The Return of Pale Ale to India
Pale Ale is being re-introduced to India for the first time in 60 years. Since the demise of the British rule the golden coloured larger has not been available and now giant breweries Greene King and St Peter’s are set to be in the forefront with the re-launch of the amber liquid.
It was originally sent over to be served to the British troops as well as civil servants to satisfy their growing thirst. Additional hops were added to the pale ale to withstand the long sea voyage from England to India, which could take up to 6 months. (George Hodgson at the Bow Brewery in London raised the content of hops and alcohol, which are both natural preservatives, allowing the beer to mature to perfection during the trip. This he devised after finding the beer had gone bad when the ship reached the docks at Calcutta)
Whisky is the main alcoholic beverage for the majority of those living in the poorer northern and eastern regions of India, because it is far cheaper and more readily available! As well as having two dry states and a ban on alcohol advertising, these are two of the main challenges that the breweries will have to conquer.
The British Beer and Pub Association firmly believe that there is room for the traditional beers to be re-introduced and sell along side India’s lager dominated market. This was the conclusion after they set up a giant marquee in Delhi and enticed distributors with tasting samples of real ale along with a selection of cheese and meats.
Harshan Singh Muniral a distributor of Carlsberg in India said ““Affluent Indians would definitely have been drinking ale in those old days, but it went away with the British and everyone forgot about it. Nobody promoted it”.
Regaining Beer Sales
Consumption per capita with less than a pint a head is drunk annually in India and is among the lowest in the world in comparison to 31 pints in China and 126 pints in America. This is according to Euromonitor International Research Agency.
British trade confident that they can capture 4 per cent of the beer market by 2010 with the return of real ale.
Old Speckled Hen and India Pale Ale will be the first brands to be put back onto the market shelves in India, which were two of the brands that were well received during the tasting event in Delhi.
Fullers of Chiswick, London, Sharp’s Brewery in Cornwall and Broughton Ales of Scotland will also be vying for a share within the Indian beer market. All these companies already represent a vast geographical spread of some of Britain’s finest real ale.