Getting hold of Siddhant Vinod, the enterprising microbrewer behind Brewsky in JP Nagar, two days before the New Year proves a mighty challenge. It's a very busy time of year, but he certainly isn't complaining! "My days of having to clock in 'x' number of hours are far behind me," he laughs.
In 2013, Siddhant got together with a group of friends to give Bengalureans a truly world class microbrewery experience. The three years since have passed in a whirlwind of experimenting and breaking boundaries to create something that stood out from the rest in the pub city! Customers can drink and eat and watch the microbrewery in action as they do so, while it churns out a bevy of popular craft beers and stouts from around the world, each redesigned to suit the local palate.
"Our motive was simple: put Bengaluru on the world map of brewpubs and microbreweries," said Siddhant. "People have a better understanding of beer today, everybody's well-travelled and the days of waiting for friends to bring home a bottle of prized whisky are gone. Today, the market wants world class brews made locally."
Wheat beers, the German-style Hefeweizen and the Belgian Wit Bier are the most popular today. Other craft beers like the IPA (India Pale Ale), Blonde, Dunkelweizen, the German style dark wheat beer, and Stouts are also gaining popularity and sales are increasing quite rapidly.
Siddhant likes to experiment as well and their summertime invention, the Cucumber Saison, was a massive hit. "The beauty of crafts is that they cater to very specific tastes," said Siddhant. "It's expertise and a lot of TLC going into each batch," he laughed.
Their early days were quite the roller coaster ride, Siddhant recalled. "The early days as a startup in the food and beverage space are a challenge." It's taken a whole lot of persistence and dedication to get to where they are today and Siddhant says with pride, "We have enjoyed a steady increase in revenue streams each year."
Set up in JP Nagar was a calculated one. "The locality has a lot of people who know and appreciate their beer bit have to travel great distances to get some," he said. "We wanted to be South Bengaluru's neighbourhood bar with a world class brew experience."
Brewsky is an established part of the city's brewwpub scene and the diversity in terms of food and beverages is something Siddhant continues to take pride in. "We began to make wheat beer because we wanted to stay in tune with local tastes," he said.
The streams of happy customers are a constant reminder of how far he has come. "I always knew I had it in me to start my own restaurant," Siddhant remarked. "It's been a very satisfying journey!"
