Hen tikka masala, vindaloo, butter hen, naan. What’s the greatest beer to pair with these Indian dishes?
That’s the query brothers Van and Sumit Sharma got down to reply after they began the now-award-winning Rupee Beer fourteen months in the past.
A beer constructed because the “world beer for curry,” Rupee Beer is on a mission to be the smoothest, lightest, crispest, greatest beer to pair with not solely Indian dishes, however meals from world wide.
As a result of for Van and Sumit, meals is a universe they’ve lived of their complete life.
Rising Up in a Household of Fifth-Era Indian Restaurateurs
The sons of fifth-generation Indian restaurateurs, Van and Sumit grew up immersed in Indian meals tradition.
Born in West London, an space traditionally identified to have one among Europe’s largest South Asian communities, Van and Sumit moved to Portland, ME, within the early ‘90s after their mother and father took a visit to the U.S. and fell in love with New England.
With a household historical past of over forty-five years within the restaurant enterprise, Van and Sumit’s mother and father carried that legacy to the States, launching three Indian eating places in numerous cities throughout Maine.
However it’s not a stretch to say that the Pine Tree State was very totally different from England.
“Mockingly, within the largest metropolis in Maine, we had been nonetheless the one Indian youngsters at school,” says Van. “Rising up in that house with Indian eating places, for me it felt as if I used to be the odd one out in my group of associates.”
Van and Sumit went from residing in one of many neighborhoods with the most important South Asian inhabitants and thriving meals tradition to a spot very a lot the other—predominantly white.
“There may be much more urge for food and information round Indian delicacies on your common Brit,” says Van. “I all the time say what Mexican meals is to America, Indian meals is to the U.Ok.”
At the moment, now-more-commonplace Indian dishes corresponding to hen tikka masala, samosa, and naan had been unknown in New England.
“It was so overseas,” says Van.
At the moment, Portland has grow to be synonymous with phrases like “foodie” and “craft beer,” however again within the ‘90s that wasn’t the case.
Indian eating places had been fairly unprecedented on the time, and there actually wasn’t loads of variety in tradition, meals, or beer.
Even Indian import staples corresponding to the enduring Kingfishers and Taj Mahals had been noticeably vacant from beer cabinets.
Quick ahead just a few a long time and an exploding craft beer scene has actually modified the panorama in Maine, however Van and Sumit nonetheless couldn’t discover a excellent craft beer designed to pair with the spicy, candy, creamy flavors usually discovered throughout Indian dishes.
In order that they got down to create one.
A beer, really extra like a foreign money, that would grow to be a legacy handy down for generations.
Similar to their household’s eating places.
Rupee Beer, A Can Filled with Foreign money
When the pandemic hit in 2020, each Van and Sumit had returned residence after residing overseas in London and Australia, respectively.
Again with their household, they had been as soon as once more immersed within the restaurant. And as soon as once more seen the dearth of Indian beer in a state now identified for being a craft beer vacation spot.
“A variety of our prospects mentioned, ‘Key, we wish to do takeout throughout the pandemic, however can I nonetheless get beer?’” says Van. “We didn’t have any out there choices.”
So the brothers received to considering.
Huge beer drinkers and vacationers themselves, Van and Sumit would all the time take a look at the native lager in any vacation spot they visited (that and the Indian meals scene, in fact).
“Anthony Bourdain mentioned one thing as soon as that anyplace you go, one of the simplest ways to determine the vibe of a spot is to determine the native beer individuals are consuming on faucet,” says Van. “That’s our ethos as effectively.”
However they couldn’t discover a craft gentle lager meant to pair with the Indian meals they had been consuming in their very own household’s restaurant.
“Why are Indian beers so dangerous?” Van posited.
Maybe the query is extra: Why aren’t there beers designed to pair with Indian or world meals?
Simply give it some thought: Do you wish to drink a brilliant fizzy, aggressively hopped beer alongside a sturdy hen tikka masala and toothsome naan?
“Take a extremely carbonated beer and pair it with strong Indian flavors, particularly in case you weave in Indian bread, that are tremendous heavy, like naan—that mixture can go away the diner feeling tremendous bloated, tremendous uncomfortable,” says Van. “It’s the worst doable mixture… That’s not the vibe to exit on a Saturday or Friday evening after a meal at an Indian restaurant.”
Or what in case you’re consuming a brilliant spicy vindaloo, a curry dish identified for being fairly fiery?
“Once you’re consuming one thing spicy and your tongue is on fireplace…that irritation in your tastebuds, your palate, your tongue, carbonated drinks really irritate [and make everything] worse,” says Sumit.
May the entire expertise be higher in case you had one thing like a crisp, clear, clean, frivolously carbonated lager?
Named after the enduring foreign money of India and 7 different nations, Rupee Beer fills that void.
It’s a beer that Van and Sumit hope can pay homage to their household’s historical past in eating places.
A historical past that features breaking by way of the boundaries of a predominantly white group in a predominantly white business.
Bringing an Indian-Model Lager to American Craft Beer
Sure, the meals and beverage panorama in Maine and your complete United States appears a lot totally different than it did within the ‘90s. However as everyone knows, there are nonetheless some vital hurdles for South Asian brewery homeowners and underrepresented communities to leap over to outlive within the craft beer business.
From the very starting, when Van and Sumit began pitching Rupee Beer, “we received the impression loads of of us had been like, ‘Hey, do you even know something about beer? Why are you doing this?’” says Van.
Folks didn’t perceive the model. Or thought it was just for such a small, area of interest market.
When in actual fact, Van factors out, the Indian demographic is now the second-largest immigrant group within the nation behind Mexican Individuals.
“Our mother and father weren’t medical doctors, they weren’t legal professionals, they weren’t accountants or in gross sales, they had been Indian restaurateurs,” says Van. “Naturally, I’ve all the time felt I’ve to be an envoy for India, particularly residing in a spot like Maine the place it’s a must to stick up on your nation and your heritage.”
There may be only a normal lack of information not solely round Indian meals, but additionally round Indian consuming tradition.
Van says there are loads of preconceived notions they’ve needed to battle corresponding to “Do you guys even drink?” he says. “Or do they even drink over there?”
However Van and Sumit stayed the course. “We’re doing our personal factor,” he says. “We’re making an attempt to drive our mission to coach extra individuals on the beer and ethnic meals angle of pairing, but additionally our mission to carry extra craft Indian beer to the world.”
And finally, after pounding on sufficient doorways and selecting up the cellphone sufficient occasions, they discovered somebody who shared their imaginative and prescient.
The Grasp Brewer of Shipyard’s Pumpkinhead Ale Joins Rupee Beer
Maybe fortuitously, Van and Sumit discovered {that a} grasp brewer, Licensed Cicerone, and all-around legendary brewer often called the “Johnny Appleseed of Craft Brewing” lived proper down the highway from them.
British ex-pat Alan Pugsley based Shipyard Brewing Co in 1994, pioneering the brewery for the following seventeen years and inventing the well-known Pumpkinhead Ale.
Since then, he’s helped seek the advice of on and launch over eighty manufacturers internationally.
With Pugsley solely a hop, skip, and leap away, Van did what all good entrepreneurs do: He randomly referred to as him.
When Van reached out to him, Pugsley mentioned from the beginning Rupee Beer “piqued his curiosity.”
Rising up in England, Pugsley says he “all the time had a love of Indian meals,” however “in actuality, up in New England there isn’t loads of publicity to Indian eating places.”
So Pugsley met up with Van and Sumit at one among their household’s eating places—Bombay Mahal—in Brunswick, ME, which is definitely the oldest Indian restaurant within the state. “We had a chat and had our chef carry out an assortment of various Indian dishes,” says Van.
In addition they received round ten totally different beers to style take a look at. “We actually introduced in all kinds of beers from across the globe, from mass-produced to craft,” says Van. “We did a tasting…taking notes of the profile and the carbonation ranges.”
They weren’t simply on the lookout for the beers they favored essentially the most, however for the beers they thought paired greatest with the Indian dishes they had been consuming.
“We honed these in with some Indian meals—spicy, non-spicy, candy—an entire totally different array of dishes,” says Pugsley, noting they pared it down to 2 or three beers they favored essentially the most.
Based mostly on these notes, Pugsley went to work.
Writing the Recipe for Rupee Beer
Based mostly on a helles-style lager, Rupee Beer begins with a base of 5 malts, together with gentle Munich for a little bit of colour, and distinctive components indigenous to India corresponding to rice and maize.
“Rice in lots of elements of Asia is taken into account sacred,” says Van, explaining that India is taken into account a rice nation as a result of those that reside there eat loads of the grain. “The rice side was actually vital for us to haven’t solely from a tasting standpoint, but additionally from a legacy and heritage standpoint.”
A nod to their heritage, rice can be an ingredient that offers Rupee Beer an incredible basis.
“It imparts residual malt sweetness to the beer which performs effectively with spicy meals,” says Sumit.
Together with the sunshine malt spine, Pugsley knew he wanted to watch out with the hopping fee, holding it mild to make what he calls a “very nice drinkable helles lager.”
Three totally different European noble hops—Saphir, Hallertau, and Saaz—give the beer a slight earthy spiciness and bitterness, however nothing excessive.
“That’s one of many issues we didn’t like about beers we tried,” says Sumit. “Something overly bitter and hoppy overpowered the dishes we’re making an attempt to enrich with the beer.”
With 4 totally different delicate kettle hop additions, Pugsley stored Rupee Beer to round 16-17 IBUs. As well as, he handled the water appropriately for the fashion and used a pleasant lager yeast that ferments out in a few week earlier than the beer chilly ages for about two weeks.
That means once you drink this lager alongside one thing spicy or heavy, you retain going again to that may for an exhilarating reprieve.
“It’s very refreshing and moreish,” says Pugsley, utilizing a primarily casual British time period that primarily describes a meals or drink that makes you wish to have extra of it.
Rupee Beer is simply that. One thing you need extra of, truthfully, it doesn’t matter what you’re consuming.
Tasting By way of Rupee Beer
Pouring out a pleasant gentle golden, blondish colour, Rupee Beer has a really delicate hop aroma on the nostril, which Pugsley says is courtesy of the Saaz hops.
From a style perspective, “it will get a pleasant dry crisp chunk however finishes off pretty clean with a little bit sweetness and an actual good stability between the hops and the malt,” says Pugsley.
Actually it’s the proper dish to pair with a wide range of Indian and world dishes.
Van says that, since his household is North Indian and he partially grew up in England, his favourite pairings are butter hen and hen tikka masala, an Indian dish that’s really mentioned to have originated in Nice Britain.
“Lots of people would say hen tikka masala will not be even Indian, that’s from England, that’s not conventional,” says Sumit, who’s on the identical web page as his brother, however provides naan into the combo too. “However it’s a must to take into consideration that we grew up in Indian eating places, so we’ve been consuming Indian-style restaurant meals our complete lives.”
So for Van and Sumit, these two dishes resonate essentially the most.
“These are the usual dishes that all the time fulfill me if I’m having a nasty day,” Van says. “They’ll take a nasty day and make it actually nice.”
Now they’ve created the proper beer to pair alongside these Indian dishes they grew up consuming.
And it really works each methods.
Van says that you could usually discover his dad, Raj Sharma, on his time off or after work with a Rupee in his hand. And that regardless that their mother, Bina Sharma, is extra of a mango margarita type of drinker, she likes to sip on a Rupee.
A household of historic restaurateurs can now add a few brewery homeowners to their legacy.
The Way forward for Rupee Beer
With solely fourteen months below their belt, Van and Sumit are already wanting forward.
“We’re laser centered on enlargement and bringing Rupee and our particular lager to extra markets throughout the U.S.,” he says.
Moreover, the brothers have began to put the groundwork for enlargement into the European Union, the U.Ok., and different worldwide markets.
When it comes to different SKUs, proper now Sumit says they’re centered on the OG lager, however that doesn’t imply there gained’t be different beers of their portfolio later down the road.
They’re simply taking their time and being tremendous intentional with all of their choices.
“Something we do or plan to make has to return to the unique cause why we made the beer,” he says. “We needed to make a beer that pairs effectively with the meals we grew up with, that’s the litmus take a look at, we’ve to make one thing that stays true to that.”
The place Can I Discover Rupee Beer Proper Now?
Presently you possibly can order Rupee Beer by way of Half Time Beverage to ship to over 30 states, together with: AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, KY, LA, MT, NE, NC, ND, NH, NM, NY, NJ, NV, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, TX, VA, WA (not all zip codes eligible).
It’s also possible to discover Rupee Beer at choose regional retailers corresponding to Costco, Complete Meals, Whole Wine & Extra, and most just lately Dealer Joe’s.
And naturally, in lots of Indian/South Asian eating places.
“A pair months in the past I finished at an Indian place in Biddeford to select up some takeout… I walked in questioning if they’d Rupee [Beer] and there have been empty Rupee cans on each desk,” says Pugsley, who drank two Rupee Beers whereas he waited for his meals. “Why order stale beer from India when you possibly can have contemporary Indian-style beer made domestically?”
