Mumbai gets brewing

Recently, beer guzzlers in the city were thrilled as Mumbai saw its first microbrewery finally open at The Barking Deer Brewpub & Restaurant. It has been a hub for office-goers and couples, seeking a chilled out space to grab a drink or a bite for a while now, and founder Greg Kroitzsh finally got a license for the brewery. Barking Deer already offers a variety of beers — from the usual Kingfisher, Carlsberg and Heineken to the imported ones like Murphy’s Irish Stout and Hoegarden Belgian Wheat. Their latest offering is home-brewed beers like the Bombay Blonde Ale, Barking Deer India Pale Ale and Flying Pig Belgian Wit. Among our tasters (mostly girls), The Bombay Blonde Ale was the favourite. Apparently brewed with two-row pilsner malt and malted wheat, this one  felt light and refreshing and went down easy — the perfect blend of a not too strong and not too mild beer.

The Flying Pig was our next choice inspired by classic Belgian Wit beers, this one had a citrus tang, and used coriander seeds, and sweet limes (mosambi) instead of orange. The final mug we tasted was the India Pale Ale, which was incidentally not pale in taste. Made with two-row pale malt, wheat and a special caramel malt, this one had a strong bitterness, which was appreciated by the men. Food-wise the Crumb fried calamari with queso sauce was perfectly cooked, crispy and went well with the drinks. While the rest, like the vegetable Lasagna were decent, it’s the drinks that this place is more known for. Priced at `250 plus taxes for 350 ml of beer, some beer lovers found the ales expensive. But given that The Barking Deer is the first in the city to brew their own, they might let it slide and continue guzzling on.

The Barking Deer, Mathuradas Mill Compound, Lower Parel (W)
Phone: 26141740