Wheat, rice and millets are in; barley is out. Raspberry and peach may be great additions abroad, but back home, the bounds are being pushed by local flavours like aam, cucumber, paan and jamun. And all this is a reflection of the adventurous spirit of brewers in India.
At Hylo Taproom by Igloo, you’ll be spoilt for choice with their extensive beer line-up. There is lager, which is easy-going and light, wheat beer that is found in two styles — German or Belgian, Indian and American Pale Ale (IPA), stout, etc. They also have rotational beers throughout the year. For example, during Oktoberfest, they did a limited-edition Cucumber Sour.
“We try using different grains. Some pair well with local spices, others with Indian malts, and the rest with seasonal fruit additions,” says Chaitanya Khanapure, founder of Igloo Craft Beers.
For their Rice Lager, they use rice from a specific taluka in Maharashtra called Wada. “The Kollam rice over there has a GI tag on it. Only the rice grown there can be called Wada Kollam, and that’s used in our beer.”
Igloo’s Konkan Rice Lager is a beer brewed with locally grown, aromatic rice, and the drink is perfect for a hot afternoon.
Bhavishya Pratap, the founder of Sthamba Brewery, loves experimenting with desi flavours. Some of the ingredients he has used in his craft beers include jowar, bajra, kokum, paan and imli. According to him, “using Indian ingredients gives the beer a distinct character and celebrates homegrown flavours in a new way”.
Indian spices are his favourite ingredients, and he personally enjoys working with cinnamon. Sthamba has experimented with jowar, bajra, and black rice in addition to traditional grains. “Each grain adds its own unique body and texture, and it’s exciting to see how they transform the beer’s flavour profile,” he shares.
The base for beer is usually rice or wheat, but one can also use millets like jowar, bajra and foxtail. “Beer base is actually barley malt,” adds Chaitanya. “Millets are not the best ingredients when it comes to brewing, as they are lower in sugar content. All alcohol needs sugar to ferment. For wine, it’s the grape; for beer, it is your grain. You can either use a lot of millets or substitute the millet addition with sugar.”
According to him, the plus points about using millets are, “Beers that are made with 100 per cent millets are very low in gluten content. They are also much cheaper than malt beers. Millets are a great superfood, and breweries can walk the talk by supporting Indian farmers.”
Geist Uncle Dunkel wins gold at the European Beer Star 2025 Awards |
Bengaluru-based brewery Geist was awarded Gold in the South German Style Hefeweizen Dunkel category at the European Beer Star Awards 2025 in Munich. “It’s a wonderful recognition for a brewery that’s been obsessed with producing world-class, true-to-style craft beer. The fact that we’ve beaten the Germans in a category they created and have dominated for centuries is a huge testament to India’s arrival on the global beer map,” says CEO Narayan Manepally. “The European Beer Star Awards are judged purely on technical merit — one gold, one silver, one bronze per category — so it’s a 100% merit-based, blind process. To us, this feels like the “Nobel Prize of beer in Europe.” It’s an honour not just for Geist Brewing Co., but for the country.”
Their bestseller is the Geist Witty Wit, a Belgian Witbier, but the brewery is also incorporating several Indian ingredients in their craft beers. “We have used Indian wheat, rice, oats, coriander, black salt, spices, cucumber and local fruits such as jamun,” says Vidya Kubher, head brewer.
While they primarily brew with barley and wheat, Geist has also used rice and popped rice in their beers. “We haven’t yet brewed with millets at this brewery, but it’s something we plan to explore in the future,” mentions Narayan.
Taking their beer experiments a step further, they have also married malt with coffee beans, and it turned out really well.
Butter beer, (right) Bhavishya Pratap, the founder of Sthamba Brewery, loves experimenting with desi flavours |
Explaining the process of including Indian flavours to beer, Bhavishya says, “Kokum didn’t quite work with a regular lager, but it really came alive when we paired it with a sour beer base. We’ve also tried it in meads, though the sour beer version was definitely more successful.
“Paan works better in meads than in beers, the flavours are subtle and aromatic, and meads bring those notes out more naturally without being overpowered by hops.”
During the monsoon series ‘It’s Raining Spices’ at Sthamba, they played around with several Indian spices like cinnamon, cardamom, star anise, and even Kashmiri chillies. Their spice-forward beers, especially the stouts and porters, generated quite a buzz.
As for mangoes, “While Alphonso is the most premium, we have found Totapuri and Kaveri to perform better for our brews. We usually blend two varieties to get the perfect balance,” he mentions.
