graduate from The Greenwhic University,
London in the field of Computing and Information
System, Anuj Batra is a beer lover who lost no time
in converting his love for beer into a full-fledged
business on the first opportunity. He opened the first
ever microbrewery along with a partner in Faridabad
in December 2011 in a city mall.
His other business includes manufacturing of
rubber, auto and Railway parts. After the success in the
engineering industry, he wanted some diversification
in the business. So he did some research and found
that the concept of microbreweries was growing fast
in Delhi/NCR and especially the youngsters loved the
idea of having freshly brewed beer.
Along with the microbrewery a fine dine restaurant
was also opened up serving world class cuisine.
“Realising that it is one of the upcoming sectors in
India and its prospects are very good, I jumped into
it. The microbrewery’s USP is that it changes the
identity of a pub from regular restro bar,” says Anuj.

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Cover Story
Rish Saini, Co- CEO & Marketing Director
Rish Saini has been in the hospitality industry for
nearly 10 years and started out very young at entry-
level positions while studying in the United States.
Driven by an exceptionally creative spirit and a drive
to be innovative, he aims to help make Underdoggs
Sports Bar & Grill the leading F&B establishment in
the country.
A true sportsman by nature & winning multiple
championships, including the Arizona State Wrestling
Championship back in 2006, he knows what it’s like
to aim for high goals. A team player, he puts in a full
effort to bring together a team mentality among
employees, and empowering them, knowing well that
there is strength in numbers.
According to him, “The special thing about
Underdoggs is it never remains stagnant, continually
providing its patrons with new specialty menu items,
signature drinks, innovative promotional deals, offers
and events.”
Underdoggs
Sports Bar & Grill
Underdoggs Sports Bar & Grill is such a place, where
you would like to go and would let out the sportsperson
in you overcome yourself.
A sports bar, full-scale restaurant and a gaming
arena of its own kind, Underdoggs Sports bar & Grill
is the largest sports bar in both India as well as in Asia.
On offer and exclusive to Underdoggs are over 50 HD
screens & projectors along with their specialised beer
cocktails. You can play your favourite sports ranging
from Pool, Football, Darts, Shuffleboards, Table Tennis,
Carom board, Air Hockey, Life size Jenga to state-of-
the-art Golf simulators, Beer pong tables, as well as
other board games under one roof.
Underdoggs sells every beer it can source and can
lay its hands on in the market and currently serves over
30+ beers. It is in the process of installing additional
taps behind its bar to enable the process of fresh beer.
Their USP is their beer cocktails made especially by their
brew master for the beer connoisseurs.
Rish Saini, Co-CEO & Marketing Director of
Underdoggs Sports Bar & Grill says, “Beer is an integral
part of cultures worldwide and the non-availability of
beer brands across the world in India due to heavy taxes
and excise duty fees makes Indian consumer shy away
from buying a new beer brand.”
The beer sales and the quantity of beer sold in general
in Underdoggs is far higher than any other stand alone
bar in the country. Mostly international brands are
served at this sports bar ranging from Mexican, German,
Belgian, Australian and Mediterranean to Italian beer.

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Hops n Brew comes from the house
of North East Hotel Pvt Ltd, serving
freshly brewed beer with a la carte
menu along with the latest electronic
beat. This sets this place different
from the rest. Its music includes Rock
& Retro, House and electronic music.
Located right in the heart of Sector
29, Gurgaon, Leisure Valley, close to
the metro station and a stone away
from the very popular – Kingdom
of Dreams, this place boasts of a
themed ambiance to give the office
goers and beer lover a Greek styled
experience with exposed walls and
ceiling, seating arrangements near the beer brewing vessels etc.
The minute you walk in, you will be taken by the aroma of
freshly-brewed, fine quality beer including – wheat beer, pure malt
lager beer, pure malt strong beer, roasted beer, stout beer, brown
beer, red pure malt beer, amber beer, etc. The place promises an
unmatched beer drinking environment where youngsters can look
forward to sip fresh beer from tap along the line of an English
beer pub.
According to Himanshu Kukreja, Owner of Hops n Brew, “The
beer made in microbrewery is chemical free and it increases the
level of vitamin B6 in blood plasma in the body of a person who
drink these beers. And the best thing about us is that we serve
fresh brewed beer along with a great music and hospitality.”
The way the menu and bar have shaped up surely describes
their way of dealing with their customers; their constant endeavour
to offer the best in its class. The people have shown tremendous
faith in it as it had already crossed about 1000 premium members
even before their launch.
Hops n Brew
Himanshu Kukreja
Owner

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Cover Story
Rockman’s Beer Island is a beer garden situated in
Ambience Mall, Gurgaon, where beer connoisseurs love
to come to enjoy their evening with their friends and
colleagues. Spread over an area of 36,000sq ft, this beer
garden comprises two pub brewery cum restaurants –
Bavarian and Keg & Barrels.
While Keg & Barrels is a fine dining restaurant serving
multi-cuisines along with the fresh beer, Bavarian
restaurant is a brew house which serves authentic
German food along with the tap beer in a true German
style and has a brew capacity of 10HL.
This beer garden has an alliance with the leading raw
material supplier from the Bavarian region for its raw
materials like Hops, malt & yeast of international quality
to serve fresh beer in a true German style. Even their
interiors, kitchen, furniture, etc are done accordingly.
Rockman’s serve five types of beer – lager, lager
strong, dark, smoke and wheat beer which is brewed
in accordance with German purity Law and during
fermentation it acquires several nutrients for health
aspect.
Owner of the property, C S Aggarwal feels that the
fresh brewed segment has made its presence felt in cities
like Bangalore, Pune and Gurgaon as lots of international
beer brand are imported in India today.
For the past 5 years, Rockman’s Island has served its
consumers very well and the result can be seen by the
fact that people prefer to come here for fresh beer rather
than going anywhere else in the NCR.
Rockman’s Beer Island C S Aggarwal, Managing Director
Rockman Group started operations in 80’s by way of
Rockman Advertising & Marketing Company which
now is a Rockman Group with diverse business
activities in hotels & resorts, real estate, and imports
& exports of commodities, SEZ zones and Rockman’s
Beer Island.
It was the vision and passion of C S Aggarwal that he
started conceptualising Rockman’s Beer Island 5 years
back. For him, location was the key factor. Keeping in
view the customer profile of today’s upwardly mobile
– tech savvy IT professionals & experts, he opened
this property for giving them a unique experience of
drinking beer.
His concept was to create a place where you can
literally drink beer as it’s manufactured, bringing the
German beer gardens to India with the specialty of
German food as a niche.

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