Gurgaon: If Oktoberfest is the big daddy of beer shindigs, 'Gurugram Beer Week' is the new kid in town.
The initiative of an online food aggregator, the 'Week' gets under way on June 11, with more than 20 brewing establishments, big and small, taking part. "It's always good to celebrate beer, and this is the right time to have a beer week!" says gastronome Pawan Soni, who is the founder and CEO of online group Indian Food Freak.
Why Gurgaon? Well, to start with, it has the right patrons, a young and happening crowd happy to spend money.
"These are global travellers, who understand the nuances and finer points of a wine or a malt or a beer," Soni adds.
"Also, people are moving away from lagers and wheat beers, and developing a taste for ales and stouts. And they are willing to experiment, for example by opting for flavoured beers.
"Moreover, there are very few entertainment options here besides going out for a drink or a meal."
For Sandeep Pundir, GM of Manhattan Craft Brewery - one of the participating breweries in the 'Week' - it makes sense for a corporate hub like Gurgaon to play host. "You have here so many corporates, who'll get together over lunch, or in the evenings, over a beer, and maybe have team outings," he says.
"And chilled beer is the first thing that comes to mind when we think of the summer in north India." Further, microbreweries have an advantage over restaurants. "Each brewer offers a unique identity. They would use different hops and malts, so every beer would have a distinctive taste," Pundir argues.
According to Rajeev Gulati, the man behind Beer Buddies, the ever-expanding band of online beer brothers (whose membership has crossed 20,000), Gurgaon ticks all the boxes. "Delhi doesn't have any microbreweries, while in Chandigarh, people prefer hard liquor, or drinks with high alcohol content," he explains.
It's also possible, adds Gulati, to do the 'microbrewery hop' here. "The whole idea is to visit the most places, to taste as much beer - you can't do this in Delhi."
Of course, opening a microbrewery has become something of a fad. With so many around, the quality is bound to suffer. "It depends on the location but you'll find every type. You could be sipping beer so good you'll feel you're sitting in Germany. Or you'll come across what you might think is a shady place offering dirt-cheap beer, but it's really very hip."
Gurgaon, reveals Gulati, boasts a higher number of microbreweries per square kilometre than even good-time cities Bangalore and Pune. Indeed, in the space of a year, the number of microbreweries in the city has almost tripled (from 12 to 34). "In the last six months, it has doubled!"
For those who can't get enough of the frothy stuff, the average price of a tankard has plummeted from Rs 300 last year to Rs 150. At some microbreweries, says Gulati, "you can get a mug for as low as Rs 70!" Now that's worth raising a toast to!