Is beer your go-to drink at a party or social gathering? Beer is loved by many people who sip the drink by kissing its frothy foam and sipping it to celebrate. While some enjoy it in its original taste, others explore the drink with the unique flavours it comes in.
This International Beer Day (August 2), raise your beer mug to celebrate the creativity and impressive notes of craft beers.
On this special day dedicated to beer, we would like to share with you our sipping experience from a brewery that completed a decade this July. We visited the Effingut where we tried their impressive craft beers, refreshing cocktails and complementing bar food.
Effingut's freshly launched beer cans at the Colaba outlet | Swarna Srikanth
As we entered the brewery located in Colaba, Mumbai, the wall full of canned craft beers caught our attention. We firstly sipped these craft beer cans, which we learned were launched less than a month ago and are available in two varied flavours -Incider Ale Kashmiri Apple and Bavarian Wheat Beer.
Celebrating craft beers
As we took the first sip of the wheat beer, it tickled our palates by combining the original taste of the beer with subtle notes of banana and clove. It initially touched us with the wheat beer feeling, but soon transported us to its unique flavour. We believe this is something every beer lover would love to enjoy as it keeps the original taste of the drink alive along with an impressive pinch of the spice that stuck around for sometime, until we tried another canned beer from what they had to offer.
Incider Ale Kashmiri Apple and Bavarian Wheat Beer | Swarna Srikanth
We made ourselves wonder if it was even a beer as we gave it our initial sip. The drink’s fruity punch ruled over the bitter taste of the beer, making it feel a fizz-based apple drink. It was quite smooth and flavourful with the taste of Kashmir-sourced apples at every sip. While the beautifully crafted drink gave us a berry sweetness on the palate, it finished with notes of tartness.
As we enjoyed the two distinct flavours, we asked if beer lovers could expect more craft beer cans in near future. Manu Gulati, Founder of Effingut revealed there's something brewing already and said, "We look forward to unveiling two more exciting styles soon." "The introduction of our true craft beers in cans is a legendary milestone in our mission to make exceptional craft beer accessible to all," he added.
We then spoke to bar manager Leon Monteiro to understand if tipplers are moving towards craft beers these days. “People usually see craft beers as something that would taste like sharbat, but this is not true. At Effingut, our core aim is to educate people about craft beers by serving them with the best and that would change their perception,” he said.
Saying cheers with cocktails
For the love of cocktails, we soon checked with the brewery’s cocktail’s menu and they had three beer-based cocktails to win our heart. As we believe the beer hasn’t widely hit the cocktails’ space and aren’t easily available at most bars, except Shandy, we asked Leon if he could serve some delectable cocktails. “We have beer Mojito, which combines the classic taste of rum with not soda but beer. That’s our unique recipe,” he said while suggesting we try it.
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Green apple monster | Swarna Srikanth
But as he moved to further explain about the other two cocktails, we picked the ‘monster’ drink from the set of available options. “Green apple monster infuses green apple syrup with vodka and is topped off with the apple cider beer,” Leon noted while adding, “We have a chocolate and beer fusion too.”
Not just a drinks treat!
The ‘monster’ cocktail was a refreshing one, which we paired with the much-loved nachos. The Loaded Nachos carried a rich topping of curd and rajma beans. The popular side dish was served with avocado-based guacamole smeared on it, which made the recipe more healthy.
Loaded Nachos with beer cocktail | Swarna Srikanth
So, the food menu came with a wide range of mouthwatering dishes, with some perfect chaknaas like corn bhel, chilli paneer, roasted chilli chicken and lobster pepper fries tails.
Mushrooms with beer | Swarna Srikanth
Thai Chilli Mushrooms | Swarna Srikanth
We kept ourselves to the veg cuisine as we enjoyed their beers. We tried the Thai Chilli Mushrooms bowl and it went really well with the wheat beer we sipped earlier. While the dish carried the notes of spiciness tickled with a cheesy twist, it complemented the original bitter taste of the wheat beer and added some balance.
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